Gala Stern, of Baltimore, MD, died on May 17, 2022, at the age of 89. Born in 1932 in Leipzig, Germany, she spent the war years with her mother in many places in Russia and Uzbekistan while fleeing from the Nazis. At the close of World War II, at the age of 14, she arrived at Ellis Island and made her way to Albany, New York, where she lived with her grandmother and aunt and uncle to attend high school. At the time, her mother had to pursue her re-accreditation as a pediatric dentist. Gala was an extraordinary student and attended Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree. It was here that Gala met and married her husband Ivan Stern. Although she had numerous scholarship opportunities, together they chose to attend Cornell University for their graduate studies. At Cornell, she studied under Vladimir Nabokov, who often inquired where she learned her excellent Russian. But Russian, German, and English were not her only languages. She mastered French as well as Spanish as she finished her advanced degree.
After her graduation from Cornell, she began her career as an educator. She and Ivan moved to Baltimore where he had a job and she took a post at The Park School, a K-12 school, which allowed her two children to attend. There she taught French and Russian language and literature. When her children had nearly completed their high school education, she considered a position with the National Security Agency, but ultimately elected to continue teaching, this time at the university level. After lecturing at Johns Hopkins and Goucher College, she ultimately found a home at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, at which she inspired students with the French and Russian authors that she loved most. This collegial community became a source of intellectual inspiration and friendship.
During her lifetime, she reveled in the accomplishments of her students and was devoted to their advancement. Her dynamism and theatrical gifts, often reciting poems by heart, made her one of the universally adored professors among students and colleagues. With the help of her longstanding friend Angela Moorjani, she published her Recollections of the Past, an autobiography that she completed in her 80th year.
Gala cared most for her family and was an excellent chef. She was elegant and chic, deriving pleasure from the latest fashion and cultures of Europe, to which she and Ivan often traveled. More than anything, she will be remembered for her love and devotion to her family, her lively intellect, her spontaneous recitations of Baudelaire and Pushkin, her warmth and generosity of spirit, as well as her mischievous wit and entertaining stories.
She is survived by her daughter Natalie Stern, son-in-law Eric Upin, and grandchildren Kira and Thomas Upin. She was predeceased by her loving son Daniel Gregory Stern, her cherished mother Dr. Maria Silberkweit, her father Efraim Silberkweit, and her reason for being, her adoring husband Ivan Stern.
Services at Arlington Chizuk Amuno Cemetery, 4450 N. Rogers Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215, on Thursday, May 26, 2022, at 11 am. Please omit flowers. Contributions in her memory may be sent to UNICEF, which does so much for refugees and children fleeing war and persecution.