Hedy Dale Katz (née Prusin) of Roanoke, VA (formerly of Denver, CO; Fairfax, VA; Phoenix, AZ; Socorro, NM; Miami, FL; and Brooklyn, NY) passed away in her home on March 27, 2023, at the age of 75. She is survived by her daughter Risa Katz-Albert and son-in-law (and in heart) Steven Katz-Albert, child Shanna Katz Kattari and their partners Leonardo Kattari and Allison DeMars, her sister in-law Hinda Katz, siblings-in-law Israel and Sarah Katz along with their kids and grandkids, her own fur kids Ember and Oliver, and a whole gaggle of grandcats and granddogs; Mako, Thresher, Nella, Vladimir, Artemis, Sadie, Marla, and Sir Catrick Stewart. She was predeceased by her husband Solomon, mother Beatrice, father Samuel, and brother Alan.

Hedy was born in Brooklyn and spent time growing up both in Sheepshead Bay and Miami, before opting to attend New York University for both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. There, she roomed with the woman who would, by accident, introduce her to her eventual husband, Sol, while they were studying abroad in Paris and Sol was visiting his cousin while stationed in Germany. The rest, as they say, is history; this included them taking karate classes together, having a six-week engagement that culminated in a wedding during which the bride wore peacock blue, and spending the summer backpacking through Europe in their little Fiat.

Once they finished these initial adventures, Hedy and Sol lived in a variety of places for his work with the BLM, while she taught in a variety of schools, from junior high school to community and 4-year colleges. Finally, after settling down in Denver, they brought two kids into their family. Hedy decided that having two kids under five was a great time to go back to get her PhD in Education, at the University of Colorado-Boulder. While it took her the better part of a decade, she graduated with her doctorate in December 1997. Both during this time and upon completion, she worked at a variety of colleges and universities across the front range, teaching classes, running the Reading Center at Metropolitan State College of Denver, and even publishing a text book that she co-authored. Her students loved her unique styles of teaching and helping them engage more with the content, and she spent over 20 years doing this work that she loved. After retiring from this work, she volunteered her time, both in Denver and in Roanoke, by tutoring community members in the English language and in achieving their GEDs.

Smart as a whip, caring deeply about various community and social justice issues, and with a wicked sense of humor, Hedy’s impact can be seen through the success of all the students she taught, the joyous lives of her friends from throughout her seven and a half decades, and in the community mindedness, compassion, silliness, love of animals, and commitment to social justice that her children and their partners embody. Her memory already is, and will continue to be, a blessing.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, her living family ask that, in honor of her deep commitment to civil rights, donations be made in her memory to the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union), and/or to the Franklin County Humane Society in Virginia, where she found her beloved Ember and Oliver.

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/hedy-katz/obituary/

Copy