Dr. Frances Redlich Beier died peacefully at her home in Salt Lake City on June 10, aged 90. From 1966 to 1988 she maintained a private practice in pediatrics in Salt Lake City, and she will be remembered by her many former patients, for whom she cared greatly. Frances had a happy childhood growing up in Vienna and spending summers with her extended family in Breznice (Czech Republic). At age 12, after the Nazi invasion of Austria, she was separated from her family, sent to England on the Kindertransport relief effort, and placed into foster care. When war was declared in 1939, she was sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Scotland and attended the Airdrie Academy. After her parents luckily found refuge in New York in 1940 she immigrated to the United States to join them. Upon leaving the academy, its rector wrote, "Her ability in Languages, Math's and Pure Science is conspicuous. Her education should be continued. In my opinion she is able to take any university course, or to qualify for any profession. She has received an exceptionally fine home upbringing, and has many fine personal qualities which will afterwards stand her in good stead in life." She graduated with honors in 1943 from George Washington High School in New York City, then magna cum laude in 1949 from Hunter College. She earned her Master in Physical Chemistry from Syracuse University in 1952 and, after moving to Salt Lake with her husband in 1953, she attended medical school at the University of Utah and earned her Doctorate in 1958, one of the first women in the history of the school to do so. She interned at the Salt Lake County General Hospital and taught pediatrics at the U. of U. College of Medicine. Between 1959 and 1965 she conducted research and published articles on children's diseases. Member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, lifetime member of Hadassah, fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Docent at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Bronze Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League.
Frances was an avid reader, loved crossword puzzles, and had a passion for movie classics. She was a dedicated follower of the Utah Symphony, Opera and Ballet and she loved gardening, cultivating orchids for many years in her own greenhouse. She enjoyed skiing and swimming and winter vacations on the beaches of Hawaii and Mexico. Later in life she traveled, visiting China, Israel and Egypt as well as many countries in Europe and the Americas. She could often be found with her husband on a Friday evening enjoying a soufflé at the New Yorker restaurant before attending a performance at the opera.
She was predeceased by her daughter Peggy in 1964 and her husband Ernst in 2015 and is survived by her daughter Elizabeth, her son Paul, grandchildren Hannah, Eleonora, Bryce and Caroline, and close family friend, Beth Hazur. A memorial and reception will be held at the First Unitarian Church, (569 S. 1300 East) Saturday, July 23, 2016, 5:30pm.
