Madeleine Swindlehurst

Madeleine Swindlehurst, age 93, of Becket died Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at Berkshire Medical Center. 
Born in Wiesbaden, Germany on October 15, 1929. She was a daughter of the late Frank George Baum and Dagmar Von Natzmer Lechnir and was raised by her great grandmother. She moved to the United States in October of 1947, living first in California. 
Madeleine was brilliant beyond measure. She earned her Bachelor's of Science in Public Health in January 1952 and her Master of Arts in Bacteriology in September 1961, both from University of California Berkeley. She later earned her Ph.D. in Biology in June of 1973 from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. 
Her degrees and expertise brought her to many work places in her 93 years. Madeline served as a research assistant, a professor, and a supervisor of Clinical Immunology at Yale-New Haven Hospital. 
Her research was published in many journals over the years and her students all felt a sense of awe while learning from her. Additionally, she and her family ran Cripple Creek, Inc. in Becket, MA beginning in 1976. Madeleine was very involved in the Town of Becket politics to include the Conservation Commission, the Bylaw Review Committee, and she was a correspondent for both the Berkshire Eagle and the Country Journal. 
She was the beloved mother to four boys; James Madison Swindlehurst (Diane), Jack Henry Swindlehurst, William Sherman Swindlehurst (Deirdre), and Christopher Edward Swindlehurst (Crispina ffrench). She was the grandmother of Sylvia Birns-Sprague, Ian, Shay, Lucy and Violet Swindlehurst, the great-grandmother of Lyra and Oscar Birns-Sprague and the sister of Stephanie Lechnir Schill and Petra Lechnir Heinze, Esther Baum, Ada Baum, and Helen Baum. Madeleine was proud to have seen 7 generations of family in her lifetime.
She was predeceased by her former husband, Edward Swindlehurst, in 2013.
At Madeleine’s request, services will be private for the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made payable to the “Becket Volunteer Fire Department” or to “Becket Washington School Library” and mailed to the Devanny-Condron Funeral Home at 40 Maplewood Ave. Pittsfield, MA 01201