Florence Polens

Florence (Zuckerbraun) Polens, 103, widow of Irwin S. Polens, died Oct. 25, 2022, in Oneonta, New York.

Born in June 1919, in New York City, she was the daughter of the late Isaac and Henrietta Zuckerbraun, and moved with her family to Jewett City, in 1929. She was a graduate of Norwich Free Academy, and received her degree in journalism at Boston University. At the age of 10, she earned her first byline for an essay on the children's page of the Norwich Bulletin, deciding then that she was going to be a newspaper reporter. Her first job after college was as editor and complete staff of a weekly paper in Belmont, Massachusetts. From there she went to work at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Herald, the Waterbury American, and the Hartford Times, covering everything from labor negotiations, to murder trials, to the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway. Moving to Stafford Springs after her marriage to Irwin in 1953, she became active with local government and commissions. An ardent supporter of the arts and education, she was a member of the Board of Education for 22 years, as secretary, then as chairman, and was chairman of East Conn, a state regional education service center. She served on the Democratic Town Committee for more than 30 years. She was named to the Stafford Arts Commission in the mid-1970s and was active with the group until she moved from Stafford in 2015. She served several terms on the Board of Trustees of the town senior center, and was a member of the Stafford Historical Society. Florence and Irwin and their family were hosts to teachers and school librarians from the Netherlands, Great Britain and Belgium, then to a succession of foreign high school exchange students and foreign graduate students at UConn with whom they maintained contact for many years. She taught English as a second language to adult students from Pakistan, Russia, and Burma. In 2015, she moved from Stafford to a senior community in Oneonta. There she quickly made new friends, and soon was elected as the chair of the residents' council. Florence was an avid reader, knitter, and quilter, and loved music, theatre, and traveling. During the 1940s and 1950s she was an enthusiastic downhill skier, and frequented the slopes throughout New England. She and Irwin enjoyed travels to England, Israel, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands, as well as many trips to different parts of the U.S.

In addition to her husband Irwin who died in 2009, she was predeceased by her two brothers, Jerome Zuckerbraun and Dr. Leonard Zuckerbraun; her sister-in-law Irene Zuckerbraun; and her son-in-law Mark Rees. She leaves her children, Anita Rees, Columbia, Kentucky; Jared Polens, North Adams, Massachusetts; and Rachel Polens, Meredith, New York; three nephews, Joel Zuckerbraun and his wife, Cindy, David Zuckerbraun and his wife, Gail, and Kurt Zuckerbraun and his wife, Mariflor; as well as many friends.

Thank you to Kathy Hilts, Betty Lee, and Amy Lee for helping Florence remain independent for the past few years. A member of Congregation B'nai Israel in Rockville for many years, she retained affiliation when the synagogue merged with and became Beth Shalom B'nai Israel in Manchester.

Funeral services will be held at the Introvigne Funeral Home, 51 East Main St., Stafford Springs, on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, at 1 p.m., with burial to follow in Knesseth Israel Cemetery, Ellington.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the Stafford Public Library, 10 Levinthal Run, Stafford Springs, CT 06076, or Beth Shalom B'nai Israel, 400 East Middle Tpke., Manchester, CT 06040.

To leave a condolence online for the family, please visit www.introvignefuneralhome. com