Ethel Seiderman

1932 - 2016

Ethel Seiderman May 10, 1932 July 26, 2016 Born Ethel Rosen to parents Max and Clara Rosen on May 10, 1932, Ethel made social change her objective in life. Ethel passed peacefully in her sleep on July 26, 2016. Fittingly, the week that she passed away she learned that the College of Marin renamed the College Institute for Excellence in Early Child Care to the Ethel Seiderman Institute for Excellence in Early Education. A documentary of her life will be presented during this year's Mill Valley Film Festival. Ethel's life began in the Bronx, New York in a four-story walk-up cooperative apartment that she shared with her parents, older brother Bernie, and her maternal grandmother who influenced her belief system. Her father Max - a ladies' hat maker - held three jobs in order to support the family. He was a dedicated union man who instilled in his daughter the values of hard work and fairness. Ethel attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx and graduated in June 1949. Then, she enrolled at Brooklyn College where she met Stan Seiderman. After finishing at Brooklyn College, she married Stan on June 21, 1953. Ethel, Stan and Seth (born 1954) relocated to the Presidio, San Francisco in 1955 where Stan was an Army Reserve officer. In 1957, Abby was born at Letterman Hospital, San Francisco, and the family moved to San Anselmo where Ethel contributed to the establishment of the San Anselmo Cooperative Nursery School. The family moved back to New Jersey where Ethel continued her career in childhood development at the Henry Street Settlement House in Manhattan. She also attended graduate school at Rutgers University. In December of 1963, the family returned permanently to San Anselmo. From there Ethel directed the Cross Cultural Education program at San Francisco State University where she completed her masters in Early Childhood Development in 1969. Her first teaching job was at the Florence Crittenton Infant Center, which provided child care for teenage mothers in the Visitacion Valley District of San Francisco, so that they could attend school knowing their children were being looked after. In Marin, Ethel directed the Terra Linda Cooperative Nursery School. She also worked in the Fillmore District in San Francisco at two other child care centers, including a Head Start Project. Around the same time she taught at San Francisco State through a program sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health. Ethel and Stan founded the Fairfax San Anselmo Children's Center (FSACC) in 1973 under their shared philosophy of working with families to make children thrive. She and Stan established one of the most innovative programs in the USA; first, by involving both parents in developing the focus and direction of the center, then by instituting afterschool and weekend activities, and finally by creating the concept of having a "get-well room" onsite so that working parents could continue in their jobs, and trust that their sick children were in the best of care. Several of the working staff also had their own children at the Center, which formed an extended family that Stan and Ethel cherished. Wanting a new challenge, Ethel stepped down from her position of Director of FSACC to form the Parent Services Project (PSP). PSP became a nationally recognized child care training program that enabled childcare workers from socio-economically disadvantaged areas to empower children and their families to have a voice in the decision-making processes both within the educational setting and in the wider community. It also became the subject of a Harvard Family Research Project in the Harvard Graduate School of Education. PSP's concepts continue today under new leadership, based firmly on the principles of supporting families and raising children through effective parental involvement. Another unique characteristic of both the FSACC and PSP was to empower fathers to meet together regularly and to take a more active role in the education of their children. Ethel remained a director of PSP until 2009. While announcing her retirement, she commented more than once that she'd only just begun. Ethel received numerous honors through her work with children and other social causes not just within Marin, but throughout the US. California's State Legislature named Ethel Educator of the Year in 1996. Marin named her Citizen of the Year in 1988 and in 1998, the Marin YWCA inducted her into the Marin Women's Hall of Fame. In 2006, she received the Beryl H. Buck Award for "community giving in action." The Dominican University of California awarded Ethel an honorary Doctorate Degree in 2008 for her devoted career in child care. San Geronimo Valley honored Ethel's "Living Legacy" in 2012. In 2015, she received the Heart of Marin's lifetime achievement award. She remained active even in 'retirement', her lifelong motto was "in order for a child to thrive, the family needs to thrive." Ethel is survived by her older brother Bernie, loving children Seth (Jenny), their sons Ethan and Noah; and Abby Tanem (Bill), their sons Nick (son Solomon) and Will. Please join the family and untold numbers of "Ethel's Best Friends" at a celebration of her life held at the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children's Center on Sunday September 25th at 4:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in celebration of Ethel's legacy to Fairfax-San Anselmo Children's Center, the Parent Services Project, or the Wisdom Trust c/o the Parent Services Project.