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AMHERST - Sabina Diamond Braunthal, 80, of Red Gate Lane, died of cancer on Nov 16, 2009, at the Center for Extended Care in Amherst.

She was born on Aug. 12, 1929, and grew up in New York City. After attending public school in Manhattan, she studied at the High School of Music and Art, concentrating in music (the cello). She then enrolled at Queens College from 1946 to 1950, majoring in biology, and being active in student government. After marrying Gerard Braunthal in 1950, she worked as a laboratory assistant at Columbia Physicians and Surgeons Hospital and at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City. She moved to Amherst in 1954, and received her MS degree in bacteriology and public health at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1956. Later she held laboratory positions at the University and Amherst College, and taught biology courses at Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College.

She traveled extensively with her family members, spending numerous years in Germany, a year in India, as well as vacations on all continents. She played cello in the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra and in Pan Harmonium, a local folk dance band. She also regularly played chamber music with friends. She was a longtime member of the local League of Women Voters, the Amherst Woman's Club, University Women, and had been a guide volunteer at the Strong historical house in Amherst.

She is survived by her husband, Gerard Braunthal; her two sons, Peter, of Greenwich, Conn., and his wife Jackie, and Stephen, of Bali, Indonesia; as well as three granddaughters, Stephanie, Kimberly and Ashley.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m. at the Amherst Woman's Club located at 35 Triangle St., Amherst, (413-253-7027). Memorial contributions may be made to the Amherst Historical Society or the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, 97 N. Hatfield Road, Hatfield, 01038. Cremation arrangements are entrusted to the Williamsburg Funeral Home, (413)-268-3400.