Laurie Greenbaum Beitch

Laurie Greenbaum Beitch, 71, died peacefully on August 23, 2026, surrounded by friends and family who loved her, after facing a rare form of Bone Cancer called Dedifferentiated Chondrosarcoma.

Born on her mother’s 26th birthday, December 1, 1954 in Brookline, Massachusetts. Laurie was raised by her parents Max and Jane Greenbaum, alongside her little sister, Abby in Newton, Massachusetts. They loved going on family vacations to Mexico, South Florida, and all over New England. They enjoyed golfing, playing tennis, and celebrating festive occasions at the Spring Valley Country Club in Sharon, Massachusetts, where she would later marry the love of her life, Douglas Beitch. From a very young age, Laurie and her sister enjoyed many summers at Camp Mataponi in Naples, Maine.

Art was an integral part of Laurie’s identity since girlhood. Her Great Aunt Julia encouraged her artistic pursuits by providing art supplies, sponsoring lessons, and bringing her to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where she would set up an easel in the galleries and have her work critiqued. Her encouragement helped drive a lifetime of creative expression.

Laurie graduated from Newton South High School in 1972, already certain that art would play a central role in her life, turning a childhood fascination into a genuine calling.

Laurie brought her dream and talents to Cornell University’s Fine Arts program (Class of 1976), where she studied under Magical Realist, Zevi Blum. She cherished her years at Cornell, both artistically and socially. She was a Delta Gamma and served as the Art Editor of the Student Newspaper. In her final months, she attended her 50th college reunion.

After graduation, she moved back to Boston to work at Linvure Company, her father’s packaging factory. In their 20 years joyously working together, Laurie worked in the art room, mastered ink mixing, implemented a new quality program, and ultimately found her stride in sales. When her father suffered a massive heart attack, she helped oversee the factory during his recovery. In her free time, she would sell antiques and paint Plein Air as much as she possibly could. She was entrepreneurial, resourceful, and unafraid.

She met her devoted husband of 37 years, Douglas Beitch, at a Jewish singles event on a snowy winter night in 1990 in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Together, they moved to Schenectady, New York (not her choice) and lovingly raised their daughters, Mollie and Sarah, who she protected and advocated for fiercely. She loved creating art with her daughters and their friends, and bringing them to museums. To this day, they will carry her love for art and culture.

Art, family, and Judaism remained a constant throughout Laurie’s life. Eventually her husband and biggest fan encouraged her to pursue art full-time. Working primarily with pastels, she was drawn to landscapes, changing light, and the quiet beauty of the natural world. Laurie preferred to paint on location, believing that being present allowed her to capture the true color, atmosphere, and feeling of the place. Over the course of her career, she created hundreds of original works, exhibited extensively across the northeast, and earned Signature Membership in the Pastel Society of America, recognizing the skill she spent a lifetime developing.

Laurie’s life, art, and legacy carried her from Massachusetts, to upstate New York, to Palm Beach, Florida, and eventually, Wilmington, North Carolina. Wherever she lived, she continued painting, exhibiting, and building friendships within the local arts and Jewish communities. She found beauty in her surroundings and made those places part of her story.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Laurie was defined by the relationships she built and maintained. She was deeply loyal to the people she loved, forming friendships that endured across decades. She was opinionated, funny, tenacious, and unmistakably herself. Her friends were an extension of her family, and she remained surrounded by many of them until the very end.

In her final years, Laurie faced a rare, painful, and aggressive bone cancer with extraordinary resilience and courage. Her illness was only one chapter in a much larger life, defined by art, love, and the enduring ability to find beauty in the world around her.

Laurie is survived by her husband, Douglas Beitch; her daughters, Mollie and Sarah Beitch; her sister Abby Greenbaum; her adorable grand-dogs, Noodle and Mr. Chex; and a wide circle of extended family and friends whose lives she touched throughout the years. She was predeceased by her beloved parents, Max and Jane Greenbaum, as well as her cherished dogs, Scampi and Dante, who held a special place in her heart.

Those wishing to honor Laurie’s memory are encouraged to support research at Duke Sarcoma Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and/or the Johnston Health Foundation Hospice Fund.

Funeral services will be held at Sharon Memorial Park Chapel, 40 Dedham Street, Sharon, MA on Friday, August 28, 2026 at 1PM. Interment to immediately follow.

Following the service, family and friends are invited to gather for shiva at 5pm, where they will continue to honor Laurie’s life.