Helga S. Kaiser

1939 - 2022

Helga S. Kaiser passed away at BMC on September 20 after a short illness. Born April 12, 1939, in Vienna, Austria, she studied in Paris and Vienna before moving to New York City in 1969 with her son Mitja from her first marriage to Peter Orthofer. She worked in interior and exhibition design and, living in a brownstone on her beloved Gramercy Park, was particularly active at the National Arts Club a few doors down the street. She also increasingly devoted herself to painting, continuing her studies at the National Academy's School of Fine Arts, where she specialized in still life painting.

In 1985, she and second husband John M. Kaiser bought a house and property in Stockbridge which became first a part-time, and then, in the late 1990s, their full-time residence. An extension Helga designed to the original old brick house includes a large studio where she was able to paint when she wasn't working in the garden, and she exhibited widely (as Helga S. Orthofer).

Helga continued to visit friends and family in Austria twice a year but felt equally at home in the Berkshires. She often compared it to the Semmering, where she had spent her summers in her childhood and youth, both being so rich in culture and history and of similar natural beauty.

An avid theater and concert-goer, she was a great fan of the entire Berkshires cultural scene, especially Shakespeare & Company and the Barrington Stage Company, as well as the Mount, the Norman Rockwell Museum, and Chesterwood. At the time of her death, she was serving on the Board of Trustees of Shakespeare & Company as well as the Chesterwood Advisory Council.

She and John loved to have friends over for dinner, and Helga continued to entertain on the same scale after John's passing in 2009, including with an annual Christmas goose, and venison to commemorate John's birthday every December 29 and, as often as possible in the summer, lobster lunches on the back porch. She was a wonderful cook, from the soups she made with the freshly picked vegetables from her garden to her delicious Austrian desserts. A favorite annual tradition was an open house on Boxing Day, with the lighting of the beeswax candles that decorated the family Christmas tree and the singing of "Silent Night."

A back operation last November kept her off her feet for almost three months, but she was determined to get better. Her outlook always remained positive and she showed remarkable improvement, enjoying a very active summer and being able to appreciate doing most of the things she loved until the very end.

Helga is survived by her son, Mitja; two brothers, Peter and Christian; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Helga's life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the Helga S. Orthofer Memorial Fund in support of a painter-in-residence at Chesterwood is being established at the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and charitable contributions payable to the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation for the Helga S. Orthofer Memorial Fund can be sent c/o Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, 800 North Main Street, PO Box 400, Sheffield, MA 01257-0400. An online donation platform through the Community Foundation will also be available.