Esther S. Brudo

July 1, 1926 - August 23, 2021 Esther S. Brudo, a psychotherapist who worked with families and children in the Washington, DC and Los Angeles areas, died on August 23 in Watertown, Mass. She was 95.Esther's warmth, intellect, and genuine interest in people fueled both her personal life and her professional pursuits. Like many women of her generation, she originally harbored no ambition to go to college-nobody in her family had done so-but she was encouraged to attend night classes and, as she later recalled: "I loved it; there was no turning back. I decided early on I wanted to be a psychologist and save the world."Born in Philadelphia, Esther Snyder spent her childhood in Valley City, North Dakota, where her family operated a small store. During the depths of the Depression, her father got a job with the federal government as a printer, so the family moved to Washington.After graduating from Washington's Eastern High School she married Jerry Blustein, whom she had met at Jewish fraternity-sorority gatherings. The boss at a publishing firm where she worked part-time exhorted her to try college, insisting she had the brains for it, and while Jerry was attending Georgetown University Esther embarked on her own studies, obtaining a degree from George Washington. When Jerry went to graduate school in political science at the University of Chicago, Esther joined him to get her M.A. in psychology.Back in the Maryland suburbs in the 1950s, Jerry and Esther started a family. They raised three children as Esther also found a calling working at a school for children with behavioral issues. When she realized the benefit of more advanced training she earned a doctorate at the University of Maryland, later going into private practice.After Jerry's sudden death in 1970, Esther married Charles Brudo, a fellow psychotherapist she had known in college who was living in Santa Monica, California. She moved across the country, working for the Los Angeles school system to help teachers and day-care centers support children with complex needs, and also joined Charles in private practice.An active participant in a local Democratic club, she also joined theater and writing groups in her retirement and composed poetry, much of it about her childhood memories.Following Charles' death in May 2021, she moved back East to enjoy the last chapter of her life near family members, but health setbacks cut that chapter unexpectedly short. Her final days were spent with her children, Paul Blustein of Kamakura, Japan, Jan Blustein of New York City, and Laura Blustein of Watertown, Mass. She is also survived by a nephew, David Snyder of Brooklyn, NY; two stepdaughters, Rebecca Kosowski of Seattle and Evann Grey of Santa Monica; seven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and one grand-nephew.