Martha “Mimi” Singer, 92, wife of the late Rolf Singer, world-renowned fungi expert, passed away Wednesday, January 8, 2003 after living life to the fullest as wife, mother, grandmother, sculptor, humanist, worldwide traveler, collaborator with her husband’s work in mycology, volunteer at The Field Museum, and author of Mycologists and Other Taxa. Born in Vienna, Austria on Dec. 15, 1910, she later lived in Spain, France, Russia, and Switzerland before arriving in the U.S. in 1939. She lived in Massachusetts while her husband was a research scientist at Harvard University. Mrs. Singer lived in South America from from 1948 to 1968 where her husband had professorships in Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Mrs. Singer was an avid and accomplished field assistant for her husband and spent much time in the remote forests of South America. On returning to the U.S. in 1968, they lived in Evanston, IL, while her husband continued his research and teaching at The Field Museum and the University of Illinois, Chicago. Mrs. Singer moved to California to be with her daughter in 1997. She is survived by her daughter, Heidi Eustaquio, and her grandchildren, Daniel and Isabel. Interment and memorial are planned for sometime in April, as her wishes were to be buried next to her husband in Lincolnwood, IL.
