Helen Scheimer Baer's knowledge benefited students, organizations
As a Pennsylvania Railroad Association hostess during World War II, Helen Scheimer directed passengers and befriended many a homesick soldier in the busy Pennsylvania Station, Downtown.
"My mother had such a warm and caring personality that many a soldier wanted her name and address and asked her to wait for them when they returned home after the war," said her daughter, Lisa Cron of Moon.
Helen Scheimer Baer of Mt. Lebanon, a past president of the University of Pittsburgh Alumni Association, died on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in St. Clair Hospital, Mt. Lebanon. She was 91.
Befriending others; volunteering at Beth El Congregation, now located in Mt. Lebanon; and helping to raise her children was the fabric of Mrs. Baer's life, and she saw to it that her children and her eight grandchildren all earned college degrees.
"My mother was a tough and independent woman, who urged us to go after what we wanted to do and to never say no to a challenge," Cron said.
In 1946, Helen Scheimer married Henry "Budd" Baer, an Army Air Corps veteran, who, in the years after his discharge, established Budd Baer Buick in Washington.
"Although they were married over 60 years, Dad always considered Mom to be his bride," Cron added.
Cron said that her mother, while a student at Dormont High School, helped to clean up in her family's butcher shop and always had her nose in a book.
The knowledge she acquired from reading books and magazines about fashion, said her daughter, helped give her the background to teach fashion at the Pittsburgh Fashion Academy in Squirrel Hill.
"My mother, known for her sense of humor, would relate to her graduates that they were going out into the 'schmatta' world, the Yiddish slang word for rags," Cron said.
Mrs. Baer's passion for reading books, included books about art and gardening, which gave her the background needed to become a docent in the Carnegie Museum of Art and Phipps Conservatory, both in Oakland.
"My mother was also very devoted to Beth El Congregation, where she made time to participate with the Sisterhood, help to raise funds and cater for fundraising events," said her daughter.
Born and raised in Dormont, Helen Scheimer was one of two children of butcher Max Scheimer and his wife, Dora Dean Scheimer.
In 1938, after graduating from Dormont High School, Helen Scheimer entered the University of Pittsburgh, where she received her degree in psychology four years later.
In addition to her daughter, Lisa, Mrs. Baer is survived by her children, Max Baer of Mt. Lebanon and Mark Baer of Peters; eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Mrs. Baer was preceded in death by her husband, Henry "Budd" Baer in 2007, and her brother, Milton "Buz" Scheimer.
Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. today in William Slater II Funeral Service, 1650 Greentree Road, Scott, where a funeral service will be held at 11 a.m.
