Dr. Jeffrey Spiro

Jeffrey Spiro passed away at the age of 81. To know Jeff was to know a man of principle, heart, humor, and deep devotion to family.

Born in Brooklyn, NY on August 24, 1944 to his loving parents Ruth and Milton Spiro, Jeff grew up surrounded by family and never forgot the importance of sticking together. That value became the foundation of how he raised his own family.

Jeff was brilliant, endlessly curious, and believed strongly in education as a force for good. He attended Stuyvesant High School and later New York University, where he earned a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. along the way. Service was a throughline of Jeff’s life. As a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic, he formed relationships that lasted for decades, returning to visit many times and even helping several people come to the United States to build new lives.

His career began in New York City schools as a teacher and principal, later leading schools for children with special needs in upstate New York. In the 1990s, he took a leap into entrepreneurship and opened early childhood development centers across the Boston area, work he was deeply proud of because it shaped children’s early learning.

An Eagle Scout and lifelong Scouter, he shared his values of leadership and character-building with generations of young people. Scouts also indirectly brought him his greatest joy: Susan, whom he met after one of his Scouts wrote an essay that reached her school and connected them. They were married for 53 years.

Jeff was delightfully opinionated—and somehow, almost always right (according to him). He loved corny jokes, riddles, math problems, and a good debate. He always took it upon himself to provide guidance and a steady hand in the most endearing way, often because he cared so deeply and saw the potential in people. He wanted the world to be fair and he acted on it.

Above all else, Jeff loved his family. He planned annual family vacations, gatherings, and traditions to keep everyone close, not by accident, but by intention. It was his greatest joy to be surrounded by his children and grandchildren, and to pass down the same closeness he experienced growing up.

Jeff leaves his wife and best friend, Susan; his children Samantha Goldenblatt, Seth Spiro, and Leigh Ivy Rollings; sons-in-law Peter Goldenblatt, Luke Ventura, and Andy Rollings, and his beloved grandchildren Lev, Miles, Ezra, Penelope, Judah, Chava, Silas, and Sydney; and his siblings Louise Tarsy, Barry Spiro, and Jill Spiro. He is predeceased by his son, Adam, whom he missed dearly.

A funeral service will be held on Monday, November 10, 2025 at Temple Israel of Natick, 145 Hartford St, Natick, MA. Interment will take place immediately following the service at Beit Olam Cemetery, 60 Old Sudbury Road, Wayland, MA.

For those wishing to honor Jeff, donations may be made to the National Peace Corps Association, https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/give , or the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, https://alzfdn.org/donate , supporting the values he lived by.

He taught, he served, he loved, and he gave fully. His legacy lives on in the people he lifted, the lives he shaped, and the family he held close.