Isabel Shirvanian

1916 - 2019

Isabel Shirvanian

Upper Saddle River - Isabel Shirvanian passed away at her home on March 29 at the age of 103. What was Isabel's secret to living such a long life? First, she skied and played tennis well into her 80's and second, a cocktail every night with dinner, preferably an extra dry martini on the rocks with a lemon twist.

The daughter of Jack and Sadie Yeldezian, she was born in Paterson, NJ and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She attended Erasmus Hall High School.

After high school Isabel went to the Miss Dunbar Secretarial School and after graduating she went to work for Dorsey, Adams and Walker, a prominent Wall Street law firm. While Isabel worked all week, her weekends were often spend skiing in upstate New York at such places as Smuggler's Notch and Simpson's Slope. She and her friends would either take a rope tow or walk to the top of the mountain, have lunch and then ski down in the afternoon. In 1943, Isabel's passion for skiing compelled her to quit her job and become a ski bum in Alta, Utah.

She married Vartan Shivanian in 1945 but continued to work until she took time off to raise her 2 children, Lee and Bruce. With the sinking of the Andrea Dorea in 1956, her law firm called her back to work. She eventually became a legal secretary and office manager in Ridgewood, NJ for Dwyer and Dwyer and eventually the office manager for attorney Samuel Lyon. After work she was a member of the Upper Ridgewood Tennis Club where she played tennis well into her 80's. In the 1960's she was the moving force in bringing equal rights and privileges to women at the Upper Ridgewood Tennis Club.

She and her husband Vartan lived in Waldwick, NJ until 1958 but then moved to Upper Saddle River where they built their home in 1958. They were one of the early settlers in the town and lived there the rest of their lives.

Isabel's love of skiing continued until she reached 86 years old. After skiing in Vermont for years she began skiing out west in Utah, Colorado, and California with her sons, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends, nurturing their interest in the sport, too.

Even when both were in their 80's and 90's, Isabel and Vartan took vacation cruises to the Bahamas, Nova Scotia, and other parts of Canada with their loving neighbors, Patrick Bertollo and Lois Bono.

Isabel was always filled with the joy of living and she will be missed by children Lee and wife Barbara, Bruce and wife Karen, grandchildren Kristen, Tammi, Ryan, Daniel and Lauren and great-grandchildren Caroline, Catherine, Jacob, Camille, Liam, and Wyatt.

A visitation will be held Wednesday, April 3rd from 2-4 and 6-8 at the C.C.VanEmburgh Funeral Home in Ridgewood, with a funeral service at 7. A graveside service will be held Thursday at 10:00am at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Upper Saddle River Volunteer Fire Dept, 375 W. Saddle River Rd, Upper Saddle River NJ 07458, or the Upper Saddle River Volunteer Ambulance Corps, 378 W. Saddle River Rd, Upper Saddle River NJ 07458. www.vanemburgh.com