Amherst, MA – Isolde Mara Stein (nee Mulfinger), known to friends as Iso, passed away on February 19, 2026 at age 93. She is survived by her sister Uta Raedler (Helmut), sons Geoffrey (Patricia Poglinco), Alex (Amy Engelhardt), Andrew, and grandson Ian. She is predeceased by her husband Myron.
Iso was born in 1932 outside Stuttgart, Germany and worked as a travel writer and editor after the war. She moved to the U.S. to be with her husband, studying painting in New York under Sam Finestein (founder of the artists collective Group '55). She exhibited her art in Mamaroneck, NY; as well as Boston, Amherst, Hadley, and Northampton, MA. Her work is in private collections in New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Rye Brook (NY), Amherst, and Washington, DC.
Iso relocated to Amherst, Massachusetts with her family in 1975. In her 50s, Iso returned to college, attending Smith as an Ada Comstock Scholar and earning her Bachelor's Degree in Art History. Iso was an avid reader and remained an active artist for all her life. Like all members of her family, Iso believed her spaetzle recipe was the best.
Donations in her memory can be made to Amherst's Hospice of the Fisher Home and Smith's Ada Comstock Scholars program.
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