Sylvia Doris Lipman

Sylvia Doris (Greenberg) Lipman, 89, of Canton, MA (formerly Edison, NJ), died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, on May 18, 2024.

She was born in Norwalk, CT in 1934 to Archie and Lillian Greenberg who adored their youngest child and were the kindest and steadiest of parents. She loved school, playing piano and tennis, and always appreciated, from a young age, knowing and befriending people whose lives were different from her own. She grew up surrounded by a loving extended family. She had strong political views from a young age and was always concerned about justice for everyone. She was an independent thinker and a questioner of authority. She said, very near the end of her life, that her only regret was not marching in Selma, Alabama in 1965.

Sylvia attended Norwalk High School, where her favorite class was Problems in American Democracy, before studying Political Science at Mount Holyoke College. In college, her favorite class was Constitutional Law and her dream was to become a civil rights attorney. The times did not support that dream, though she was involved with politics in many ways for the rest of her life.

Sylvia met the love of her life, Bernard "Barney" Lipman in 1948, when she was just 14 years old and he was 16, while she was visiting a camp friend in Perth Amboy, NJ. The first night they met she announced that she would marry him. And she did. They married in 1956 and began their life together in Edgewood, MD, where Barney was in the Army. When they had the opportunity to transfer to Paris, France for 18 months they jumped at the chance and started a wonderful life together that forever included late dinners and a glass of wine for her.

Barney and Sylvia returned to Perth Amboy, NJ and had two children, Philip A. Lipman and Nancy E. Lipman. In 1964 they moved to Edison, NJ to raise their family. The day they moved in, during a snowstorm, she took Phil and Nancy to the local public library to get library cards and located a local League of Women Voters group for herself. That was Sylvia - committed to learning, to books, to community engagement, to fun, and to politics. She was also an avid gardener, room mother, Committeewoman, tennis player and best all-around camper at every gathering. She was always up for any physical activity, word game, board game, discussion, cultural event or one-on-one conversation. She was the mother her children’s friends confided in and felt seen by and her home was the home young people gathered in to be fed and play music and hang out together. Her rigorous honesty and warmth was a magnet for people.

Sylvia went back to work part-time when her children were in grade school. She studied education and taught children with learning differences. She loved the children and the work. As her children got older she worked full-time in business, including at JM Huber, Childcraft and The Company Store catalog, from which she retired at age 72. She always found something interesting about each position and maintained friendships from all of the jobs she ever had.

Sylvia became a grandmother at the age of 81 to her wonderful granddaughters, Mira Elizabeth (8) and Lily Mesa (4). She adored being Grammy to them and delighted in watching them grow into themselves and be such loving, creative beings.

Since retirement, Sylvia taught ESL one-on-one, learned and practiced yoga dedicatedly, took piano lessons for the first time in over 50 years and traveled with friends and family. She was in 2 book groups and was an avid reader and film watcher. She will always be remembered for her big smile that could light up a room, her wide-ranging and inquisitive mind, her sense of humor and ability to laugh with people and at herself, and her love for her family and her friends. She moved to Orchard Cove, in Canton, MA a year ago and in that year made friends, arranged hundreds of flowers, saw dozens of concerts, discussed many books and films and began to make a life for herself. She had many friends and family members who adored her and who will miss her brightly colored clothes, her brilliant mind, her cheerful personality even when times were tough, and her joy in life.

Sylvia was preceded in death by her parents, Archie and Lilian Greenberg, and her husband, Bernard Lipman. She is survived by her children, Philip and Nancy, and their spouses, Beth Daunis and Deborah Lemont, her granddaughters, Mira and Lily, her brother, Martin Greenberg and her sister, Betty Scott. She is also survived by her beloved nieces and nephew, and dearest old friends who were family to her, Richard and Susan Levinson and Toni Stern as well as many, many old and new beloved friends of all ages.

A memorial service will be at Stanetsky Memorial Chapels, 475 Washington St, Canton, MA 02021 on Friday, May 31st, 2024, with a graveside service in NJ at a future date.

Donations in memory of Sylvia to the ACLU or Southern Poverty Law Center would be greatly appreciated.