Anna (Bornstein) Wunderman

Anna Bornstein Wunderman, of Steele Rd., West Hartford, born June 4, 1916, died Tuesday, August 16, 2011. Anna was a first generation American. Her parents emigrated from Poland to New York in the early 1900’s. Her mother, Jenny Bornstein, worked as a cook in a local restaurant in Brooklyn, NY. Her father was a traveling salesman who sold tailor’s supplies. Her education began when her working mother instructed her sister, Rose Bronstein Skalka, to take her from public school in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 1919 Anna graduated from the pioneer magnet school, Hunter College High. In 1933, she graduated from Hunter College (sum laude, Phi Beta Kappa}. In 1965, she was awarded a Masters degree from Columbia University in English Drama. In 1976, she was awarded a Masters in special education from Hofstra University. In 1992, she was awarded a professional Diploma in reading from Hofstra University. She taught learning disabled adults, at Hofstra University for the next thirty years. She retired in 2002. She moved to The McCauley in West Hartford Ct in 2002 where she lived until she passed away. She married Irving Wunderman in 1942 and had three children with him, Eric Wunderman, Oren Wunderman, and Naomi Wunderman Neuwirth. They lived in Great Neck, NY. Her son Oren resides in Miami Florida with his wife Terrilee and their two children Jeffrey and Amy. Her son Eric resides in NYC. Her daughter Naomi resides in West Hartford Ct with her husband Jerry Neuwirth and their three children Esther, Jacob and Alison Neuwirth. Anna and Irving Wunderman divorced in 1970. During WWII she was a civilian employee-a weather secretary in Indiana and a purchasing agent and airplane dispatcher in Mississippi and Florida. Her lifelong interests were in languages, current events, drama, art, archeology and sculpture. She sculpted until she was ninety-four years old. As a young adult she marched against the Cuban missile crisis. She joined the American Friends Service Committee when it supported conscientious objectors, She was one of the original members of Women’s’ Strike for Peace who stood vigils on Times Square and visited congressman in Washington DC. She was an early member of the League of Women’s Voters, the United Nations, Greenpeace, The Population Connection and the American Civil Liberties Union. A member of the Archeological Institute of America, she gave lectures on ancient subjects at local meetings in Great Neck, NY. She was a woman ahead of her time. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, August 21, 2011, at 10:00 AM in the Chapel of the Weinstein Mortuary, 640 Farmington Ave., Hartford with Rabbi Michael Pincus officiating. Interment will follow in the Beth Israel Cemetery, Jackson St. Ext., Avon. A memorial period will be observed at the home of Anna’s daughter, Naomi Neuwirth following the interment on Sunday; and on Monday, August 22 and Tuesday, August 23 from 3-5 pm and 7-8:30 pm. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, I-91 Tech Center, 825 Brook St., Rocky Hill 06067. For further information, directions or to share memories of Anna with her family please visit on line www.weinsteinmortuary.com.