Zelda K. Weintraub

Zelda K. Weintraub, age 83, of Austin, Texas, passed away on April 25, 2015. She was born Zelda Kresshover in Brooklyn, New York, on January 6, 1932. Zelda met her soulmate and future husband, Russell Weintraub, when, at the age of 17, she attended the engagement party for her and his first cousins. Russell and Zelda were married on September 6, 1953, just a week after Russell was drafted into the Army during the Korean conflict. Zelda had previously graduated from Hunter College and had begun her teaching career in Harlem. She later followed Russell to Fort Stewart, where she continued to teach in Hinesville, Georgia. On Russell's discharge, they moved to Brookline, Massachusetts, where Russell began his long career as a law professor at Harvard and they stared their family, with the birth of their daughter, Sharon. In 1957, they moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where their two sons, David and Steven, were born.

They would arrive in Austin, Texas in 1964, where Russell joined the faculty at the University of Texas School of Law. Zelda raised her three young children and helped support Russell's career, proofreading and editing his many books. Russell always said she did the important and difficult job of keeping him humble. When her children were older, Zelda returned to school to earn her Master's Degree in special education. She taught in the Austin Independent School District, as well as in Houston. Zelda eventually resigned from teaching, but she continued to volunteer, including as a CASA volunteer in Austin.

Zelda loved to travel. As part of an international law program, she and Russell spent summers overseas. The cities of their summer sojourns included, Oxford and London, England, Paris and Aix-en-Provence, France, Barcelona, Spain, Canberra, Australia, and Zelda's favorite city, Florence, Italy, where they lived in the Palace Piccolomini in Santa Croce Square.

Zelda had to call on her great personal strength in 2006, when her family was stuck with two tragedies; the sudden death of her beloved granddaughter, Shoshana Ruth, and her husband's onset of Multiple System Atrophy. She would spend the next six years tirelessly, and at great personal sacrifice, caring for her husband until his death on December 13, 2012.

An intelligent woman, deeply dedicated to those she cared for, Zelda was an excellent cook and baker. In fact, her renown cheesecake beat one from Zabar's in a local taste test. Skilled at knitting and needlepoint, Zelda made treasured handcrafted gifts for family and friends. She was a member of Agudas Achim Synagogue for over 50 years.

Zelda is survived by her children Sharon Hope Weintraub, David Harry Weintraub, and Steven Ross Weintraub, her daughter-in-laws, Rachel Baruch Weintraub and Tina Ann Huckabee, and her four grandsons, Elon, Daniel, Noam, and Aaron.

Zelda will be buried on Monday, April 27 at 9:00am next to Russell in Austin Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to CASA of Travis, County, or the Zelda K. Weintraub and Russell J Weintraub Chair in Conflicts of Law and International Law via the University of Texas Law School Foundation.