Yetta Zutz Chaiken

1922 - 2020

Yetta Zutz Chaiken

Wilmington - Age 97, passed away April 9, 2020.

Born May 13, 1922 as a proud first generation American to Max and Tillie Zutz, she attended P.S. DuPont High School and the University of Delaware, graduating in 1943. Yetta married her high school sweetheart, Frank "Sonny" Chaiken in 1942. The two of them spent a lifetime of supporting the Jewish community of Delaware as well as many other causes.

Yetta spent years teaching history at Warner and Mt. Pleasant Junior High Schools, where she was the first in Delaware to teach a Women's Study class as well as an Anthropology course to that level of student. Some still remember the exceptional worldly insights she provided during those years. She was an avid supporter of women's rights and was active in the League of Women Voters. After her retirement from teaching, she began collecting oral histories of Delawareans for both the University of Delaware and the Jewish Historical Society. She was awarded the Medal of Distinction from the University of Delaware, its highest honor.

Yetta and Sonny had a passion for travel and traveled all over the world on "non-touristy" trips. These included ulpans in Israel, theater trips to England with the Delaware Theater Company, rafting down the Colorado River, biking through France and Denmark, bird watching in Hawaii, and multiple Elderhostel trips. She was a lifelong learner and attended classes every semester at the Academy of Lifelong Learning from its inception. She was fascinated by the cosmos and the multiple universes being discovered.

She loved being an active part of the Jewish Community and supported its causes, including Hillel at the University of Delaware, the Holocaust Memorial in Wilmington, and sponsoring the Frank and Yetta Chaiken Jewish Studies minor at the University of Delaware. She had a wide expanse of friends, including her beloved 'Bridge Club'. Even at the age of 97, she would visit those who were homebound, lonely, or in Senior Living Centers who had few visitors.

Yetta was predeceased by her husband, Frank; her brother, Harry Zutz; her sister, Lena Spivack; and her great grandson, Justin Selekman. She is survived by her three daughters, Janice Selekman of Wilmington, DE, Lesley Kravitz (Paul) of Fairfax Station, VA, and Barbara Chaiken of Durham, NC; 7 grandchildren, Aaron Selekman (Tracy), Rebecca Orr, Daniel Selekman (Jennifer), Michelle Jacoby (Leonard), Neal Kravitz (Margaret), Ethan Chessin (Susannah), and Mati Chessin (Brianna); and 13 great-grandchildren.

Her most frequent lines were that she felt like the luckiest person in the world, that she lived in the best of times (although she wanted to see a woman president before she died), and that she had the most wonderful life. Because of the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic, burial will be private. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Donations in her memory can be sent to Hillel at the University of Delaware, 47 W. Delaware Avenue, Newark DE 19711 or the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Delaware, 236 John Munroe Hall, Newark, DE 19716.

SCHOENBERG MEMORIAL CHAPEL