Parents of Murdered Childen founder Dr. Wanda Bincer dies
Dr. Wanda Lavendel Bincer, a psychiatrist and the founder of the local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children, died Thursday in Madison.
Bincer, 77, died unexpectedly after having hip surgery, said friend Hannah Rosenthal, who will deliver the eulogy Monday morning at Bincer's funeral. Bincer had not been well for more than a year, Rosenthal said.
Bincer founded Madison's chapter of Parents of Murdered Children after her 27-year-old daughter, Yvonne, was murdered in Atlanta in 1983. She also served on the group's national board.
Gillian Nevers, now retired from the crime victims unit in the Dane County District Attorney's Office, met Bincer in 1984. Over the years they worked together on victim's rights issues, including the state's bill of rights for crime victims, which was the first in the nation, Nevers said.
"She was very helpful and instrumental in helping others in similar situations," Nevers said. "She was an extremely smart, classy, compassionate person."
Bincer was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1930.
When the Nazis invaded Poland, a Polish Catholic family took her
in. According to Rosenthal's eulogy, the family baptized Bincer
when she was 11 and gave her a new name.
Rosenthal says Bincer was so intent on not forgetting her roots
that she would write her name on a piece of paper and then rip it
up and flush it down the toilet.
In 1944, Bincer joined the Polish underground and served as a courier. When the Warsaw Ghetto was emptied, Bincer escaped to the woods. After the war, she left Poland for Stockholm.
There she met Adam Bincer and the two fell in love. She could not receive a visa to enter the United States when he left to attend MIT. Though engaged at one point, they eventually broke up and married others. It was not until 1972 that the two resumed their courtship and got married.
"It's one of the greatest love stories in the world," says Hank Starkey, who met Bincer after his son, Mark, was murdered in 1990.
Bincer also was active on Holocaust issues. As a member of the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust, she talked about her experiences at international conferences and led workshops on healing and emotional support, according to her obituary Sunday in the Wisconsin State Journal.
She also regularly attended Yom Kippur services at Gates of Heaven Synagogue in Madison, Rosenthal said.
"She came to mourn and to help others mourn,"
Rosenthal wrote in her eulogy. "Each year she would talk to the
congregation about the importance of being gentle and kind to
yourselves and not to have difficult expectations of yourself,
especially at times of mourning. Clearly she was talking to
herself, but sharing her passion and wisdom with others.
Funeral information
10 a.m.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Gates of Heaven Synagogue
302 E. Gorham St.
Madison
File photo
Dr. Wanda Bincer died Thursday in Madison.
