2012 Donors - Support Beth Israel Medical Center

6 Beth Israel Medical Center
St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals 7
Shirley Schneier
and Susan Mitrovic
Shirley Schneier always appreciated the care she
and her husband, Louis, received at Beth Israel
Medical Center over the years. So when the retired
accountant passed away in 2011, her estate presented
Beth Israel with a gift of $10,000 to support
the divisions of nephrology and vascular surgery in
memory of the Schneiers.
Mrs. Schneier, who passed away last January at the age of
92, was a lifelong resident of Manhattan. Born in Washington
Heights, she moved to the Lower East Side with her husband and
lived in their East River Coop apartment from the time it was built
in 1955 until her death.
“My aunt was definitely a New Yorker—I’m not sure she ever
even got her driver’s license. She took the bus and walked everywhere,”
recalled her niece, Susan Mitrovic. Mrs. Schneier served
as an accountant for various companies over the years and
A photograph taken
by Shirley Schneier
Lifelong New Yorker
honors her hospital
with Estate Gift
“ My aunt was very impressed with
the care at Beth Israel.”
worked well into her 70s. “She was meticulous with numbers and
maintaining records her entire life.”
When her husband passed away in 1996, Shirley Schneier
became active with the Educational Alliance and took many
classes at their facility on East Broadway.
“once she started taking these classes in her early 80s, she
was prolific. She created paintings, mosaics, beading, and
pottery,” Ms. Mitrovic said, adding that her aunt was also an
avid photographer. “She loved to take photos and share them
with everybody.”
Mrs. Schneier started traveling more in her later years. She
began visiting Ms. Mitrovic in Colorado for three weeks every
summer.
“I tried to show her everything that was different from what she
was used to. we went to the mountains and western towns
and farms, all of which she loved,” Ms. Mitrovic said. “She was
very lively, and she loved being exposed to new things and new
people.”
“My aunt was very impressed with the care at Beth Israel, in
terms of her husband’s health and her own,” Mrs. Mitrovic said.
“She appreciated the care and rehabilitation Louis received and
always felt well taken care of there herself.”
Shirley Schneier during
one of her many travels
Peter Wiernik, MD.
Carole Ann Steiger first met Peter Wiernik, MD,
when she was diagnosed with lymphoma in
1993, and she credits him with saving her life during
her long and difficult struggle against the disease.
“He and I agreed we weren’t going to give up,” she recalled. “I survived
against all odds thanks to Dr. Wiernik, God, and good luck.”
Ms. Steiger and her family are so grateful to Dr. Wiernik that
they have continued to support his research over the years
through the A.L. Levine Family Foundation, which is named after
Ms. Steiger’s father. Most recently, the Foundation gave a gift of
$100,000 to support Dr. Wiernik’s familial hematological malignancies
research at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals.
Grateful Family Supports
Hematology-oncology
Research
“ We are so grateful to Carole Ann and
her family. Their gift will help us as we
work to close in on the genes that might
be responsible for these diseases.”
Featuring both laboratory research and clinical studies, Dr.
Wiernik’s research investigates families with two or more family
members diagnosed with hematological (blood) malignancies.
The goal of the research is to uncover the genetic factors that
influence the development of these cancers in members of the
same family.
“We’ve already studied several hundred families where there is
more than one type of blood cancer in multiple generations, and
we’ve had more than a dozen papers published,” said Dr. Wiernik,
who arrived at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt in 2011 as Director of
the Leukemia Program in the Division of Hematology/oncology.
“We are so grateful to Carole Ann and her family. Their gift
will help us as we work to close in on the genes that might be
responsible for these diseases.”
In honor of the care Dr. Wiernik gave her, Ms. Steiger and her
husband of 55 years, Joel, have vowed to continue to support
his research. “I think you have to have a meeting of the minds
between patient and doctor. I was of the mind that if I was going
to die, I was going to die trying my best to get better—and Dr.
Wiernik believed in the same approach,” the retired social worker
said. “He wouldn’t give up, and neither did I.”
There’s another reason Ms. Steiger is eager to support this
research—her family. Her sister also had lymphoma, so research
into the genetics of blood-related cancers could have a direct
impact on her family.
“We have eight grandchildren, and I hope that by the time they
are all grown, we’ll have a cure,” she said.