BOUGAS, Tiina Parlin Died peacefully on October 24, 2016 at her home in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, surrounded by her loved ones. She was the beloved wife of 63 years to Dr. James Andrew Bougas, and devoted mother to Karen Bougas Linn and Tiina Smith Rand. She was also the cherished grandmother to Kara and Andrew Linn and Trace, Staley and Camden Smith.
Born in 1924 in Tartu, Estonia to Hugo and Ada Parlin, Tiina Bougas moved to Germany, where she earned her medical degree at Hamburg Hansa University. Following the Second World War, she immigrated to the United States, and became a U.S. citizen. She conducted her residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
After meeting and marrying Dr. Bougas, a fellow resident in the surgical unit at New York Presbyterian, the couple moved to Boston where she became that city’s first female anesthesiologist. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living anesthesiologist in Massachusetts.
She gave up her practice in 1958 to raise her children. She took great pride in her daughters’ accomplishments. Both sisters graduated from Harvard College. Karen went to medical school and is a practicing physician. Tiina also graduated from Harvard Business School and became a successful investment banker and finance executive.
Ms. Bougas was also a passionate athlete, winning many local tennis tournaments. In her later years, she excelled at croquet and bridge. She was also a strong supporter of the arts and was involved in many activities at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She was especially adept at growing and arranging flowers, which remained a favored activity since her youth in Estonia.
Tiina Bougas was a long time member of the Church of the Redeemer, the Longwood Cricket Club, the Chilton Club and in Marion, Massachusetts, where she maintained a summer home, was a member of the Sippican Tennis Club, the Beverly Yacht Club and the Piney Point Beach Club.
A memorial service was held at the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill on November 5, 2016. In lieu of flowers, the family requested that a contribution be made in her honor to The Mallet Club, P.O. Box 1062, Marion, Massachusetts 02738.
