The Berkshire Eagle
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Angela finished directing the last play of her life - this time the one she wrote. She was the set designer, costume maker, makeup artist, choreographer, and lead actress. This show, the life she led, was extraordinary and those of us who were in the audience or who shared the stage with her are giving her a standing ovation.
Angela (Wottitz) Kalischer, 85, died peacefully at home in Lenox on 6/21/21, surrounded by her loving family. She was born on 4/8/36 in Vienna Austria, the daughter of modern architect Ernest Wottitz, and kindergarten teacher and later interior designer Gertrude (Goldhammer) Wottitz. Her family fled Vienna after Hitler marched into Austria in 1938. They resettled in New York, where Angela's parents exposed her to the arts and cultivated her appreciation of Viennese culture. Their family suffered huge losses due to the Holocaust and this left a permanent mark on their lives. In response, Angela wanted to bring joy to peoples' lives. She graduated from the High School of Music and Art at 16, then spent a year working with leather craftsman Fred Braun before enrolling at Pratt Institute to study architecture. She met her future husband, Clemens Kalischer, at Avaloch Inn in Lenox. They shared a common history of having survived the Holocaust, as well as their passion for the arts. They were married in 1956 and she became his assistant. She left NYC to live in the Berkshire Garden Center in Stockbridge. For thirty years they enjoyed the garden setting, after which they lived at Elm Court, before she purchased a home in Lenox. Angela adored the Berkshires, an area she was first introduced to when she was a nanny for Hans Maeder's family at The Stockbridge School in 1952.
In Stockbridge, Angela used her dance training to teach young children modern dance. She and Clemens ran several foreign film festivals, and she participated as a community actor in Austen Riggs theater productions directed by Jayne Mooney. In 1960, Norman Rockwell hired her to draw the buildings for what would become his famous painting, Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas. Aided by photos taken by Clemens, she used her architectural training to draw each buildings' bricks, windows, and clapboards. In 1969, she started a 37-year career at Miss Hall's School teaching modern dance, choreography, and theater. She was a self-made woman, who followed her passions to create a career that gave young people wonderful opportunities for self-expression through dance and the theater. In the 1970's, she finished her BA in Creative Arts Therapy through the UMass University Without Walls Program. This training contributed to her dance therapy work at Riverbrook. Her life was about learning and helping all individuals reach their potential. Her great joy was to watch her students develop a love of theater and dance. She viewed them as collaborators, and they formed lifelong friendships. She encouraged students to experiment with new roles while creating theater that made the audience think outside the box. She included faculty, staff, and their children as actors in productions, nurturing the community, and convincing everyone that they "just had" to be in a show. She produced over 60 dramatic and musical shows that delighted people of all ages.
Throughout Angela's life she marched to her own rhythm. She wore vibrant colors with unusual patterns or black and white outfits. She showed up at PTA meetings in bell bottom pantsuits wearing large pieces of self-designed jewelry and bright lipstick. Her smile was contagious. She befriended those in the community who were lonely or in need, knowing that kindness was a way to help others heal.
Angela's work had a profound impact on the lives of her students. She was a one-woman theater department and encouraged young people to be open to their own passions. During the summers she refueled by attending cultural events. A cat may have nine lives, but Angela had more. Starting in 1986, she endured nine different episodes of cancer, a major debilitating stroke, and eventual loss of vision. Many mortals would have given up after a few of these hardships, but she brushed them aside because she had serious living to do. Some of her greatest joys were folk dancing; weaving self-designed clothes; making jewelry; listening to Leonard Cohen, Classical and Klezmer music; watching Ingmar Bergman films; looking at Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt art; going to the Neue Galerie; and eating herring, liptauer, sachertorte, and palatschinken. Her place of greatest peace was sitting on a secluded beach on Block Island.
Covid-19 meant living a year removed from the things that brought her joy. She was thrilled to be returning to Tanglewood, as music was her solace. Her great hope was to attend her grandson's wedding in August. In her waning days, as her body grew tired, she kept returning to the excitement of the wedding. This was Angela - a true believer in love and hope. She wanted to dance at the wedding, even if she was in a wheelchair. She did not concede an inch to loss. When movement and speech were taken from her 15 years ago, she challenged her brain to find a new pathway for speech, and four and a half years after her stroke she began to speak again. She pushed the boundaries of how a stroke defines you. She attended OLLI classes and read with gusto. She knew that knowledge was something that could not be taken from her. We will hold her in our hearts and remember her passion for the arts, her family, friends, and students. She was a life force!
In her final year, Angela was cared for by the loving hands of Margaret Slater, Donna Boland, Cecylia Soborski, Amatollah Elsirafy, and briefly by HospiceCare in the Berkshires. She had a long list of incredible caregivers over the last 15 years. Marybelle Burns provided loving care for over four years as a live-in aid, becoming part of the family. Angela leaves her sister-in-law, Eva Apfelbaum, three nieces, her first cousin George Bennett of Australia, and her lifelong friend, Harvey Rosenberg. She was predeceased by her husband of 62 years, Clemens Kalischer. Her greatest joy was being a mother and grandmother (Gaga). She leaves her daughters Cornelia Kalischer (Kevin Smith), and Tanya Kalischer (Chris Coggins), as well as her beloved grandsons Aaron Kalischer-Coggins (fianc? Megan Monteleone) and Noah Kalischer-Coggins. She was grateful to live with Aaron and Noah for nine years after her stroke. This allowed her to watch them grow into adulthood. She was adored by her family and will be missed forever.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her name to Miss Hall's School (https://www.misshalls.org/giving). A Celebration of Life will be held on 7/18/21 at 1:30pm in the Woods Theater at Miss Hall's School. Masks are encouraged and required if unvaccinated.
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