Esther Anne Klein Willison, 82, died early on May 28, 2017, in Scotia, New York,
after leading a long, rich, and full life.

Esther was beloved by a wide circle of family, friends, and colleagues. Born in New York City,
Esther attended Fieldston School in the Bronx, graduated in English from Cornell University,
earned a teaching certificate in early childhood education, and later completed her Master’s
degree in English Literature at SUNY Albany.

A founder and teacher in the Open School in the 1970’s, a public alternative school
in Schenectady based on the English Summerhill model, Esther taught the youngest
children in the school and forged strong relationships with students and their families that
lasted to the end of her life. Later Esther became a Literary Specialist at the Howe School
and also a facilitator of the Schenectady Citizen’s Improvisational Teen Theatre educating
young people about health and social issues. She also worked at the Clover Patch Camp for
children and adults with developmental and physical disabilities. All her teaching and work
was animated by her conviction that every person has a truly good core, and she was a
dedicated mentor and friend to innumerable young people throughout her life.

After retiring from teaching, Esther worked at the Open Door Bookstore for 15 years.
Deeply interested in philosophy, literature, religion, and forgiveness, Esther had a
very full creative life, as a writer and poet, a sculptor, and a musician. From childhood
Esther had a love affair with music and could pick up almost any instrument and play it.
She took great pleasure in early Renaissance, Baroque, and other classical music, all of
which she played. Esther also treasured opera and attending live performances of many
kinds. Blessed with instinctive skill and her early training in classical violin, she later took
fiddle lessons, played the recorder, and belonged to an ongoing recorder society. Esther
had always loved the mandolin and began lessons in her seventies to learn classical and
traditional Irish music along with her beloved Bach. She continued to play until the last
month of her illness.

Esther was deeply committed to civil rights and social justice and was an active member
of many community groups and organizations throughout her life. She was an avid tennis player
into her eighties, and loved swimming in the ocean, kayaking, biking and water aerobics.
Esther had a playful spirit, reveled in costumes and theatre and was always up for a
great adventure with her loving friends and family. She traveled widely, including a trip to
Nicaragua in the 1980’s to bring medical aid through MADRE, to Guatemala and Provincetown
for writing workshops, and on Road Scholar trips with her daughter Judith to various destinations,
among them Greece, the Galapagos Islands, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Cuba.

Esther was the child of Fannie and Albert Klein. She had two daughters, Andrea
Willison, a poet and mental health advocate, who predeceased her, and Dr. Judith Willison,
an Associate Professor of Social Work at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.
Esther’s life partner of 28 years, Dr. Barbara Zimmerman, died in 2008 after being lovingly
cared for by Esther through a long illness. Besides her daughter Judith, Esther will be sorely
missed by Judith’s husband, Dr. Joel Haycock, Esther’s brother, Woody Klein, his wife
Audrey, their children, Dr. Wendy Klein and Jamie Klein, her cousin Esther Cristol and
husband Allan, her ex-husband Malcolm Willison and his wife Dr. Martha Huggins, by
Barbara’s family, and by her cherished community of friends.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday October 8th at 11 AM at Congregation Berith Sholom, 167 3rd Street, Troy, NY. Donations in her memory may be made to:

Jewish Voice for Peace: https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
Joan Nicole Prince Home: http://joannicoleprincehome.org/
Pride Center of the Capital Region: https://www.capitalpridecenter.org/

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