BRUNSWICK — Erika Beckwith died on March 21, following a long and busy life.
She was born in Vienna, Austria, to Leo and Gisela Rosenmann. She attended the prestigious Schwarzwald School for Girls, where she quickly grew in notoriety. Never one to pay much attention to school rules, she would quietly slip away during mandatory school skiing trips, to be found later sunning herself peacefully in a nearby meadow. She also shone as a scholar, when she regularly wrote the answers to Latin exams on rolls of paper, which she secreted away in a nearby bathroom.
Erika immigrated to the United States as a teen, escaping the devastation of the Anschluss, to live with her aunt in New York City. She worked there for several years as a fashion buyer and illustrator, and met her future husband, Robert. Following their marriage, they moved several times, finally settling in Brunswick, where Robert spent many years in the music department at Bowdoin College. Erika served as tutor in the German department, where students fulfilled the required oral component for many classes.
Following the formation, with a colleague, of the now world-renowned Bowdoin International Music Festival, both Robert and Erika expended enormous amounts of energy over the years. Erika took over the role of finding lodging for faculty and students of the school; a task involving not a small amount of time. She was also involved with the festival in more ways than can be counted. She worked for Bowdoin’s Elderhostel in various capacities, over the years.
Erika returned often to Vienna after Robert’s death, to meet friends and go to the opera,a love she had shared with him.
Erika’s children, grandchildren, and their families survive her, as well as her cat, Aida.
Contributions may be made to the Bowdoin International Music Festival, 6300 College Station, Brunswick, ME, 04011.
Burial will be at the Pine Grove Cemetery on Friday June 1, at 10:30 a.m., with a gathering to follow at 14 Zeitler Farm Rd,. You are invited to attend both or either.
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