SYLVIA GOLDFRANK

Sylvia Goldfrank, who taught English and French at Mamaroneck High School for 21 years, died February 2, 2006 after a brief illness. She was 93 and had lived in Santa Cruz, CA since 1986 . Her husband, Max, preceded her in death by thirteen years. Memorial services are planned on both coasts for the Spring.

Born in New York in 1912, Mrs. Goldfrank attended the Ethical Culture School, graduated from Hunter High School as valedictorian, and received her BA from Wellesley College in 1932, having spent her junior year in France. She earned an MA from New York University in French Literature, with a thesis on the Chanson de Roland.

A founding member of the New York Teachers' Union, she was a lifelong fighter for social justice. After World War Two, she worked as an editor, translator, and interpreter for the French government's press and information service, and in addition co-translated several books from the original Yiddish. Blacklisted from teaching in New York City schools, she moved to Westchester and resumed her career, briefly in Briarcliff and then at Mamaroneck High School.

After she retired in 1976, she taught at adult schools and at Long Island University, and she resumed her studies, at Columbia and at the City University of New York. She was fluent in three languages and could converse in three others.

Mrs. Goldfrank and her husband moved to Santa Cruz in 1986, where she attended classes at UC Santa Cruz in history, literature, and art history. One of her professors was Richard Terdiman, who had been her student at MHS in the 1950s, and she remained in frequent contact with several other MHS alumni. She was a world traveler, a serious pianist, and a devoted opera and concert goer. She was a longtime supporter of the arts on both coasts, and she befriended many local musicians.

Mrs. Goldfrank leaves her two sons, Walter, Professor of Sociology and of Latin American & Latino Studies at UCSC, and David, Professor of History at Georgetown; seven grandchildren, Naomi Talish of Scarsdale, Daniel Goldfrank of Washington DC, Benjamin Goldfrank of Albuquerque, Sarah Goldfrank of Washington DC, and Joseph, Helen, and Max Goldfrank, all of Falls Church VA; and three great-grandchildren, Julia and Abigail Talish and Diego Goldfrank.

Contributions are preferred to Doctors Without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org) or to the UCSC Foundation/Opera Program (UCSC, Attn: Arts Development, Porter College D-164, Santa Cruz, CA 95064)

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