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Obituary

Innovative educator was a tireless volunteer

Elsie Ingrid Speilberg: 1911-2005. She created a curriculum for mildly retarded students in the New York City schools.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published October 7, 2005

SUN CITY CENTER - Like a lot of people, Elsie Speilberg was always secretive about her age. But for Mrs. Speilberg it wasn't primarily a matter of vanity.

"The reason she didn't want anyone to know how old she was was that she was afraid that they wouldn't let her do all the things she wanted to do," said her daughter, Regina Bridges. "When she was 85, she looked like she was 65."

Mrs. Speilberg, 94, who died Sept. 25 from complications of a stroke, maintained an active lifestyle right up until the time her health started to fail. Even her retirement years were filled with a busy schedule of volunteering, travel and political work.

"When they moved to Sun City Center, my father played golf and had his pinochle group," her daughter said. "My mother joined everything she could, and then if she found out she wasn't interested, she just stopped going."

Mrs. Speilberg was born and raised in New York City and spent 37 years as a teacher in the public school system there.

She took a particular interest in mildly mentally retarded children.

"They didn't really have actual education for them," her daughter said. "It was just babysitting. She designed an entire curriculum for those students, and it became the standard for all the New York City public schools."

Mrs. Speilberg's curriculum focused on useful skills - everything from getting dressed to simple addition - that could actually help the students function. Until that time, those activities were considered too complicated for retarded students.

She continued her own studies in the evening, and eventually completed all the course work for a Ph.D. in education. She also had enough credits to qualify as a New York City librarian. And although she never worked professionally in that field, she was an active volunteer in the public library at Sun City Center for 15 years.

"She was an avid reader, and one thing she liked about volunteering at the library was that they'd get all the books as soon as they came out," Bridges said.

Mrs. Speilberg and her husband, Jack, retired to Sun City Center in 1972.

"They always dreamed of retiring to Florida," her daughter said. "They went down there in the winter and summer for several years looking at places on the east coast and the west coast. They found they really liked Sun City Center."

After they moved to Florida, Mrs. Speilberg and her husband traveled around the world and immersed themselves in the Sun City Center lifestyle. Mr. Speilberg passed away in 1985.

Besides the library, Mrs. Speilberg also volunteered at South Bay Hospital for 15 years and served as the volunteer representative on the hospital's council for five years. In 1997, she received the Columbia South Bay Hospital Humanitarian Award and was recognized as Volunteer of the Year for Florida. She was also active in the local Republican Club.

"She had definite opinions, and she wasn't shy about expressing them," her daughter said. "But if you disagreed, she listened to your opinion."

Even though she kept a busy lifestyle, Mrs. Speilberg was devoted to her family above everything else.

"She was a good mother, and she was a wonderful grandmother," her daughter said. "She said being a grandmother was better because you didn't have the responsibility. All you had to do was give love."

Mrs. Speilberg is survived by her daughter and her granddaughter Jennifer.

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 08:26:07]