Stella Sue Goldsmith

On February 9, 2005, passed away in Palo Alto, California, surrounded by her family. She was 67 years old. Stella was born on February 25, 1937, in Baltimore Maryland, the youngest of three children. Soon after graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in Nursing, she relocated to Boston to be closer to her brother's family. There, she devoted seven years to the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, where she helped develop a clinical research unit. In 1971, Stella moved to the Harvard Community Health Plan, where she became instrumental in developing the Plan's Clinical and Support Services. Early in her tenure at Harvard, she completed the Nurse Practitioner Program at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, where she pioneered Nurse Practitioner programs at which she ultimately became faculty. She remained at Harvard for fifteen years, holding various top administrative positions. During this time, she also cared for her ailing grandmother. In 1986, Stella moved to San Francisco to care for her aging mother. She worked as a manager and Nurse Practitioner at Kaiser Permanente. In 1991, she returned to the East Coast, where she spent the next eight years as a Nurse Practitioner at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of New England. Stella was also a devoted aunt, daughter, sister, granddaughter, and friend, who cared deeply for those she loved. While Stella enjoyed a lifetime of caring for others, she was also an avid adventurer who backpacked and traveled extensively throughout the world. She was also devoted to her dogs Sophie and Wolfie, and loved and advocated for animals. Stella was preceded in death by her parents Helen and Harry Goldsmith, her brothers Ralph S. Goldsmith and David Goldsmith, and her dogs Sophie and Wolfie. She is survived by her nieces, Donna J. Goldsmith and Lynn P. Levine; Lynn's husband Ron Levine and daughter Natalya Levine; nephew Mark A. Goldsmith and Mark's wife Anne Midler and their children, Rebecca E. Goldsmith and Jonathan H. Goldsmith; her sister-in-law Mickie M. Goldsmith; her dear friend and companion Judith Bessoff; and friends too numerous to list. Stella will be sorely missed by all whose lives she touched. Those who wish to honor her life are encouraged to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, or animal protection services such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.