Guitta Blau, mushroom authority and early childhood education specialist, died 31 March at age 91. She is survived by her husband of 72 years, Monte Blau, her children Saul and Hannah Blau, her daughter-in-law Melanie and grandson Cory Blau.
Guitta devoted her professional life to the education of young children. She trained at the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, earning the equivalent of a Master's degree in 1948. In 1976 she completed her Ph.D. in Social Foundations of Education at the State University of New York at Buffalo. For her dissertation she wrote a biography of Adelle Land, an influential professor at the same faculty of Education who had died in 1969. From 1977 to 1983 Guitta worked at Head Start of Erie County, first as Education Coordinator and for the final year as Acting Head Start Administrator. In 1986 after her move to South Wellfleet, Guitta became Head Start Director for the Cape Cod Child Development Program. She stepped down from that position in 1991, but remained connected to Head Start as a program evaluator. Several times a year she would travel throughout the United States to join a review panel for a week-long assessment of a particular Head Start program.
The only child of Anna and Henry Drimer, Guitta grew up near the ocean in the Sea Gate section of Brooklyn, New York. She attended Abraham Lincoln High School. Guitta and Monte lived in the same neighborhood and knew each other from childhood. They married in 1946 when Guitta was still in college, and Monte had just left the Navy. Guitta finished her B.S. in Biochemistry from the College of Agriculture at Cornell University in 1947. The following year, the couple moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where Monte did his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin. Guitta followed her husband's career first to New Haven, Connecticut, where she taught at the Yale Child Study Center, and then back to New York City where she taught at the City and Country School. In 1954 they settled in Buffalo, New York, and stayed for almost thirty years. They raised two children, son Saul born in 1956 and daughter Hannah born in 1959. Guitta put her career on hold to care for her children until they reached high school and she was able to pursue doctoral studies.
With help from close friends who were long-time residents of the Cape, Guitta and Monte relocated to South Wellfleet in 1983. They both loved the sea air and spectacular views from their new home overlooking a salt march across from the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Monte commuted to Boston for part-time research projects, while Guitta resumed working at Head Start. Over the course of several years they wound down their professional commitments and entered full retirement. Guitta remained active with volunteer efforts and was a regular at exercise classes offered by the Wellfleet Council on Aging.
Guitta and Monte traveled widely throughout their marriage, sometimes in connection with Monte's work and sometimes for vacation. On three occasions, Monte was invited for several months as a World Health Organization Advisor at Tata Hospital in Bombay, India. For two of these trips in the 1960's they took both children, who were still in elementary school. While her husband went to work at the hospital, Guitta took charge of home-schooling the children. In the morning she gave them lessons and in the afternoon she took them swimming. The third trip to India occurred in 1981-82 and they went with just their daughter. The India trips included stops in many other countries, among them Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Israel, Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, Greece, Spain, and Portugal. In 1982 the couple traveled to China to give guest lectures at Beijing Normal University, Guitta in the Department of Education and Monte in the Radiochemistry Department. The two were bird watching enthusiasts and planned some of their vacations around birding opportunities, such as trips to Florida, Belize, Panama, and Costa Rica. They admired the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands.
Guitta was a skilled mycologist. She studied mycology at the Museum of Science in Buffalo and worked to expand her knowledge through mushroom reference books and conferences. She and her husband were active members of the Northeast Mycological Federation and participated in its annual foray. Guitta was renowned as a mushroom expert on Cape Cod. She frequently responded to inquiries from less experienced mushroom hunters who asked her for help identifying the species they had collected. For several years Guitta taught an annual mycology seminar at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, where she also served as a trail guide. She volunteered at the Salt Pond Visitors' Center, contributing to the cataloguing of special collections. In July 2011 Guitta was honored along with other volunteers who had served the Cape Cod National Seashore for over 15 years.
Friends and family will miss this loving, witty, intelligent woman. A celebration of life for both Guitta and Monte will be held at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary (Mass Audubon) on Sunday, 14 July at 11:00 AM. Donations in Guitta's memory may be directed to the Wildlife Sanctuary or to the Friends of the Wellfleet Council on Aging. For online condolences, please visit www.nickersonfunerals.com.
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