Barbara Beitch

Barbara Beitch (she/her), 84, of Hamden, CT, died suddenly on November 24, 2023, of a massive brain hemorrhage. Born in Jersey City, NJ, on March 2, 1939, she grew up in Oak Ridge, TN, where her father worked as a Nuclear Physicist.

After receiving a PhD in Biology from the University of Virginia, Barbara forged a career as Biology Teacher at Hamden Hall Country Day School from 1970 to 2004, where her contributions included creating and teaching a program on human sexuality and initiating a student LGBTQ group. The school’s biology lab is named after her. Numerous students continue to express adoration for her, and a number credit her with inspiring them to pursue medical careers. After retirement, she taught Biology as an Adjunct Professor at Quinnipiac University.

She was an accomplished pianist and lover of music and enjoyed ballroom dancing. She traveled widely and scuba-dived around the world. She was a docent at the Yale Peabody Museum and active with the Sleeping Giant Association. She was a determined feminist, gardener and lover of nature, and advocate for social justice. She had no religion and liked to say she worshipped at the library.

She is survived by her second husband, Richard Yanowitz, brother, Joel Rose and his children, sister-inlaw, Pamela Rose, grandchildren Sarah Jenness, Andy Jenness, and Miranda Palomino, great-grandson Jacob Eagins, grandsonin-law, Marty LaFleur, stepson Jason Yanowitz, step-grandchildren Avery and Izzy Yanowitz, and numerous cousins. Her son, Rick Beitch, daughter, Debbie Beitch Jenness, and first husband, Irwin Beitch, died before her.

A memorial will be January 6, 11 a.m., at Hamden Hall. For donations, her numerous favorite organizations included the Trevor Society, ACLU, Doctors Without Borders, Planned Parenthood, Earth Justice, Deborah Beitch Jenness Hamden Hall scholarship fund, and IRIS.