Gertrude (“Trudy”) Harrison, a resident of Weston, Massachusetts since 1967, passed away peacefully on April 8, 2019. She was born in Boston, MA on March 19, 1930, the daughter of the late Joseph Schleifer and Celia Gimmelstein Schleifer, both Russian immigrants.
She was an avid gardener and landscaper, an accomplished pianist and invested a lifetime first as a social worker, and later as a successful entrepreneur along with her deceased husband, Burton Harrison. Together, they developed educational hands-on curriculum in math and science, utilized nationally with elementary school age children.
Academically, she was an exceptional student and earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work at Simmons (1953) and a BS in Psychology at Boston University (1951).
She is survived by her sons Clifford Harrison, David Harrison and his fiancé Kathy Plavko, John Harrison and his wife Vanessa Whalen Harrison, and a daughter Joan Harrison. She is also survived by grandchildren Robert Harrison, Samuel Harrison, Brendan Whalen, Sean Whalen, and Robert Goldblatt. Her great-grandchildren are Wyatt Harrison and Ruth Harrison. She was very close with her sister-in-law Esther Schleifer along with her family. Shabeer Shagoo and Katherine Gogel were extraordinarily close friends.
Funeral services will be held at Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, 475 Washington Street, Canton, MA on Sunday, May 5th at 11:00 am, followed by burial at Sharon Memorial Park, Sharon, MA.
Trudy expressed a wish to celebrate her life by wearing bright and casual clothing.
Those interested in donations on her behalf might consider the Fisher House Foundation which operates a network of comfort homes where military and veterans’ families can stay at no cost while a loved one is receiving treatment. Donations can be mailed to Fisher House Foundation, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 410, Rockville, MD 20852 or online at www.fisherhouse.org.
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