Dorothy Sargent Bauer Cornish

Dorothy Sargent Bauer Cornish, a long-time supporter of civic, cultural, and environmental causes in the Capital District area of New York, died Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Charlotte, N.C. She was 85. She was born in New Haven, Conn., daughter of Charles F. and Elizabeth D. Sargent. Her father was the president of Sargent & Co., one of America's largest makers of building hardware, locks, and tools. She graduated from Mary C. Wheeler School in Providence in 1943, and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass., in 1947. In 1951, after a short career in banking, she married K. Jack Bauer, a historian and professor of history. They had three children, and lived in Virginia and West Virginia before moving to Troy, N.Y., in 1965, when he joined the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He died in 1987. Mrs. Cornish served as an unofficial editor and sounding board for many of her husband's books. In his 1985 biography of President Zachary Taylor, he wrote, "the manuscript has been read, reread, listened to, and lived with by my wife, Dorothy Sargent Bauer, who possesses some of the best eyes for grammatical disasters, and ears for maladroit flights of rhethoric."In 1994 she married Dudley T. Cornish, a noted Civil War historian. Following his death she moved to Charlotte, N.C. Mrs. Cornish was a member of many civic, cultural, arts, and environmental groups. In the mid 1970s she was elected a member of the Board of Education for the Brittonkill Central School District in Brunswick, N.Y. She also served as a member of the board of directors of The Friends of the Troy Public Library.For many years she was a volunteer for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and the Troy Public Library's books-to-shut-ins program. She also volunteered at Samaritan Hospital in Troy, and for the Red Cross. She was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Troy for more than 40 years, serving on the vestry and as president of the Altar Guild. In addition to her volunteer work, Mrs. Cornish was an avid gardener and animal lover. She could often be seen walking her two dogs in her neighborhood near the Troy Country Club. She is survived by two sons, Eric Bauer of Sudbury, Mass., and Neil Bauer of Derby, Conn.; a daughter, Anne Kidd of Charlotte, N.C.; a stepson, D. Taylor Cornish, of San Francisco; a brother, C. Forbes Sargent of Boston; a sister-in-law, Lucie Bauer of Rockport, Me.; and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at a time and place to be determined. Raymer-Kepner Funeral Home and Cremation Service is assisting the family. Friends may offer concolences to the family at www.raymerfh.com