[nfbwatlk] Fw: [Greater-baltimore] FW: Dr. Zaborowski obituary from the Baltimore Sun

[KAYE KIPP]

Wow.  That's a fine article.  She was only 58.  It's hard to believe.  And 
she did so much.  She'll be sorely missed.

Kaye
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan and Renee" <westfrye at verizon.net>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 3:20 PM
Subject: [nfbwatlk] Fw: [Greater-baltimore] FW: Dr. Zaborowski obituary from 
the Baltimore Sun


>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Riccobono, Mark" <MRiccobono at nfb.org>
> To: "NFB of Maryland Baltimore Chapter Discussion List"
> <greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 1:07 PM
> Subject: [Greater-baltimore] FW: Dr. Zaborowski obituary from the 
> Baltimore
> Sun
>
>
>
>
> The following article appeared in today's BALTIMORE SUN. The print
> edition included a very nice photograph.
>
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bal-md.ob.zaborowski30nov30,
> 0,1695147.story?track=rss
>
>
>
> Betsy A. Zaborowski
>
>
> [ Age 58 ] The former executive director of an innovative institute
> helped blind people pursue independent lives.
>
>
> By Frederick N. Rasmussen | Sun reporter
> November 30, 2007
>
> Betsy A. Zaborowski, who had been diagnosed with retinal blastoma at a
> young age and later became blind, devoted her entire life to fighting
> the notion that blindness is a tragedy.
>
> Dr. Zaborowski, former executive director of the National Federation of
> the Blind Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, died early yesterday of
> cancer at her Denver home. The former Ednor Gardens resident, who had
> moved to Colorado only this week, was 58.
>
> It was Dr. Zaborowski's wish that she return to the new Denver home that
> she and her husband had purchased last month, and on Tuesday, she left
> Baltimore for the last time aboard an air ambulance.
>
> She had served as executive director of the innovative institute, the
> first of its type in the nation, which provided education, employment
> and adaptive technology for the blind, from 2003 until this year, when
> she stepped down because of failing health.
>
> At her death, Dr. Zaborowski was a senior adviser to the NFB.
>
> "Dr. Betsy Zaborowski's service to the blind of the nation was
> extraordinary," Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of
> the Blind, said in a statement released yesterday.
>
> "As the first director of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan
> Institute, she materially increased opportunities for blind youth and
> blind adults for at least the next generation," he said. "She was an
> extraordinary leader, and she had a warm heart."
>
> "Betsy's work and accomplishment represents the spirit and imaginative
> approach she brought to changing lives in a positive way," said Mark
> Riccobono, who succeeded Dr. Zaborowski as director of the Jernigan
> Institute in July.
>
> "She was brilliant at thinking of what the next big thing was going to
> be and how we could put the pieces together, and then she used her
> leadership skills to make it happen," he said. "She was a dynamic lady
> that got things done, and I always marveled how she used her Midwestern
> people skills to that end."
>
> Mr. Riccobono praised the "vigorous attitude" that she brought to
> whatever she was doing.
>
> "However, there was always a balance in her life between work and play,
> and she could do both extremely well. She achieved a lot but always
> recommended that there be a balance and people were to have fun," he
> said.
>
> Dr. Zaborowski was born Oct. 7, 1949, and raised in Thorp, Wis., where
> she graduated from high school.
>
> "She was 3 years old when diagnosed with retinal blastoma and was
> treated at the University of Chicago Medical Center. It's a very rare
> cancer, and most children diagnosed with it don't survive, but Betsy
> did," said her husband of 18 years, James Gashel, vice president of
> marketing for K-NFB Reading Technology Inc. and former executive
> director for strategic initiatives for the NFB.
>
> "She grew up and functioned as a blind person," he said.
>
> Dr. Zaborowski held a bachelor's and master's degree in educational
> counseling from the University of Wisconsin in Menomonie, and earned her
> doctorate in psychology from the University of Denver in 1985.
>
>>From 1970 to 1976, Dr. Zaborowski worked as a junior and senior high
> school guidance counselor on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
>
> In 1976, she moved to Colorado, where she was a mental health and
> university-based counselor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In
> 1980, she worked in the field of health psychology for Kaiser Permanente
> in Denver, while studying for her doctorate.
>
> After moving to Baltimore in 1987, Dr. Zaborowski, a clinical
> psychologist, established a private practice specializing in women's
> issues. She also was an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins
> University's School of Continuing Studies, where she taught a graduate
> education counseling course.
>
> She also frequently lectured at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and
> Kennedy Krieger Institute.
>
> In 1995, Dr. Zaborowski joined the NFB as director of special programs,
> a position she held until 2003, when she was named executive director of
> the Jernigan Institute.
>
> "She was an incredible leader and mentor for all blind Americans and
> especially for me personally," said John Pare, current director for
> strategic initiatives for the NFB.
>
> "She was internationally known and even spoke at a United Nations
> meeting in New York on behalf of the blind concerning Web site
> accessibility. She has traveled all over the world on behalf of the
> blind," he said.
>
> "She was a very energetic and vibrant. You'd be sitting in a chair one
> moment listening to her and the next you'd be on your feet because of
> her ideas and energy," he said.
>
> In 1998, she was selected one of Maryland's Top 100 Women, and again in
> 2000, by The Daily Record. In 2004, Smart Woman magazine featured her on
> its cover, and the next year, Smart CEO featured her as one of 25
> admired Maryland leaders.
>
> Then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening appointed her to the Maryland Information
> Technology Board, and later was the first chairwoman of the Mayor's
> Commission on Disabilities. She also served two terms on the Baltimore
> City Women's Commission.
>
> Dr. Zaborowski was an avid gardener and entertainer.
>
> "She had the best flower garden in the 1300 block of East 36th Street,"
> her husband said. "And she loved to throw what she called her 'Polish
> Christmas Party.' She loved the Polish side of her family and would have
> 80 or 100 people over for a holiday party."
>
> Dr. Zaborowski had been a longtime communicant of SS. Philip and James
> Roman Catholic Church on North Charles Street.
>
> "Betsy would like to be remembered for three things," Mr. Gashel said.
> "That she was Polish, a Roman Catholic and a Packers fan."
>
> A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at St.
> Therese' Roman Catholic Church in Aurora, Colo.
>
> Also surviving are a stepson, Eric Gashel of Ruston, La.; two
> stepdaughters, Andrea Beasley of Littleton, Colo., and Valerie Costanza
> of Keller, Texas; and two grandchildren.
>
> fred.rasmussen at baltsun.com
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
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