ADREA SELIGSOHN

1933 - 2019

SELIGSOHN--Adrea, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, world traveler, community builder, volunteer, master knitter and friend of many, died of cancer on August 21 at age 86 in North Andover, MA. Born July 11, 1933 in Manhattan, Adrea grew up in the Bronx and Washington DC, where she attended Sidwell Friends School and Walton High School. As a young adult, she attended Skidmore and Hunter Colleges and worked as a legal secretary to support her family. She later married Leo Seligsohn, her husband of 58 years, and they moved to Huntington, NY where they raised their three children. Over her 20- year career in education, social work, and psychotherapy, Adrea built and directed the Hicksville Cooperative Nursery School, ran the Sunday Respite program for parents and siblings of developmentally disabled children, and worked as a Parent Liaison for the DeSisto School. After earning her Masters in Social Work from Adelphi University, she started a program for parents with psychiatric conditions and their children and opened a private psychotherapy practice in Huntington, NY. Through retirement, Adrea and Leo lived in Becket, MA and Lakewood Ranch, FL where they remained committed activists and global adventurers, visiting over 45 countries. Adrea volunteered for numerous organizations including the Huntington Arts Council, Kehillath Shalom, Jewish Family Services, UNIFEM and CASA. She also served as President of Berkshire Women for Women Worldwide, supporting UNIFEM projects for women and girls at risk of violence and abuse in the world's poorest countries. She loved taking in cultural events, organizing family gatherings, traveling, discussing books and ideas, debating politics, and making new friends wherever she went. Adrea touched countless lives through her social work, community service, and philanthropy, and led her life with grace, intuition, resilience, and determination. She is survived by her three children, Ben Seligsohn, Robert Seligsohn and Susan Seligsohn Howell; son-in-law Steve Howell; grandchildren Olivia and Jake Howell; and a dynamic community of friends and relatives. A celebration of Adrea's life will be held on September 15 at 4:30pm at the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel in Manhattan, NY. Tribute donations can be made in Adrea's name to Southern Poverty Law Center.