Shirley Schildkraut

Madison - Shirley G. Schildkraut, born Sarah Goldlust, August 10, 1918, in Cleveland, Ohio, died July 26, 2020. Major themes in her life were events around the 1930s and 40s. An early, sudden death of an older sister, Ruth Goldlust at fourteen, had a powerful affect on her family. Her maternal Grandfather, Abraham Dorfman, lost much of his family living in a village near Warsaw in the Holocaust as did the Goldlust family of Busc, Poland, and Paris, France; all were from towns in Poland. Her brother Jacob Goldlust (Lieutenant US Army) fought in the last weeks of the battles in Eastern France/Belgium as the only survivor of his company. Brother-in-law Joseph Schildkraut, Private US Army, killed in France at age 21. Husband, William Schildkraut, also served in the Army. She survived him by four decades. The polio epidemic affected her own two children in the early 1950s. All of these events shaped her spirit: a combination of the awareness of tragedy, a celebration of family, a deep wariness about the world, and a keen eye for human malice.  Before retirement, she was a businesswoman in construction steel wholesale management and later in retail management. Active in Hadassah charities. Best Mother, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother to her daughter, Ruth Schildkraut Gustafson, Grandchildren: Kari Wolfe Borni, Caitlin Johanna Gustafson, and Ian Abraham Gustafson, and great-grandchildren: Anya Ruth Andersen, Mia Wolfe Andersen; Chihiro, Amane, Konomu Gustafson and the youngest, Malek James Borni who came six months before her death. Her son: Ira Schildkraut and his kids and grandkids: Ezra Schildkraut, Nicole Sayeun Schildkraut, and great-grandchildren Maya Schildkraut, Cole Schildkraut.

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