ELISSA BERWALD SOMMERFIELD, DALLAS EDUCATOR AND EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT, DIES AT 85 Elissa Berwald Sommerfield, 85, a highly regarded educator, private tutor and educational entrepreneur in Dallas, died suddenly on November 16, 2018, at her apartment at the Belmont Village in Dallas where she lived with her husband Frank. She was born in Dallas on September 1, 1933, to Elihu E. Berwald, a Dallas-born attorney and partner in the firm Rosenfield and Berwald, and Anna Meltz Berwald, a native of Newark, NJ. Elissa was raised in Highland Park and graduated valedictorian from Highland Park High School. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelors degree in English literature from University of Texas in Austin, and she earned a Masters of English from Southern Methodist University. Her career in education began in 1956, when she joined the English department of SMU. She remained an instructor in English literature and composition there until 1961. While there she began her private tutoring work, which over the next five decades grew into an extensive practice in which she worked with thousands of Dallas-area college, high school, middle school, and lower school students on writing, reading, study skills, and test taking. She expanded the tutoring practice, which she maintained until a few years ago, to Elissa Sommerfield TestPrep, a business that included class series known as Verbal Skills Seminar, Math Skills Seminar, and Study Skills Seminar. She wrote and published many of the text books and workbooks used in the classes. Concurrently, she ran a education consulting practice that provided secondary, board school, and college placement counseling. While building her education business, Elissa pursued other professional activities. She taught 14th 20th Century literature on an adjunct basis at El Centro Community College from 1968-1973, was a copywriter at Bloom Advertising Agency, and a freelance copywriter and account executive at Levenson Associates Advertising. She also had a business, Commercial Communicators, that published in-house corporate newsletters. In the early 1970s, she undertook a paid assignment from then Temple Emanu-El president Sam Bloom to develop the positions of editor of publications and director of adult education at the Temple. In the late 1970s she served as marketing coordinator for North Texas for Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. Elissa was deeply devoted to and beloved by her students and maintained close, lifelong relationships with many of them. She possessed a remarkable ability to bring out the very best in her students and those around while also making them feel important and special in their own unique way. She was always there for her friends, family, and students, challenging their intellect, humor, and empathy. In addition to her professional life, Elissa maintained strong relationships with her many friends, from all her areas of her life, and her family. She married Frank Sommerfield, a native of Manhattan, in February 1961, and she had two sons, Frank Jr. and John. She was a loving, engaged grandmother to five grandchildren and always thrived on connections she built with children, whether they were students, family member or just friends. She devoted a portion of her business and work to pro bono initiatives, including in-service training to teachers and high schools with needs, and was involved in a number of civic organizations. She served on the board and chaired the information and education committee of Planned Parenthood of Northeast Texas, on the board of Temple Emanu-El, and on several fundraising committees at SMU. Elissa had an incisive wit, deep and certain moral center, inner warmth, love of edgy fashion and a healthy distrust of authority. Most people who knew her will remember key stories either her model behavior or mischievous moments. She is survived by her husband Frank, sons Frank Jr and John; daughter-in-law Diane Shapiro Sommerfiled; son-in-law Jason Wu; and grandchildren Nicholas Sommerfield (deceased) Colin Sommerfield, Aidan Sommerfield, David Sommerfield Wu, and Elizabeth Sommerfield Wu. There will be a memorial service on Tuesday, November, 20, at 4 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El followed by a reception there. The family wishes to thank Gwendolyn Burrell and Emanuel Burrell for their loving, ongoing support of the family, and Gladys Lyons and Mayra Mendoza for the wonderful care they have provided. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU or the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
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