Barbara Anne Solomon, age 91, of Valdez, Alaska, former long time resident of Baltimore, Maryland, passed away on July 5, 2022 in her sleep. Barbara had been in hospice care at her home. At her bedside, was Angela Salvania, Barbara’s best friend, care taker and admirer, her husband, Gary Facteau, and her caregiver nurses, DeAnn Hastings, Benny Garza, and Paris Hals.
Barbara, Angela and Gary all from Baltimore, Maryland, moved to Valdez, Alaska two years ago and then all immediately fell in love with this beautiful quiet town. Angela summed up their feeling when she said, “it is heaven on earth.” Barbara was born to Otto William Solomon M.D. and Martha Schmidt R.N. on June 11, 1931 and had one brother William Solomon who preceded her and her husband, Mauricio Zeplo M.D. who also preceded her.
Barbara and Bill lived an almost ideal life, growing up in the San Francisco Bay area. As a physician, Barbara’s dad made numerous houses calls in the surrounding Bay area. Barbara loved to recall the house visits her brother Bill and her made with their dad to the elderly and the infirmary. She would mention that on Sundays, her father would drop off her and her brother to three different protestant Christian churches while he makes house visits. Those multiple church visits ingrained her mind to the scriptures, both the Old and New Testament. Moreover, after watching her dad, do almost miracles with his black leather doctor’s bag, Barbara knew then and there she would follow him into the medical profession.
Barbara graduated from University of California at Berkeley and later went to San Francisco State University to receive her Masters in Biochemistry, before setting a research job where she met Frederick Meyers M.D. who encouraged her to apply to medical school. Not long after, George Washington University accepted her application to study medicine. After medical school, Barbara accepted an internship at District of Columbia General Hospital. From there, she went to Baltimore General Hospital as a staff physician.
After a brief holiday to her ancestral home in Sweden, Barbara dedicated her life of 53 years of service to the community as a physician. Finally, 24 years ago she landed a position at the National Integrated Health Association (NIHA), in our nation’s capital. It was a good fit for Barbara, here, she could practice traditional western medicine with a holistic, eastern philosophy of alternative medicine. It was only with declining health, she reluctantly retired 10 years ago. Over the years, Barbara remained friends with many of her former patients. They called her, sent her letters, and visited her and shared their lives together as friends. One patient of note, Jean Hedrick, who Barbara helped would make a three hour round trip from Shrewsbury, PA to Parkville, Maryland, Barbara’s home to share the non-pasteurized goat’s milk from rural Pennsylvania that she and Barbara loved to drink together in fellowship. Here is a small sample of letters Barbara received from patients:
“Barbara, you saved my life!”
“Barbara, Thank you for being my doctor!”
“I often think, with gratitude, of your medical expertise. I am still benefitting from your excellent care and advice.”
“Barbara, you always knew what to do at the right time. My arthritis is gone, never to return. I have lots of energy and joy again with, much love Barbara.”
Barbara touched many lives, we all do, in many ways, we don’t always see her love and concern radically changed lives. Barbara once said, “I simply try to love each person I meet to the best of my ability, no matter who, and no matter how briefly our meeting.” Barbara, you are a rare person. You are kind, loving and intelligent. We don’t think you realized the full impact of a simple pebble mindlessly tossed into a still pond. Your love, concern, compassion and healing gift was the pebble you cast to your patients who in return and gratitude cast their own pebbles into the same pond of love and concern. Creating and an almost endless ripple of love and concern. Love feeds on love!
Jesus said “follow the straight and narrow path” I guess this is so true for all of us. All without exception, get off the straight and narrow, but with faith and prayer, the wise soon rediscover it. Barbara, your life had many twists and turns, but you always managed with God’s help to get back on the right path. The path you followed was love, concern and compassion for the sick who had given up hope of getting well. You put a hole in the hearts of all the lives you impacted. A hole in all those who knew you and especially those you healed. A hole- only time, prayer and a loving God can repair. We will all meet again, in a better world, but until then, we must say good bye for now.
But until then, we will put it simply-“Barbara, you are loved and missed!”