Jeanne (Wolf) Yozell

Jeanne Wolf Yozell of Weston, MA died peacefully at home in Warren, VT with family by her side early December 25th, at the age of 96. Mrs. Yozell graduated from Newton High School in 1946 and Connecticut College in 1950. She received a Masters from the Simmons School of Social Work in 1966.

She married Peter Sheldon Yozell in 1953, and together they had four surviving children, Emily Yozell & Enrique Pucci of Costa Rica, John & Abby Yozell of Boston, James Yozell & Nivia Freitas of Colorado, and Sally Yozell & David Anderson of Washington D.C., as well as grandchildren Esme, Peter & Niko Yozell, Pablo & Giovanna Pucci, Nathan Anderson and Victoria Moylan.

Mrs. Yozell's dedication to service inspired a distinguished professional career and she played a pivotal role in developing essential social service programs for girls and women within the Greater Boston area. Her significant contributions included expanding the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, when in 1961 she was called to serve as Executive Director, and led the agency for 10 years. Her capacity for bringing together racially diverse communities in a divided city by establishing strategic alliances to recruit women and girls from diverse institutions, such as the Freedom House in Roxbury and the Boys Club at Bunker Hill, was a small but important contribution towards desegregation efforts in the city of Boston. She was also active at the Rutland Corner House, led the Boston Children’s Services Association and social services at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center during the deinstitutionalization period and later headed Family Counseling-Region West. In addition to her agency leadership, she taught at Boston College School of Social Work during the 1970’s where she supervised and mentored student clinical internships at the burgeoning community health centers supported by the Model Cities program, such as the Brookside Park Family Life Center in Jamaica Plain.

Mrs. Yozell later established her own private practice, west of Boston, offering individual counselling and group therapy and later with the Newton-Wellesley Psychiatry group, where she worked until her retirement at age 90. Her dynamic career paved the way for other professional women to achieve success in leadership and supervisory roles. She initiated a support network to bolster their positions and her legacy as a mentor endured. Many social workers and colleagues, as well as past clients, continued to seek her guidance and maintained a close relationship with her until her final days.

The family moved to the suburbs in the late 1950s. However, Mrs. Yozell continued to work in the city and her children recall joining her on home visits to housing projects at Columbia Point, Whittier Street and Mission Hill Projects, at picnics and other “little-sister” recreational activities. She was committed to instill values of racial equality and justice in her children and society to make positive impacts, wherever possible.

Jeanne Yozell held strong beliefs, not hesitating to fight for progressive causes. She was cited by the MA Supreme Court for her expertise in child custody and juvenile court matters, setting precedent standards for children’s rights and parental fitness.

In addition to her professional career and family, Mrs. Yozell was an arts enthusiast. She loved and supported local museums and theaters and was a regular visitor to the Isabel Stuart Gardener Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Huntington Theater and the Boston Ballet. She also loved diverse genres of music. She was a faithful supporter of the Handel Haydn Society, local chamber music and loved jazz.

Although Mrs. Yozell did not consider herself to be particularly athletic, she loved the Outdoors. She skied during winter, enjoyed hikes, learned to sail at Charles River Boathouse at a young age, loved to swim and ride horses and made it a priority that the four children attend summer camps, and learn to appreciate Nature. In the early 1970s Jeanne and Peter built a second home in Warren, Vermont where Jeanne was happiest riding her horse, skiing and hiking the Green Mountains. To Jeanne, the Valley was a “special place with interesting people” and she treasured her deep and lasting friendships.

She and her husband Peter Yozell were also faithful supporters of the Boston sports teams, enjoying season tickets to the Red Sox, the Boston Celtics and New England Patriots.

Mrs. Yozell was also an avid reader. She loved book stores and libraries and her home was filled with books in every possible nook,. From the Bronté sisters classical fiction, to the more modern Haruki Murakami, to biographies of her most admired, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, who stated, "(t)he purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.".

Although her activism and career were important, she said that family was her first priority, caring for her mother and sister until they died and welcoming relatives, her children’s friends, their families and animals into the home. She declared her children to be her greatest achievement.

Services will be held at Levine Chapels, 470 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA on Wednesday, January 15 at 11:00 am. Interment at Linwood Cemetery, 180 Boston Post Rd. Bypass, Weston. Memorial observance at the family home in Weston following the burial through 8pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, 20 Park Plaza #1420, Boston, MA 02116 and the ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts, One Center Plaza, Suite 850, Boston, MA 02108.