Shirley Sprung

Shirley Sprung passed away on Friday, August 23, 2024 at the age of 96. She had been a resident of Rockridge Retirement Community in Northampton since late 2019.
Born on March 5, 1928 in Brooklyn, NY, she was the eldest of Sophie and Michael Besserman’s 3 children. She graduated from Far Rockaway High School in 1946. While in high school she established many enduring friendships which remained important through the rest of her life. There she also met her future husband, Marty. They married on March 19, 1950 and went on to have two children, Susan and Leonard.
In the early years the family lived in Far Rockaway, NY. In 1964 the family bought a home and moved to the suburbs in Merrick, LI where they saw their children through high school.
In a most uncharacteristic move Shirley convinced Marty to take an early retirement from his job in textile sales in 1982 and move to the Caribbean island of St. Maarten where they lived for a couple years enjoying the simple island life. They returned to the states in 1984 and lived in Freeport, LI and Pompano Beach, Fla until moving to Amherst in 2012 to be closer to their daughter, Susan and her family in Florence. Within 6 months of moving to Amherst Marty passed away and Shirley was faced with living alone for the first time in her life at 85 yo. She made a good life for herself and showed her lifelong capacity to be resilient in the face of life’s adversities. In 2019 at the age of 90 she moved to Rockridge assisted living and later to the Gardens, a memory unit when her dementia required her to have more care.
Her loving spirit, her love for life, her warmth and open heart, her sense of humor, her ability to have a good time, her joy in seeing her friends and family happy are qualities that were treasured and will be sorely missed.
She is survived by her daughter Susan Sprung, son-in law, Jim Mueller and grandson, Max Mueller, her nieces and their spouses in NY and a lifetime of dear friends. She was predeceased by her son, Leonard, husband, Marty, her brother, Bernie and sister, Marcia.
We would like to thank the caring and compassionate staff at Rockridge for helping her navigate her final years with as much independence as was possible.
A graveside funeral will be held on Monday, August 26 at New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon, NY.
Shiva will be observed at the home of her daughter and son in law, Susan and Jim, 84 Pine St, Florence on Thursday, August 29th from 5:30-8:00pm.
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made in Shirley’s name to the charity of your choice.