The following is the obituary of a man who’s entire life testified to the image of God within man. I have mentioned Walter Bauer previously in a post. Saturday he passed. Walter was an inspiration to me. He loved life and had an ability to spread that very love to almost everyone he encountered. Today I attended his memorial service, which was done in the manner of the Quakers (that is it included a long period of unplanned silence in which any are invited to speak or pray), and I was overwhelmed by the number of people who stood to speak of the impact that Dr. Bauer had on their life. A number of his former residents, whom he trained in pathology, spoke, but they spoke not only of his knowledge and skill but of his contagious love of life. Many friends and colleagues spoke of Walter’s compassion and desire to serve the poor and downtrodden.

One person told the story of the time, a few years ago, when the Pope came to St. Louis. Walter volunteered his services. But much more strikingly, as he was doing his work he noticed a foreign man who was quite enamored of a particular rosary that was being sold by someone. As a scientist it would have been quiet easy, and quiet natural for Walter to dismiss this as mere superstition and move on. But he didn’t. Instead he stuck up a conversation with the man and eventually asked him which of the items for sale he liked best. When the man pointed out the rosary, Walter purchased it for him. Now, whatever one might think of the rosary, this event showed something of the character of Walter Bauer. I find it difficult to categorize him. He is one of those rare individuals (like so many of the great poets) that defies boundaries, or neat formulas.

Walter Bauer was an artist (his sculpture work is magnificent), a singer (he apparently had a wonderful tenor), an instrumental musician (he performed a solo concert for the St. Louis community some years ago), a brilliant pathologist, a teacher of well attested ability, an accomplished marathon runner, a somewhat famous cook, an ecologist, a mountain climber, an amateur archaeologist and mathematician, a fly fisherman but perhaps most importantly a faithful husband, father and friend. Walter Bauer lived a life that in so many ways is an inspiration and an example to us all.

Dr. Walter C. Bauer, an educator and a leader in the famous baby tooth study that searched for evidence of the spread of nuclear fallout, died Saturday (Feb. 2, 2008) at Barnes-Jewish Hospital after a brief illness. He was 82 and a resident of St. Louis. Dr. Bauer was an early activist with the Greater St. Louis Citizens Committee for Nuclear Information. The group led the St. Louis Baby Tooth Survey in the 1950s and 1960s, which studied almost 300,000 baby teeth, searching for clues about fallout from atomic and hydrogen bomb tests. The study found that the teeth had absorbed nuclear material through consumption of milk from cows that may have eaten contaminated grass. The findings contributed to a ban on the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. “My father was insightful and courageous enough to speak out in the 1950s about the serious negative health effects of nuclear devices,” said his daughter, Janet Bauer of Portland, Ore. Dr. Bauer was born of German parents who immigrated after World War I. He grew up in Ohio and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Ohio State University. He then graduated from Washington University School of Medicine in 1954. After his residency in pathology and a fellowship in surgical pathology, he joined the staff at the medical school and then served as head of the surgical pathology department at Barnes-Jewish from 1973 through 1987. He retired from Barnes-Jewish two years later and took a part-time position at St. Louis University, teaching surgical pathology residents. He continued for 19 years until becoming ill a few weeks ago. Dr. Bauer was also an accomplished marathoner and mountain climber. He ran 17 marathons and reached the summits of Mount Rainier, Mount Shasta and Long’s Peak. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Grace and Peace Fellowship, 5574 Delmar Boulevard. A reception will follow. The body was cremated. In addition to his daughter, among the survivors are his wife of 58 years, Marcia Robbins Bauer; two other daughters, Deborah Bauer of College Park, Md., and Lois Sullivan of Baltimore; a son, Paul Bauer of Copenhagen, Denmark; and four grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to the Walter C. Bauer Vocal Scholarship at the Community Music School of Webster University, 470 East Lockwood Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. 63119.