Marsha Sternfield Baum, a successful psychotherapist and pet rescuer, died March 22. She was 74.
Born in 1951 in Queens, N.Y. to Bert and Claire (Adler) Sternfield, and raised in Worcester, she earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a graduate degree in social work from Columbia University before she moved to Plymouth in 1982 with her husband Alfred who she married in 1971.
Her family and friends remember her for her empathy and for her love of animals. She rescued and cared for many pets during her life.
In Plymouth, they raised two children, and she started a successful psychotherapy practice. She was widely known for her empathy among family, friends, patients, and the Plymouth community.
She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Dr. Alfred Baum of Plymouth; her son Ben Baum and his husband Dave Brown of Washington, D.C.: and her daughter Jennie Plahm and her husband Josh Plahm and grandson Lucas Plahm of Leominster. She was predeceased by her brother, Edward Sternfield.
She is also survived by her cat Fuzzy and her two grand-dogs.
Burial is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 25 at Vine Hills Cemetery, 102 Samoset St. in Plymouth with a memorial service to follow at 11 a.m. at Pavilion at Pinehills, 54 Clubhouse Drive, Plymouth.
Gifts in Marcia’s memory may be made to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the PKD Foundation, or Beth Israel Deaconess Plymouth’s Senior Behavioral Health Center.