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Beloved 87-year-old voice coach Barbara Maier Gustern, who was shoved to her death in a shocking attack this month, was remembered Saturday as “a force of nature” who lived life without fear.
Gustern was walking on West 28th Street on March 10 when Lauren Pazienza, 26, allegedly called her a “bitch,” and pushed her to the sidewalk. Gustern, a singer who went on to teach and whose clients included Debbie Harry as well as Broadway performers, died March 15.
Pazienza, who lives in Astoria, turned herself in Tuesday morning. She was charged with manslaughter and assault, and released from Rikers Island Friday after her parents posted bail.
The unprovoked attack on Gustern took place across the street from the Church of the Holy Apostles, where hundreds of mourners gathered.
A bell tolled 87 times to mark each year of Gustern’s life
“Eight decades of incomparable integrity and love, lost to a random act of senseless violence,” the program for the service read noting Gustern was attacked “within window view of her Chelsea home.”
Gustern earned a master’s degree in counseling and clinical psychology from Columbia University, before discovering a passion for singing. She performed with the New York City Opera, Fifth Avenue Opera, Greenwich Symphony and on numerous cruise ship tours, the program read.
The Rev. Anna Pearson, the church rector, said Gustern spoke recently about the challenges of a performing arts career and how she would feel herself getting negative if she wasn’t hired.
“I made a decision. I decided to be happy for the success of others,” Pearson recalled her saying. “I decided not to compare myself to anyone else and to celebrate the good no matter where I saw it no matter who benefitted from it.”
Gustern’s husband, Joe, who performed in “Phamtom of the Opera,” died in 2017. Their only child, Katherine, died in 2003.
Gustern’s grandson, AJ Gustern, said his grandmother “worked so hard to make me feel worthy of my own humanity.”
“I can say with certainty if my ‘BobBob’ didn’t step up to fill the void left by my mother I wouldn’t be here with all you today,” he said.
The service included a recording of Gustern and her husband singing “Sunday’s Child.” The crowd leapt to its feet and applauded when it was over.
Meanwhile, there was no sign of Gustern’s attacker Saturday at her Astoria apartment building or her parents’ home in Port Jefferson on Long Island.
Her father, Daniel, who was out walking a dog on a nearby beach, refused to comment.
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