Faith Baum Diamond

Faith Baum Diamond passed away peacefully on December 18, 2025, at Garden Ridge at Greenspring in Springfield, Virginia.  Born on July 6, 1927, Faith led a full and rewarding life, deeply enriched by an 80-year marriage to her soulmate and best friend Arnie and decades of lively adventures with children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and friends.  

Faith was the kind of person you would want for a friend, always present and ready to listen. Her enthusiasm for others was genuine and selfless.  Her commitment to loved ones, constant and unshakeable, was the glue that held the Diamond family together, especially in tough times which she faced with grace and grit. No one can remember her losing her temper or saying a bad word about anyone. She was honest, open, kind and practical. She didn’t give advice until she was asked, and she never sought the spotlight for herself. Her generosity was legend: she enjoyed giving gifts to family members on her own birthday.

Faith was raised in a modest home in the Bronx by her Polish immigrant parents, Max and Helen. Her father was a skilled mold maker and an artist. Her mother, a staunch supporter of rights for workers and women, served as a role model. Throughout her life, Faith, too, fought for human rights and regularly raised her voice to advocate for those less fortunate than herself.

When she was 14 years old, Faith met the man who would become the love of her life. It was a fairytale beginning to a very real and enduring love. Ice skating in Van Cortland Park she fell and he rushed over, sweeping her into his arms. He remained her hero for life. After she graduated early from Evander Childs High School three years later, they married on New Year’s Eve, 1944. 

The early years were busy. After earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Home Economics from Hunter College, Faith taught cooking and sewing to 8th grade girls in Washington Heights. She and “Arnie” lived with her parents while he pursued a degree at the Columbia College of Pharmacy. Two children later, they moved to Fairfield, Connecticut and she continued to teach Home Economics in Darien. Faith was an expert seamstress who sewed many of her children’s clothes for years. In 1957, they welcomed their third child, and in 1960 moved to Westport, Connecticut. Her hectic family schedule did not prohibit Faith from going back to school at night, receiving a Master’s Degree in School Counseling from the University of Bridgeport and becoming a guidance counselor at Weston High School. While working, she continued her studies and earned another Master’s Degree, this one in School Psychology from Fairfield University, and subsequently moved to Weston Elementary School where she was a school psychologist,- a post she cherished until she retired. Both positions were far better suited to her interests and professional skills than teaching Home Economics.

After raising her children, Faith, like her mother, devoted significant time and energy to civil rights, especially the right of women to make their own healthcare decisions. She frequently volunteered as an escort at a family planning clinic and loved participating in political demonstrations, particularly in the nation’s capital. Faith was proud to stand up and be counted for peace, equality, nonviolence and women’s reproductive rights. 

Throughout the years, Faith and Arnie shared a special bond with lifelong friends Joe and Lena Fishman, Dick and Harriet Rauh, Sandy and Joyce Zimmerman, and Ben and Ruth Kaslove—friends who were like family. Faith and Arnie’s trips with Joe and Lena are still talked about! When they traveled together, people often confused them and joked about “who was married to who.”

In 2000, Faith and Arnie moved closer to the Fishmans on the Jersey Shore. The couples remained fiercely incorrigible and inseparable friends until Joe and Lena passed away. Around that time, Faith and Arnie moved to Greenspring Senior Living in Springfield, Virginia, to be near family. When she wasn’t gardening, painting watercolors, or playing Mahjong with her Greenspring friends, Faith took great pleasure spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. When one or another of them sat on her lap and began counting her wrinkles, Faith would say, “Make sure you count each and every wrinkle. I worked hard to get those!”

Faith’s exuberance for life was authentic and infectious. Her family affectionately teased her of having FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. In our lives today, it is we who are missing you, Faith. Thank you for so many sweet indelible memories! 

Faith was predeceased by her husband, Arnold, her parents, Max and Helen, and her brother, Will. She is survived by her children Lynn (Lou), Paul (Lisa), Martin (Robin), four grandchildren Ellen (Mark), David ( Jodi), Aaron (Amy), Moriah (Sean), and five great grandchildren Sarah, Emma, Noa, Quinn, and Greyson .

In lieu of flower, donations in Faith’s memory can be sent to either:

-ECHO (Ecumenical Community Helping Others) online at echo-inc.org or via check to 7205 Old Keene Mill Road, Springfield, VA 22150 or by calling 703-569-7972 or -The Southern Poverty Law Center at https://www.splcenter.org