 Helen Goodzeit Frank of Springfield, an accomplished artist who has exhibited her work across the country, donated five pieces of artwork to the Saint Barnabas Renal and Pancreas Transplant Center. Mrs. Frank produced the paintings, etchings, and silkscreen in memory of her sister, Susan Goodzeit Schwartz of Red Bank, N.J., who battled kidney disease for 10 years before succumbing to her illness three years ago. Mrs. Frank was inspired to donate her work to honor her sister’s memory, thank the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Center staff for their compassion, and beautify the Center. Shown in front of three pieces or artwork are, from left, Mr. Sid Frank; Mrs. Frank; Martin Jacobs, M.D., Director of Outpatient Transplant Services; Marianne Bunge, R.N., Clinical Director for Renal Services; and Fran Annette, R.N., M.S., Practice Administrator for Nephrology Associates of West Orange.
For ten years, Susan Goodzeit Schwartz of Red Bank, N.J., visited the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Center at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, on a regular basis. Her failing kidneys made dialysis a necessary part of her visits three times a week until she received a kidney transplant, at which time, her visits became slightly less frequent. Mrs. Schwartz’s sister, Helen Goodzeit Frank, of Springfield, often accompanied her on her trips to Saint Barnabas. During these appointments, the sisters chatted and Mrs. Frank, an award-winning artist, spent time scrutinizing the artwork on the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Center walls.
After her sister’s death three years ago, Mrs. Frank was inspired to honor her sister’s courage and vitality, thank the renal staff for their compassion toward her sister, and brighten the days of other patients visiting the Center. In her sister’s memory, Mrs. Frank donated five original pieces of artwork that are now on permanent display in the Saint Barnabas Renal and Pancreas Transplant Center.
The works, ranging from silkscreen to paintings and etchings, include a variety of pieces to delight patients and staff members alike. According to Mrs. Frank, an accomplished artist who has had exhibits across the country, it was important to her to create pieces that would be meaningful to her family and stimulating to Transplant Center visitors. “I wanted to give something of myself to honor my sister’s memory,” she said.
“Susan was a very brave person throughout her illness. She lived long enough to see her daughter Karen get married and to see her first grandchild Julie born in 1993.”
Today, Mrs. Schwartz’s granddaughter Julie Russell, of Middletown, is featured in one of five paintings that hang in the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Center. The painting shows Julie playing dress-up with Mrs. Frank’s granddaughter, Ruby. A second piece shows Ruby eating strawberries. Yet another shows women trying on clothes in a department store changing room. In the fourth piece, an etching, an ark bursts at the seams as animals pour forth, and a final etching portrays an abstract interpretation of the Weequahic section of Newark where the Goodzeit sisters were raised.
“We are delighted to display these works of art in honor of Susan Schwartz,” said Shamkant Mulgaonkar, M.D., Chief of the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Centers for the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, and Mrs. Schwartz’s physician. “Our patients and staff members become like a family. It is a pleasure for all of us to have Susan remembered in this very personal and artistic way.”
David Corbett of Corbett Custom Framing, Morristown, donated framing for the artwork.
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