Helen Shapiro Obituary (1926 – 2022) – San Diego, CA – San Diego Union-Tribune

Helen Naomi Shapiro passed away without any discomfort on November 29, 2022, in San Diego, California, due to natural causes. She was accompanied by her daughter Naomi at the time of her passing. She had reached the age of 96.

On June 4, 1926, Helen Greenberg was born in New York, New York, to her parents, Esther and Abraham Greenberg. She had one younger brother; his name was Jack. However, she spent a significant portion of her youth in Miami Beach, Florida, where her father’s family owned the Bancroft Hotel and where her brother and his family ultimately called home. Although she was raised in Wooster, Massachusetts, she spent the majority of her childhood there. Helen received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Michigan, where she did her undergraduate studies. Her favourite genres of literature were historical fiction novels and autobiographies, and she read them with great enthusiasm. During her time working as a librarian at the university library, she had the opportunity to meet Allan Shapiro. The couple went on to get married in 1948.

In the years that followed the birth of their first child, Carol, they relocated to Los Angeles, California, and went on to have two more daughters, Marla and Naomi. They travelled extensively as a family all across the United States and Canada, including the Alcan Highway in Alaska in a Winnebago back in the day when the route was a two-lane washboard dirt road. They travelled widely with their three children. At the same time that she was arranging long excursions to National and State Parks, National Monuments, and reuniting with family on the East Coast, Helen was an adventurer who had a passion for travel. Throughout her entire life, she was a staunch supporter of the conservation of wilderness areas, animals, and environmental concerns. She was also the one who introduced her family to the activity of camping, which she did with her husband. To this day, her daughters carry on this legacy.

Until her youngest daughter started elementary school, Helen was a mother who stayed at home to raise her children. After that, she began her professional life as a legal secretary, initially working for the patent firm that her husband Allan owned. Subsequently, she moved on to Spensley Horn Jubas and Lubitz, a larger patent law office located on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. After retiring from that company in 1993, she relocated to San Diego in order to be closer to her family. She remained in San Diego until her dying not too long ago.

The passion and talent for tennis that Helen possesses was passed down to her by her father, Abraham, and she continued to play the sport until she was 84 years old. She instilled in her grandson Adam a passion for tennis by teaching him to use her garage as a backboard when he was small. They rallied together in the cul-de-sac as his abilities improved, and she watched as a proud grandma as he continued to play tennis throughout his high school years.

When it came to the craft of needlepoint, Helen possessed an extraordinary talent. You could frequently find her watching her favourite programs on KPBS while concurrently working on the masterpiece that would take her a significant amount of time to finish. She would not restrict the gifting of her artistic works to her immediate family, of whom there were a great number, but she would also give them as presents on special occasions to a wider network of loved ones who considered themselves fortunate to possess a Helen original.

In the course of her life, Helen was fortunate enough to discover love for the second time. On December 21, 2003, she tied the knot with Matthew Smith Van-Keuren, and the couple went on to enjoy eight lovely years of marriage in San Diego.

Helen’s parents, Esther and Abraham, as well as her brother Jack Greenberg, her ex-husband Allan Shapiro, and her husband Matthew Van-Keuren, all passed away before she did. Her three daughters, Carol Shapiro, Marla Knight (Steve), and Naomi Lohnes (Jim), as well as her two grandsons, Rachel and Adam, as well as her nephews and cousins, are among those who inherit her legacy.

The Jewish National Fund (www.jnf.org) and The Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org) are both worthy recipients of memorial contributions that can be made in Helen’s honour. Helen had a strong connection to both of these organisations and held them in high regard. Throughout her life, she was a philanthropist for the development of our planet earth and all of its inhabitants. She was very enthusiastic about this cause.