Timy Baranoff

Dr. Timy Baranoff, namesake of Timy Baranoff Elementary School, died at age 89 in Austin, Texas on December 18, 2015. Born to Harry and Gertrude Gerenraich, her remarkable life started on March 8, 1926 in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. She was the fifth of seven children. Timy married the late Mort Baranoff on March 19, 1944 while he was serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Their son Stephen was born in 1947 in Montreal and daughter Eugenie followed in 1953 in San Bernardino, California.

Timy earned an AA from San Bernardino Valley College and a BSc, MA, and PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, all in Education. She served as a kindergarten teacher at Casis Elementary School for 12 years, followed by 18 years at the Austin Independent School District, where she served as Primary Instructional Coordinator, Early Childhood Coordinator, and Director of Elementary Curriculum. She was proud to have led the creation of the Early Childhood program for four-year-olds who were economically disadvantaged or spoke a first language other than English. The program received national recognition as a model.

Upon retirement, Timy became an active volunteer for BookSpring, Reading Is Fundamental, For The Children, and many other programs enriching the lives of children. She was an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma – Alpha Chapter, Austin Retired Teachers Association (ARTA), and Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) – U.T. Chapter. She served as president of ARTA and PDK.

She received countless awards, including DKG Educator of the Year and the L.D. Haskew Award. After a group nomination spearheaded by her longtime best friend and colleague Emma Lea Mayton, Timy was honored to have a local school named after her. Timy Baranoff Elementary opened in the Shady Hollow neighborhood in 1999.

Timy felt fortunate to be a world traveler and was renowned for her excellent cooking.

Timy is survived by her son Stephen Baranoff and his wife Dr. Etti Baranoff, her daughter Eugenie Baranoff, her granddaughters Dr. Dalit Baranoff and her husband Joshua Pollack, Liat Baranoff and her husband Jeremy Burns, and great-grandchildren Aviva, Sammy, Elijah, and Mia and sister-in-law Betty Generich.

She was preceded in death by her siblings Rose (Garafola), and Murray, Sally (Pacernick), Jack, Ida (Herman), David, Ruth, and their spouses. She remained close to her nieces and nephews and their spouses and children, including Judy and Elliot Parnes, Gil and Fran Herman, Brian and Ilean Genrich, Nanci and Larry Tobin, and Dr. Gary and Peggy Pacernick.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the ARTA Scholarship Foundation, For the Children or the Mort Baranoff Endowed Scholarship at the U.T. Fine Arts Department, Austin.

A special thank you to the staff at Brookdale at Northwest Hills, Clare Bridge Section, especially Sylvia Arias.

The funeral service will be held at 10:00 AM Monday December 21 at Weed-Corley-Fish, 3125 N. Lamar Blvd. in Austin. The service will be followed by burial at Oakwood Cemetery located between east MLK and east 14th street.