MYRTLE SPECKTER

SPECKTER--Myrtle. Penny Speckter, as she was affectionately known, died peacefully at age 100 on December 13, 2020. Penny was born in Omaha where she was graduated from high school. She enjoyed swimming, horseback riding, and reading. She went to work for the Red Cross during World War II and met and married a journalist and aspiring advertising man, Martin K. Speckter. They moved to New York City after the War and were among the first occupants at the just-constructed Peter Cooper Village. She treasured that apartment and her dear neighbors and was able to remain there among her stacks of books, family photographs and treasured collections until the day before her death. Penny spent her professional life in advertising, first in the Mad Men era at various large agencies and then as a partner with her husband at Martin K. Speckter Associates which handled the Dow- Jones account, among others. After her husband died in 1988, she continued to serve clients with her own agency. She also attended night school and received her Bachelor's and Master's degree in mathematics. During the last two decades of her life, she devoted herself to publicizing her husband's creation the Interrobang, a punctuation mark combining a question mark with an exclamation mark. She appeared recently on Netflix's documentary show, "Explained." She also became Editor-in-Chief of the GSMT News, the publication of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen. She published her final edition as editor in October, 2020. The Society was dear to her and she could often be seen, an umbrella at hand, striding to its headquarters on 44th Street. Her evenings were spent playing bridge with friends and cabaret hopping. She lavished her love and advice on her nephews and nieces, Martin and Jill Sneider of St. Louis and the late Joel and Jilann Sneider of Miami Beach. She continued offering her loving tutelage to their children, Mark Sneider, Julie and Brian Peller, Peter Sneider and Emily Osherson. She was loved by "the Fire Islanders" as well as her neighbors and friends but none more so than by her guardian angels, Victoria Dengel and Susan Kastner Tree. She was also cherished by great-grandnieces, Sally, Bonnie, Josie and Lila. Burial will be private. Donations may be made to the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, 20 W. 44th Street, New York 10036.