Mary S. Shainberg

Mary Sparks Shainberg, whose long, kind, and generous life helped to fulfill the philanthropic needs of Memphis, died Monday, February 12, 2018, at Baptist Memorial Hospital. She was 101 years old. Mary was born on December 14, 1916, in Hazen, AR., the daughter of Edward and Barbara Sparks. She was proud to tell friends that her charitable giving was rooted in her father’s instructive words during America’s Great Depression. After a week working as a waitress in a small coffee shop in Little Rock, Mary said she told her father that her salary was one dollar a week plus her uniform. He asked her what she planned to do with 10 cents of each dollar, suggesting that she should donate her hard-earned money to charity. “Will it make any difference in your life if you wake up in the morning with 90 cents or one dollar?” he asked her. Mary carried her father’s charitable wisdom in her heart for her remaining 83 years. As a young woman, she often traveled between Little Rock and Memphis working as a cosmetics buyer before settling in Memphis in 1972. In 1975, she married Herbert Shainberg, who owned and operated the old Shainberg’s stores. Mary inherited an expanded family and she embraced her new life, children, and grandchildren with the zest and love she possessed for everyone who came her way. Blessed with good fortune, Mary carried on the charitable wishes of her beloved husband, Herbert, who died in 1985. According to her faith, the world depends on three things: Torah, worship, and loving deeds. Mary’s life honored those precepts. Much of her life centered on Temple Israel, where she had her B’nai Mitzvah in her nineties, served on the Board of Trustees, and where she worked two days each week in the Temple’s archives until her health began to fail her late last year. Said Rabbi Micah Greenstein: “Mary was a model human being, an exemplary Jew, and the living embodiment of the adage, ‘What grows never grows old.’ She was truly exceptional.” Mary also was a devoted supporter of the Memphis Jewish Home, Memphis Jewish Community Center, and LeBonheur Children’s Hospital to which her gifts included advanced medical equipment to save or improve the lives of many children. Mary had a unique ability to transcend life’s challenges with a determined yet graceful embrace of life, which made her a source of inspiration and wisdom for a large circle of friends of all faiths and ages. Mary also was predeceased by husbands, Jack Wolf and Seymour Gilman, her son, Terry Shainberg, and her son-in-law, Paul Lazarov. She is survived by her daughter, Suzanne Lazarov; her daughter-in-law, Bobbie Shainberg; her step-sons, Ron (Betsy) Gilman and Martin (Tanya) Gilman, and her step-daughter, Lynette Gilman Maginnis; 16 grandchildren Stuart (Debbie) Lazarov, Craig (Eve) Lazarov, Jill (Scott) Notowich, Jodi (Linda Lawson) Shainberg, Cindy Shainberg, Sally (Harold) Berger, Sherry (Peter) Blumberg, Laura (Ronald) Holman, Marc Gilman, Agatha Gilman, Adam (Kristin) Maginnis, Kara (John) Domby, Megan (Murat) Akdamar, Maura (Rick) Barnes, Molly Maginnis, and Aaron Maginnis; 32 great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren; and her nephew, Tim (Carol) Sparks of Little Rock. A memorial service for Mary will be held at 4:30 p.m. today 2/14/18 at Temple Israel, 1376 East Massey Road. In lieu of flowers, Mary’s wish was that she be remembered with a contribution to Temple Israel, the Memphis Jewish Home, LeBonheur Children’s Hospital, or to a charity of the donor’s choice.