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In memory of

Eadie Gerber Shanker

Newtown, PA, USA

June 30, 1933 - September 19, 2020

Jun 30, 1933 - Sep 19, 2020

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Edith Gerber Shanker, age 87, died peacefully in her home at Pennswood Village in Newtown, PA on September 19th, 2020 from kidney disease.

She was born in Philadelphia with two siblings, Alvin Gerber and Sylvia Gordon. Her mother died when she was an infant, and the three siblings were raised in foster families in the Depression era when her father was not able to take care of them. It was that experience that ingrained the importance of family in her.

She graduated from City University of New York and worked as an English teacher in a New York City public school where she became a union organizer and served as a delegate at the founding of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). It was through this work she met her late husband, Albert Shanker.

After raising their three children, she returned to work, helping to establish a "Basic Literacy" and GED program for union members in New York City agencies. She also worked to create the City University of New York's Collaborative Programs for High School Dropout Prevention, and directed CUNY's High School-College Student Mentoring Program. <

She was a passionate supporter of labor unions, public education, civil and human rights, gender equality, and free and fair elections and was a dedicated volunteer for numerous causes during her lifetime, including the North American Conference for Ethiopian Jewry, the Albert Shanker Institute, the Union Square Community Coalition, the Tilden Democratic Club, and Fair Districts PA.

She enjoyed travel and found great enjoyment in art, music, gardening, cooking, genealogy, poetry, and theatre. She stayed active with the UFT until she moved out of NYC in 2016.

She is survived by her three children Adam and his wife Jayu, Jennie, and Michael, her grandchildren, Adrian, Olivia Henigson, Jeremy, and Charlie and her stepson Carl Sabath and his wife Susan Rubenstein and their son Noah. She was a loving aunt to her sister's children Jay and Russell Gordon, sister-in-law to Pearl Harris, and aunt to Pearl's children Martin, Linda, and Miriam.

Funeral services will be private for immediate family due to COVID-19 protocols. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made in her memory to The National Kidney Foundation.

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