Molly G. Sashkin

Molly Goltman Sashkin died on July 5, 2017 from complications due to Parkinson’s Disease. Molly disliked hyperbole so there will be no long review here of her many accomplishments in 74 years on earth. In brief summary, she helped a great many individuals in her roles as teacher and counselor at every level of education, from pre-school through college. She was especially proud of her achievements as owner and manager of a publishing company.

Molly survived more than twenty years of Parkinson’s Disease, “a good run,” in the words of one of her neurologists. Her most difficult time was from July of 2016 through March of this year when, in attempting a new PD treatment she unknowingly breathed in (aspirated) some liquid and suffered a severe form of pneumonia that is the most frequent killer of Parkinson’s patients. Not one of the many neurologists and physicians who treated her expected her to survive, but she was extremely stubborn!

At one point she had to have surgery to close the wound resulting from a feeding/medication tube placed through her stomach and into her small intestine. The vast majority of Parkinson’s patients come out of such surgery with “Parkinson’s Delirium,” involving delusions and hallucinations. For some time after this successful surgery Molly would tell people that her husband “Marshall stole all my money and is running around town spending it on floozies”. Clearly her wit and sense of humor were still intact!

After weeks in hospital intensive care units (ICU’s), and months in various other medical facilities, almost ten months in all, she finally went home on April 16. With therapy she was able to walk with minimal assistance, speak understandably, and write readably. She was getting better and stronger day by day. In fact, overall Molly was in better physical condition than she was before last summer.

On June 18 Molly suffered a common Parkinson’s problem: choking on food. Molly was without oxygen for a considerable amount of time. The Emergency Medical Techs brought her back and, except for severe breathing difficulty, her physical condition was stable. However, her brain was so badly damaged that recovery was judged by several neurologists, including one who has treated her for almost a decade, to be impossible. According to her written wishes, she was taken off life support on July 4.

The great irony, of course, is that after working toward recovery from the aspiration accident with such determination and effort, her life was taken by three shrimp extracted from her windpipe by the Emergency Medical Techs.

Molly is survived by her beloved toy poodles, Lanny and PayDay, along with her husband Marshall, with whom she shared the last forty-one years (“a good run”). He is thankful for the two months they had at home together. He wishes to apologize for the quality of the present material, as Molly was not available to edit it as she did for almost all of his otherwise dull writings.

There will be a visitation on Thursday July 6, from 4 pm to 7 pm, at the Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Avenue. On July 7 her cremains will be interred between her mother and father in Temple Israel’s “old cemetery”. At 10 am a service will be held in the chapel at Temple Israel on East Massey Road; all are welcome. For those who wish to make a contribution in her memory Molly’s favorite charities were MIFA and MAZON.