Obituary of Susan J. Bolitzer

Susan Jane Bolitzer (84) of Saugerties NY, passed away on Friday, November 15^th from Alzheimer’s disease.

Susan loved living on the water and cherished her memories of growing up in Framingham and Salem, Massachusetts. As a child she ran free with her friends, siblings and cousins, and often described sailing in the summer and ice skating in the winter. A favorite memory was waking her parents, John and Florence Mullen, with a fish she had caught in the local pond. She would often say that her father couldn’t be mad because the fish was still wiggling.

After graduating from Saint Chrietienne Academy, she entered the order of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary to seek a life of service. As a postulant, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Emanuel College in Boston MA. The memories of being a nun, and separated from her family, were painful for Susan and she rarely spoke of them. She did share her joy in getting out, and how excited she was to buy her first mini-skirt.

On leaving the order, Susan moved to New York City, where she entered social work school at New York University. It was 1970 and the University was engulfed in student protests, so she barely attended any classes but attending NYU was the beginning of a lifelong dedication to continually learning about therapeutic practices. Upon receiving her social work degree, she worked for family service agencies across the city. She would later become the first family school coordinator at Central Park East Secondary School, an alternative high school at the center of the public small-school movement in New York City.

In 1972, Susan met and married Bernard (Bernie) Bolitzer (90), a high school history teacher. Susan and Bernie initially raised their three children, Benjamin, Sarah and Liza, in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens Brooklyn. As a young mother, Susan co-founded a cooperative preschool to provide her children and those in the neighborhood with an affordable, play-based preschool experience. The school was initially on the ground floor of her home. It is still thriving today as the Maple Street school as a play-based, cooperative preschool.

To escape the summer heat in the city, Susan and Bernie purchased a bungalow at Spring Glen Meadows in Spring Glen, NY. She would often say it was the best decision that Bernie and her ever made. She loved being with other families who were seeking to give their kids free space to run and explore. Susan became a certified swimming instructor so that she could teach swimming at the bungalow’s pool and was always happy to give a lesson on blowing bubbles.

Susan was a consummate caregiver and problem solver with a keen sense of justice. Her identity as a social worker extended far outside the boundaries of professional work. In the 1980s she noticed an influx of refugees from Cambodia into the neighborhood who were not properly dressed for a Brooklyn winter. With her youngest child strapped to her back, she followed them home and discovered they were not receiving proper care. She worked with other members of the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens Neighborhood Association to expose the agency that was failing to serve them. She also helped to connect them to services, accompanying the children to register for school. When she discovered there wasn’t heat in their apartments, she brought them to her and Bernie’s home. Actions like these were a constant in Susan’s life. She often seemed genuinely unaware of any limits on what she could do, especially when she was working with others.

Upon retiring from working for the board of education, Susan and Bernie retired to Saugerties NY. Susan loved living on the Esopus Creek, jumping in her Kayak and swimming in the water. One day she was in her garden and heard someone cutting down trees in the land across the creek. She got in her kayak and paddled over to investigate. When she confronted the logger, he responded “you use toilet paper, don’t you?” to which she replied, “not this toilet paper!” Susan joined together with other community members to save the land, which would become the Esopus Bend Nature Preserve. She served as the founding president of Esopus Creek Conservancy. It continues today with the mission of preserving the Esopus Creek watershed for the enjoyment and benefit of present and future generations.

Susan is survived by her husband, Bernie Bolitzer (90), her three children, Benjamin, Sarah and Liza, their spouses, Debra, Stephen and Simon, and her 7 grandchildren. Her memory is a blessing.

Services will be held at the The Jacob A. Holle Funeral Home in Maplewood NJ on Sunday November 24^th at 2pm. Donations in her memory can be made to her beloved Esopus Creek Conservancy: https://www.esopuscreekconservancy.org/