Shirley Levine Flug

1918 - 2016
Shirley Levine Flug, former resident of Lynbrook, New York and of Century Village in West Palm Beach, Florida, passed away at Three Crowns Park in Evanston, Illinois on July 6, 2016. She was 97 years old. Born to David Levine and Florence Schwebel Levine in New York City, she was a graduate of Erasmus High School and Brooklyn College. She earned Master's degrees in Public Administration from Columbia University, and in Guidance and Counseling from Adelphi University. Throughout her life she worked in the field of education, which she considered the most fulfilling of occupations. She was a high school teacher in New York City, an elementary school teacher in Lakeview, New York, and a guidance counselor in North Massapequa, New York.

She was predeceased by her husband, Benjamin Flug, when she was only 34 years old, and raised her sons by herself while working as a teacher. Her sister, Myra Levine Ehrenhaus, passed away in 2001; they had lived in the same house for all but nine years of their lives and she remained close to Myra's children, Peter Ehrenhaus and Bonnie Weintraub.

She is survived by her two sons, Michael Flug (Suzanne French) of Chicago and Jonathan Flug (Barbara) of the state of Washington, three grandchildren, Katharine Flug, Michael French, and Kevin French. She was devoted to family, and kept in touch with a host of cousins, nieces and nephews, and "grands" and "great-grands."
An avid photographer since her high school years, she published photo essays in several magazines in the 1950s, and created the hugely popular "We Take a Trip" series of McGraw-Hill educational filmstrips for elementary school students in the 1960s.

She contributed to many charitable and advocacy organizations. Near the end of her life, she suggested that memorial contributions in her name be made to either Doctors Without Borders or the Southern Poverty Law Center.