Rita F. Bremer

Bremer, Rita, of St. Charles, Missouri, died on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at the age of 87. Dear daughter of the late Friederich and Wilma Luhmann and friend to many. She was employed as a Physician for many years. The following is a "Eulogy for Rita Bremer" written by Les Hauser. Rita Frieda Bremer was born December 8th , 1922 in Hoxter, Germany to Friedrick and Wilma Bremer. She had the experience of growing up before, during and immediately after World War II in Germany. She was proud of the fact that she avoided being forced to join the Hitler Youth in her teen years by instead volunteering for the Green Cross, the German version of the Red Cross. During those years she cared for many of the German soldiers who were wounded on the Eastern Front in Russia and developed an intense interest in the healing arts. She graduated from the University of Gottingen in 1949 and finished her medical studies at the University of Munic in 1953 being conferred a Doctorate in Medicine and graduating Magna Cum Laude. Under the sponsorship of a cousin, she immigrated to the United States in 1953 and performed her Internship at General Rose Memorial Hospital in Denver, Colorado from 1955 to 1956. She came to St. Louis in 1956 and Interned at the old City Hospital from 1956 to 1957 and served as an Assistant Resident in Medicine at St. Mary's Hospital from 1957 to 1958. From 1958 to 1961 she served in a number of Residency Programs at various hospitals in neurology, psychiatry, internal medicine and thoracic/chest medicine. In 1961 she became a staff physician at the Robert Koch Hospital and eventually became an Internal Medicine Specialist at the old Homer G. Phillips Hospital on the north side of St. Louis. In 1965 she was asked to staff hospital sponsored clinics serving the poor and indigent population of the north side of St. Louis. She became Assistant Clinic Director in 1968 and served as a Clinic Physician until 1974. In addition to Homer G. Phillips Hospital, she was also on the staff of Christian Hospital and DePaul Community Health Center. During her medical career she took a number of continuing medical education courses including one at the prestigious Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Philadelphia. She was a member of the St. Louis County and the State of Missouri Medical Societies. While practicing in St. Louis she worked on a number of research studies including one in the Metabolism Lab at Washington University Medical School, the study of epilepsy at St. Louis University and was the recipient of a Federal Health Grant for the study of isotopes at the old Cochran Veterans Hospital in 1959. Rita became a naturalized citizen in 1957. Because of health problems, she had to cut her medical career short in the early 70s and go on disability. She later built a house in the St. Charles Hills subdivision and spent her remaining years living with her housekeeper Juanita Wilson who passed away a number of years ago. I and my family met her through Juanita who we used to take to Grace Baptist Church with us every Sunday morning. Rita was an extremely generous person, even though because of her type of practice, she was far from the traditional well off physician. Quite often her and Juanita would buy coats or shoes for children in their neighborhood when they saw their parents couldn't afford them. She was also known for helping out many of her patients who came to her clinic in the City. She had a particular soft spot in her heart of wounded war veterans and gave to a number of Charities that served them. In 2001 she developed colon cancer and had to have a major operation. From that point forward her only living relative in the area, a cousin, Thomas Bremer, tried to help her. Upon his death in 2007 from cancer the people from Grace Baptist Church stepped in to help her where we could. Being from a German heritage myself, I know how independent us Germans can be. That's probably why I developed a special affection for Rita even though she could be difficult at times. She was extremely modest and got embarrassed when people would call her Doctor Bremer. Many times she would tell me she didn't feel she had accomplished much in her life. And yet if you knew what she went through during and after the War, you would be amazed that she accomplished so much. Perhaps her greatest love in addition to her photography and study in astronomy, was her relationship with Jesus Christ. She told me many times she was ready to die and quite often couldn't understand why the Lord was allowing her to live. I told her that I could not give her an answer but that I knew it was God's will and it would only happen when he was ready for us. Well, a week ago today, he was ready. I was so happy she didn't have to linger in the nursing home and that now she is finally home with the Lord. You meet many people in your lives. But Rita is one I will always admire and remember. She was faced with overwhelming odds as a young girl and she overcame them all. And most of all at the end she knew Jesus was by her side. If you leave this world with that realization in your heart, there is nothing more we can ask of life.