Amherst, MA – Shirley (Wolfson) Zalkind
February 22, 1925 – February 28, 2026
Shirley (Wolfson) Zalkind, 101, passed away following a brief illness six days after celebrating her birthday. Born in the Bronx, NY, to Morris Wolfson and Esther (Steele) Wolfson, she was the youngest of three children. She was cherished dearly by her parents and doted on by her big brothers.
At the age of 13, Shirley met the love of her life, Harold (Hal) Zalkind, who lived across the street. They married at 19, right before Hal’s deployment to Europe during the Second World War.
During the war, Shirley attended Hunter College, majoring in Fine Art. One of her first jobs as an artist was painting Hummel-style figurines, created in the US by Herbert Dubler, Inc., after international trade of Hummels was cut off in 1940. She laughed at how she did not advance beyond painting feet.
After the war, Shirley and Hal lived briefly in Indianapolis, IN, near Hal’s mother and extended family. During that period, Shirley worked in advertising design for HP Wasson, creating fashion drawings and window displays. They soon returned to New York, where Hal joined Shirley’s father’s business, Belle Cleaners, in the Bronx. Shirley began working for the Jane Engel women’s designer clothing store in Manhattan, designing advertisements and window displays. When Belle Cleaners moved to Rye, NY, in 1947, Shirley and Hal bought a home nearby in Port Chester. At that time, Shirley transferred to a position at the Westchester County Jane Engel store, in White Plains, where she continued her commercial design work.
Shirley always found avenues for artistic expression. She was a prolific painter, originally in oil, and later in acrylic and watercolor. She also created artistic matchbox holders and jewelry boxes in her small home studio.
When Shirley’s children entered public school, she had a brief career as a nursery school teacher while attending night school at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, receiving her Master’s Degree in Art Education in the mid-1960s. Hal and Shirley moved the family to Rye in 1967.
Shirley began her 30-year career as an elementary school art teacher first working in the Port Chester school district. She spent the majority of her career as the beloved art teacher at Parsons Memorial Elementary School in Harrison.
In retirement, Shirley became an enthusiastic quilter and continued to paint in watercolor, honing her skills by taking classes at the Rye Arts Center. Most of the inspiration for Shirley’s paintings came from the cut flower garden Hal planted for her every year and the islands where they vacationed, Saint Martin in the winter and Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine, in the summer. Shirley and Hal were avid world travelers, and they sought art, flowers, and interesting food wherever they went. Shirley’s curiosity energized her to engage with those around her, friends and strangers alike, and she always found ways to meet new people wherever she went. She was also a voracious reader, maintaining an active New Yorker subscription from the age of 16 to the age of 99.
Shirley took special interest in her grandsons. She kept up with their lives through adulthood, and would find ways to meet their passions, whether through art, books, foreign languages, travel, or food. In 2013, Hal and Shirley moved to Amherst, MA, to be closer to their daughter and her family.
Shirley was predeceased by her son Robert in 1983, and by her beloved husband Hal in 2021, after 77 years of marriage. She is survived by her daughter Nina (Zalkind) Tetenbaum, son-in-law Donald Tetenbaum, and grandsons Joshua Tetenbaum and Noah Tetenbaum, along with nieces, nephews, cousins, and many, many friends who adored her and will miss her greatly.
We thank the Arbors at Amherst for the abundant love and care they gave Shirley in her final years, and Beacon Hospice for making her final months and days comfortable. Donations may be made in Shirley’s memory to New England Public Media.
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