1912 – 2004

SARASOTA, Fla. – Dr. Helene Reeves, 91, a retired physician, died on Feb. 22, after a brief medical illness in Sarasota, Fla.

Dr. Reeves was born May 10, 1912, and was raised in Vienna, Austria. She was the daughter of Samuel and Adela and the youngest of five children. She was a serious student and gymnast in high school and pursued a career in medicine. She was graduated from the University of Vienna Medical School in 1938.

On Dec. 1, 1938, Dr. Reeves married Dr. Edward Reeves and maintained a loving and thoughtful partnership for 66 years. At the time of World War II, Dr. Reeves befriended Dr. Muriel Gardiner, whom many believe was the model for Lillian Helman’s story of “Julia.”

Dr. Gardiner was a courageous woman who was an anti-Fascist activist in the Austrian underground, whose book, Code Name “Mary” includes passages regarding Dr. Reeves’ flight from Austria to Italy in December 1939, where she set sail to America on the Saturnia.

Dr. Reeves and her husband settled in West Paris, in 1944. Subsequently they moved to South Paris, Lewiston (1952) and finally Auburn in 1969. For more than 20 years, Dr. Reeves, who studied internal medicine and pediatrics, practiced public health medicine and served as the State of Maine District Health Officer for Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford counties.

Dr. Reeves was renown for her devotion to family as well as her warm hospitality evidenced by her frequent dinner parties graced with Viennese cooking, pastries and cakes, especially the Schwartz Wald torte (Black Forest Cake) and the coffee nut nuss torte.

She loved to travel abroad, read poetry, and grow massive rhododendrons. She surprised herself by developing enormous affection for her two cocker spaniels, Buttons and Tammy. Dr. Reeves was noted for her courage, intelligence, boundless optimism, and strength of character, and her special love for her only grandchild, Lara.

Dr. Reeves is survived by her husband, Dr. Edward Reeves of Auburn; her son, Thomas Reeves of Gardiner; and her daughter, Dr. Karen Reeves and granddaughter, Lara of Cambridge, Mass.