Goldie Shapiro, 93, died Oct. 6, 2020.
Goldie was born in New York City in 1927 to Isidore and Rachel Grushka, immigrants from what is now Poland, who were active members of the Workmen’s Circle (now named the Workers Circle). The family lived in the Bronx until she was 8, and then moved — with a number of Jewish families — to the Jersey Homesteads (later renamed Roosevelt, New Jersey), a town built as a cooperative, with its economy based on a garment factory and a farm. The community cultivated and celebrated Eastern European Jewish immigrant culture and fostered in Goldie a sense of self that was very rooted in the intersection of Judaism and socialism and awakened in her a desire to fight for social justice, which she did throughout her life.
After college at Rutgers University, Goldie obtained a Master of Social Work degree at Columbia University. She worked as a social worker in the New York City schools and in suburban schools between 1958 and 1970. She then took courses and received a certification in psychoanalysis and began a private psychotherapy practice.
In 1996, Goldie and her husband, Isidore, left New York City to move to Tucson, in order to be closer to her family. They participated actively in the University of Arizona humanities program, the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, and University of Arizona dance program. They established strong friendships in Tucson.
Goldie was unafraid to confront practices she saw as unfair or contrary to our country’s values. She was the first to object to prayers in the Long Beach, New York, schools — years before the Supreme Court ruled that requiring prayers violated the U.S. Constitution. She advocated for the appropriate services for the children and families she saw who suffered through poverty.
Survivors include her children, David (Tina Brier) Shapiro of Moraga, California, and Eve (Paul Gordon) Shapiro of Tucson; and grandchildren, Rachel Shapiro, Ruthie Shapiro, Ben (Kristen SaBerre) Gordon, and Miriam (Chase Craig) Gordon.
