Miriam "Mitzi" Mackler

January 9, 1931 to March 14, 2026 (95 years)

Miriam "Mitzi" Mackler (née Colton) passed away on March 14, 2026 in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where she was born and raised before later settling in Longmeadow with her beloved husband, Lawrence Mackler, and their three children.

She is survived by her son Robert and daughter-in-law Jane of Belize; her daughter Linda of Natick, Massachusetts; her son Phillip and daughter-in-law Dairne of Longmeadow, Massachusetts; her grandson Harrison of Chicago; her granddaughter Mollie and Mollie's wife Lauren of Durham, North Carolina; many nieces and nephews from the DuFault and Mackler families; and her dear friends in the Hirschhaut family. She was predeceased by her husband, Lawrence "Larry" Mackler; her sister Harriet and brother-in-law Peter DuFault; and her parents, Morey and Pauline Colton.

Mitzi attended the University of Massachusetts, and later graduated from AIC in 1951, and went on to devote 36 years to teaching English at Agawam High School. There she shaped the minds and lives of generations of students with warmth, patience, and intellectual rigor. She brought the same curiosity and enthusiasm to her classroom that defined her lifelong love of books, ideas, and travel, and her students were the better for it. Later in life, Mitzi returned to her studies and earned both a Master's degree and a PhD in English.

A faithful member of Kodimoh Synagogue and later Temple Beth El, Mitzi's life was deeply anchored in her home, her community, and the people she loved.