January 4, 1948 – February 24, 2022 Joyce Brunelle Baer has died, and with her one of those rare “people who need people…the luckiest people in the world” as the song says. Joyce’s innate interest in people touched many lives. She could not sit down at a café without engaging with the waiters and waitresses, extracting the details of their interesting biographies. Her volunteer work with Hope of the Valley’s estimable outreach to the homeless people of the San Fernando Valley fostered personal relationships outside what most people would consider their “comfort zone”. With her many friends, she enjoyed food and wine, African violets, a late-in-life affection for cats, travel and long walks in the Los Angeles environs.
Joyce was the only child of Arthur and Agnes Brunelle, originally of Billings MT before moving to Bozeman, MT. Arthur was a mechanic and Agnes a tailor. During the bitterly cold winters of Bozeman Arthur would sometimes walk to work so that Joyce could drive to school in the one car they owned. She attended Holy Rosary Catholic school where she sang in her clear soprano with the “Triple Trios” group there. After working at Deaconess Hospital in Bozeman during high school, she trained in medical radiology in Billings, MT. This was the career path she followed for the entirety of her working life. She moved to the warmer climates of Southern California around 1970, where she worked independently for many local hospitals, subsequently for the prestigious Beverly Hills practice of Lebovic, Schwimer and Goldberg and in her final professional years at the San Fernando Valley Women’s Clinic. She characteristically maintained close ties with her former school friends, colleagues, neighbors and family. No one will miss her more than her husband, Philip Baer, who was fortunate to have shared his life with hers for 24 years. A kind, honest and loving soul hath left us when the world needs more of Joyce’s sort so desperately.
Published by Los Angeles Times from Feb. 27 to Mar. 6, 2022.
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