Beth Himmel, 94, Librarian

Beth Himmel, a librarian at the Baltimore Metropolitan Library for over 50 years, passed away quietly in her home last Tuesday, surrounded by loving family and friends. She was 94 years old. Having feared death for most of her life, her final words, "This isn't so bad," delighted those who were with her in the end.

Beth leaves behind her loving husband of 63 years, Marvin Spooner, and her only daughter Anne Spooner. She will also be missed by her five grandchildren, Mary, James, Jo, David, and Laura Singpurwalla, and her golden retriever Gauss.

Beth was born and raised in a small town in Iowa that you never heard of, by very conservative parents. She left Iowa joyfully to attend Northwestern University, where she earned a B.A. in Literature and her Ph.D. in Library Science. She wrote many scholarly articles and received many awards for her service, but always said that her greatest work was raising her daughter Anne, and her greatest joy was spending time with her family. Long a confirmed atheist and secular humanist, Beth insisted that we should all try to do good for each other and be the best people we could be in this life, and not hold out for something better after death.

A celebration of her life will be held at 3:30 Saturday afternoon, at O'Shaunessy's Irish Pub in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. In lieu of flowers, Beth asked that you make a generous contribution to your local public school, or spend an afternoon picking up trash in your neighborhood.