Carolyn Belle Sperling

Carolyn Sperlng passed away peacefully in her sleep, at age 94, in the same Manhattan apartment she had lived for more than 45 years.

Cary, as everyone called her, was an original — she lived her life on her own terms, and creating a lasting legacy through her four highly accomplished children.

She was born in Brooklyn in 1928, the daughter of Alex and Lillian Scheinziet. As a fervent believer in Jewish causes, if not organized religion, she met her husband, Ben Sperling, at a camp for aspiring pioneers to Israel, in 1949..

After nearly a year on a kibbutz in the new state of Israel, they returned to upstate New York to Ben’s farm which they had received as a grant from HIAS, a Jewish resettlement organization for recent immigrants.

During her 20 years on a chicken and egg farm near Albany, she raised four children, received her master’s degree in teaching, was a teacher for emotionally disturbed children, and sold eggs and chickens out of a station wagon to customers in the capital area.

Her 4 children — Daniel, David, Jonathan and Devorah — achieved great success professionally. She was predeceased by her husband Ben, and her son Jonathan, a highly regarded census and housing expert with the federal government.

She is survived by Dan, a world-renowned professor and transportation expert, Devorah, a recently retired staff director at Harvard University, and David, the owner of a large immigration law firm, as well as her sister Irma Stein and brother Michael Scheinzeit.

After moving to Manhatten in 1975, she enrolled in a PhD program in Sociology at New School, and taught various courses, including English as a second language to nurses.

When Cary was 62, she made aliyah to Israel, where she lived in Haifa and taught English to Ethiopian Jews. She returned to New York two years later, and remained passionate about Jewish causes to which she contributed generously throughout the years.

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A short memorial service will be held Friday 9 am at Schwartz Brothers-Jeffer Memorial Chapels in Forest Hills, Queens, and the funeral itself in upstate Troy at Elmwood Cemetery 51 Belle Ave. on the Temple Beth Tepfilah grounds at 2:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, our family requests that anyone so inclined make a donation to HIAS, the Jewish immigration organization that helps resettle refugees from throughout the world.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.sbjmemorialchapel.com for the Sperling family.