Obituary of Dr. Marcella Vig Baldwin, Ph.D.

Dr. Marcella Vig Baldwin, Ph.D., a resident of Stamford, CT and a former resident of Mountain Lakes, NJ, passed away on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at the Richard L. Rosenthal Hospice Residence in Stamford. Born August 26, 1921 in Fosston, MN, she was the daughter of the late John and Marie (Horvick) Vig. She was 85. Dr. Baldwin was Valedictorian of Fosston High School, Class of 1938. She attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN for one year. She received her B.A. in English and Psychology from the University of Minnesota, her Master’s Degree in Psychology from Radcliffe College and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Baldwin worked as a clinical psychologist at Greystone State Psychiatric Hospital (1966-1980) and also maintained a private practice. An early advocate for hospice care, she helped found the Riverside Hospice in Boonton Township, NJ, in the late 1970s, and for three years served as staff psychologist there. She was a fellow of the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association. In later years, she managed her husband’s medical practice in Boonton, NJ. She served several terms as President of the MacDowell Club of Mountain Lakes and wrote a history (“Willing and Able”) of its first thirty years (1916-1946). She was active in the Holistic Health Institute of Northern New Jersey, the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, Women Who Write, and the Saturday Club, a group which provided social opportunities for former psychiatric patients. An enthusiastic traveler, she often visited in their home countries exchange students she had met through the Experiment in International Living, Rotary International, or Mountain Lakes’ annual United Nations Weekend. In 1983, she spent six months studying the Tea Ceremony at the Urasenke Center in Kyoto, Japan. She supported the arts, especially the New Philharmonic of New Jersey in Morristown, NJ and the Playwrights’ Horizons in New York City. She maintained an extensive correspondence and enjoyed cooking, gardening, reading and playing the piano. She is survived by her seven children, John of Como, Italy; Christopher of Belvidere, SD; Toby of Irving, TX; Susan Baldwin of Stamford, CT; Rosemary Baldwin of Chicago, IL; Maria Sloan of Jackson, WY and Joy Chen Lewis of Holden, MA. She is also survived by 16 grandchildren. She is predeceased by her husband of 48 years, Dr. Russell R. Baldwin, M.D. who died September 1, 1994. A Memorial Service will be held at the Community Church, 48 Briarcliff Road, Mountain Lakes, NJ on Saturday, December 30, 2006 at 2:00 PM. Memorial donations may be sent to CARE, 151 Ellis Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30303-2440 (www.care.org) or American Parkinson Disease Association, 135 Parkinson Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10305 (www.apdaparkinson.org). The Edward Lawrence Funeral Home, Darien, CT is handling the arrangements. Funeral Home: Edward Lawrence Funeral Home 2119 Post Road Darien, CT USA 06820