Harriet Mauer

Harriet Mauer died peacefully on July 23 at Gilchrist Hospice in Towson, MD from pancreatic cancer. She was 81.

Ms. Mauer was married to Michael Friedman for 48 years. They met as students at Hunter School of Social Work in New York and shared a commitment to the well-being of people who faced great challenges. They also shared a love of the arts and of travel.

Ms. Mauer was a social worker who worked with adolescents at Good Shepherd Services in NYC for 40 years. When she retired in 2010, she was the Director of Social Services. She is remembered by colleagues, mentees, and those she cared for in their adolescence as a source of strength, wisdom, and kindness who helped to shape the course of their professional and personal lives.

In her retirement, Ms. Mauer remained actively engaged in advocacy to support vulnerable youth, particularly through her work with The Citizens Committee for Children of New York.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her daughter, Danielle, son-in-law, Paul, and 2 grandchildren, Leo and Ruby, whom she loved beyond belief. She is also survived by a brother, a niece, nephews, and a slew of great- and great-great- nieces and nephews in Maryland and in Montreal, where she grew up. She had great affection for them all, as they did for her.

Ms. Mauer has donated her body to science so there will be no funeral, but a memorial celebration of her life will be held in Baltimore in August.

Since being diagnosed with incurable cancer she often said that she had had a wonderful life and was prepared to die. She comforted those who were devastated by her imminent death. She was a model in dying as she had been in living.

Contributions in her memory can be made to Good Shepherd Services and/or The Citizens Committee for Children of New York.