The Garden of Change: Marian Meyerson (1927-2019)

 Anne's mother, Marian Meyerson, died last Tuesday, Sept. 10, at the age of 92.
   
     She was living in the Hebrew Home in New York City, where she spent the final few months of her life, receiving kind and excellent care. She lived lived the whole of her life as a New York City resident. She lost her own mother early in life; and her sister died in a childhood accident. After her mother died, she lived with her father and various relatives. 
      Anne was very close to her mother throughout her life, maintaining connection with nightly phone calls and frequent visits. Our children, Sonya and Saul, felt very close to her, and their grandfather, and have lasting memories of their grandparents' role in their childhood. 
        I am quoting to post here an excerpt from the eulogy Sonya gave at her grandmother's funeral last week, that captures something of Marian's uniqueness as a warm and perceptive human being. 
        And then I'm going to post the obituary I wrote, with Anne's input, for the website of the funeral home where the funeral was held on Sept. 12.
        Here's Sonya on her grandmother: 

"Grandma loved meeting people, learning their stories and what motivated them, what their passions were – and then found ways to engage with them. She was curious about the world, and adventurous - the postcards she sent me from her and grandpa’s trip across the world certainly helped inspire my own travels. She was kind-hearted, and hated bullies. I remember her standing up to a customer at Guido's, in the Berkshires, who was harassing the shopkeeper unreasonably- - afterwards her assessment had been that he “was NOT a nice man.” It’s worth noting she used a similar phrase when describing McCarthy, or Stalin, or the current president, or Robert Moses, or the unfair music critic in the Berkshire Eagle…


"She was fiercely independent, and loved learning and teaching and discussing - from whatever book her poetry club was reading, to my assessment of Middle Eastern politics, to her running history of how Manhattan was changing. She was also sharp and smart and expected you to bring your full self into the conversation at all times. The last time I saw her, at the Hebrew Home, as we were walking back to their rooms I pointed out a model train set and said something like -- “oh look, grandma, I didn’t know they had a train here.” To which, without missing a beat, she replied, “Well of course, Sonyalah, how do you think we got here?”
 
Here's the obituary: 

Marian Meyerson, the loving wife of Leonard Meyerson, died peacefully at age 92 in the residence she shared with her husband at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale. 

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Marian was the daughter of Anna Levy and Sam Goldberg, the beloved wife of Leonard Meyerson for 70 years, the mother of Joel, Anne and Michael, and a grandmother to Sonya, Saul, William, Andrew, Sam, Quinn, Dian Dian, and Libby.  She leaves also her beloved brother, Arthur Guild, her loving in-laws, and many extended family members and friends.

A child of the city with an appetite for both culture and nature, Marian loved beauty, art, music, theater, New York City, her summer home in Stockbridge, Mass., and her educator’s work with children and seniors. She collected works of art and craft, appreciated the talents of others, had an eye for fashion, contributed to worthy causes, talked easily to newcomers, showed appreciation for a job well done, and made friends everywhere.   

She had a sympathetic understanding of others, a gentle touch, and a willingness to share the wisdom of her own experience. As her husband Leonard says, “People loved her.”

After graduating from the New York City schools, Marian put herself through college while working and raising a family, and graduated from Hunter College. Earning her teaching credentials in early childhood education, she taught in the Yonkers public school system, rising to the position of principal at the time of her retirement.  

While teaching, Marian was a founding member of a women’s group that met regularly for decades. She helped to start a poetry group that met to discuss the classics. 

In retirement Marian devoted the next 20 years to her role as a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, studying the museum’s treasures and sharing her knowledge widely. She led group tours in the Met, introducing visitors to the museum’s illustrious works and bringing illustrated lectures about great works of art and the artists who created them to the residents of senior homes. 

Throughout their life together, Marian and Leonard were active participants in the artistic and cultural life of the world’s greatest city, attending concerts by the New York Philharmonic, opera and theater at Lincoln Center and many other venues. They were supporters of progressive political causes and the Civil Rights movement, taking part in an early civil rights demonstration in Peekskill, N.Y., after political antagonists tried to prevent African-American activist and singer Paul Robeson from speaking.  

They also contributed generously to social justice, arts, and city park organizations.

They traveled widely, to Europe, the American West, the Canadian Rockies, and the Caribbean. They were enjoying a lengthy tour of China when the Tiananmen Square protests began in 1989. They visited their grandson Saul during a semester abroad in London. And in their eighties they paid a last visit to Paris, in the caring company of their granddaughter Sonya.     

For many years Marian and Leonard hosted a large Seder for their extended families at their home in Riverdale. They also hosted visitors at their summer home in Stockbridge, introducing their circle of city friends to the Berkshires region. 

Lifelong lovers of classical music, Marian and Leonard were at one time Friends of Tanglewood, the outdoor venue for Boston Symphony Orchestra. Their connection to Tanglewood dated to their early years together, at one point raising local eyebrows when Marian attended a symphony performance in shorts – a story she told on herself. 

She was a founding member of the Mishkan Ha’am  Congregation in Hastings. 

Those who wish to make charitable donations in her memory are asked to contribute to an organization of their choice.