Mildred "Millie" (Roblin) Flashman

Mildred “Millie” (Roblin) Flashman of Chestnut Hill, MA, age 102, died peacefully at home on October 3, 2024.

Daughter of the late Abraham & Etta (Goldstein) Roblin. Beloved wife of the late Silas B. Flashman. Loving mother of Arthur & Susan Flashman of Brookline and Debbi & Michael Cutler of Newton. Adored “Grammy” of Lauren and Matthew Cutler and Danielle and Kaela Flashman. Dear sister of the late Irwin Roblin and Lee Singer. Loving aunt to Peter and Jim Roblin and Sue Sweet, and to many grand nephews and nieces.

Millie grew up in Boston and attended Girls Latin School ‘39, Boston University College of Practical Arts and Letters ‘43, and Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) ‘45. After graduation in 1945, Millie worked in family agencies. Following this, she was hired by BUSSW to organize and supervise a student unit in the psychiatric clinic at Mass Memorial Hospital (now part of Boston Medical Center). It was at BUSSW where Professor Emerita Flashman spent the majority of her professional career, 36 years, teaching Casework and Human Behavior to Master’s of Social Work Students. Millie’s passion was working with couples and families and she was a charter member of the American Family Therapy Academy, an organization of teachers and researchers in the field. In the late 1980’s, the School established a family therapy certificate program named after her. Millie stayed at BUSSW until she retired in 1991.

Millie was a “modern woman”, prioritizing her career as a professor and social worker at a time when doing so didn’t comport with societal norms. Before she married “Si”, she spent almost two decades establishing herself professionally, traveling, and fostering lifelong friendships. After marrying and having children at age 40, she returned to work. The path she chose allowed her to create a beautiful, rich life full of family, friendship, and intellectual and professional achievement.

Millie was extremely independent, curious, humble, and very connected to people, characteristics that made her such a wonderful professor. She never felt like she was too experienced or qualified to learn from others. She had many dear friends, and was a role model to her family and to generations of students. As well as dedicating her life to teaching others, Millie was a voracious, lifelong learner, seeking out a wide range of courses and lectures into her later life. During Covid, she became proficient with an iPad and joined countless classes and her beloved Mussar group via Zoom. She continued to read several daily newspapers and the New Yorker, as she had done her whole life prior. Growing older and becoming less mobile was difficult, but Millie approached this with grace and resilience, using her Mussar training to guide and nourish her mind and soul. She also found comfort in doing life-review, and reminiscing about her full, long life. Her longevity was a blessing to her and to all of us.

At age 100, she enrolled in the New England Centenarian Study and committed to donating her brain to their research because “having taught at BU, and knowing how important research was, I was glad to help out”.

Services at the Levine Chapels, 470 Harvard St., Brookline on Sunday, October 6 at 12:30pm with livestream viewing available using the following link: www.levinelive.com/flashman

Burial in Beth El Cemetery, 776 Baker Street West Roxbury.

Memorial reception immediately following the burial in the South Community Room at The Towers, 250 Hammond Pond Pkwy. Chestnut Hill through 6pm.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Boston University School of Social Work, 264 Bay State Rd., Boston, MA 02215, https://www.bu.edu/ssw/ or to the charity of your choice.