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Remembering Shirley…

For more than four decades Shirley was the public face of Hillel.  She was the first person generations of students saw when they walked into Hillel.  The chair next to her desk was where student after student sat to share their concerns about life and to be refreshed by her energy and spirit.

The staff, students, Board of Trustees and the Cincinnati community will forever miss Shirley Lutchin.  Please send us your favorite memories of her so that we can all share in celebrating her life.

When Shirley first became an important person in my life, going to college meant separating from your parents.  Today, parents and children stay entwined – not just because it’s possible but because they want to, and it is acceptable.  Forty-five years ago, however, we learned to adjust – or not – in our own ways.  Most people I knew called their parents once a week.  In my UC dorm, there were lines at the pay phones every Sunday, because it was cheaper.  We checked in with our parents but did not share the intimate details of our lives, tangles with roommates and professors, new boyfriends…We were supposed to handle it.  Anyway, parents were parents, not friends.  But that was exactly what Shirley At the Hillel Jewish Student Center, Shirley willingly served as the surrogate and friendly parent for generations of IC students.  She instinctively understood the phrase ‘in loco parentis’ literally and lovingly, not legally and filled in as the mother so many of us missed.  I had a wonderful relationship with my own mother, but I had Shirley for the other six days of my week. was for…and she excelled at it.

            Separating from your parents when you leave for college may have been too much to expect of a 17 or 18 year old.  We needed Shirley  We needed Shirley to listen, to cluck, to nudge, to sympathize.  We needed Shirley to put what was happening to us into perspective.  We needed Shirley to take immediate pride and sheer delights in our accomplishments.  Shirley was the glue that held Hillel together.   The directors in those days were graduate students, not much older than I was.  They were innovation, Shirley was experience.  As the years went by, Shirley provided the long view (I can hear her saying, “the very long view”).  to help us with that transition.

            Just as we had our parents and lives outside Hillel, so did Shirley.  Shirley’s life was filled with sadness, but you wouldn’t know it.  If and when you learned about it, then you really understood the depth of her experience.  Her wisdom and ability to build a giving and loving life represented the triumph of her spirit.  Shirley was not a Pollyanna, she didn’t simply put on a happy face. Her respect and love for her students and students who became her friends, reflected her loving and positive soul.

            As one who benefited so much from knowing Shirley Lutchin, I am grateful for her wisdom, her deep compassion and her eternal friendship.

-Sherry Levy-Reiner, PhD., Washington DC

My memories of Shirley are many.  Shirley was an exceptional person in so many ways.  She was always warm and loving and such a nurturing person to so many of all of us, while we were students at the University of Cincinnati.  Coming to see Shirley at Hillel was like coming home.  There was a comfort and love about her that is hard to find in people these days. When you were in need of a friendly face or someone to talk to, you could count on Shirley to be there.  I know that Shirley genuinely cared about each and every one of us who passed through Hillel’s doors.  She was there is celebrate in our triumphs and there to comfort and help us in times of trouble or sadness. I first met Shirley when I was and a freshman at UC in 1971 when I had started to date Larry, now my husband of 35 years.  Larry took me to Hillel for Friday night Shabbats and to the coffee houses on Sat. nights in the old Hillel house basement.  Hillel was a wonderful place for Larry and I, and having Shirley there made it even more special.  It was a difficult decision, for me, when I converted to Judaism. I decided that if Shirley Lutchin and the other wonderful people I met at Hillel, people like Howie Kastner and David Green were Jewish, then, I wanted to be Jewish.  When I decided to convert to Judaism, Shirley was very supportive, offering sage advice, yet letting me make my own decision.  Shirley and Larry were the only people who attended my conversion ceremony. Then, a month later in June of 1974, Shirley was there when Larry and I were married.  She has been there for every mileston in our lives.  Her love and support have meant so much to Larry and I.  While working as director of the theatre group at Hillel, many years later, Shirley was the person I ran ideas by.  Shirley was supportive of all of my ideas no matter how outlandish!  Even when I accidentally set off the fire alarm and the Clifton fire department came, in full gear, she did not scold me.  When our “rabbit hole” from “Ellie In Wonderland” was knee deep in mud and my cast and I were shoveling, Shirley gave us equipment and, in the pouring rain,asked if she could help shovel. What a trooper Shirley was!  What a mensch in every sense of the word!  She was in the front row of our “basement theatre”, bringing all her friends, cheering us on! When we performed “The Diary Of Anne Frank”, she led a standing ovation that brought the audience, and all of the performers, to tears.  Although Shirley, Larry and I did not see each other on a daily basis, we kept in touch over the years.  Shirley made a lasting impression on me and in my life and to so many others.  She persevered through so much in her lifetime, yet, always keeping her sense of humor and her loving  spirit.  It is difficult to put into words how much Shirley meant to so many of us.I will miss her, as will each of us who knew her, but, will always think of her with great affection, warmth and love and feel fortunate to have had her in my life. -Cathy Alter

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“To be a center for enriching the lives of Jewish college students in greater Cincinnati, to strengthen Jewish identity through social, cultural, religious and personal growth as well as to provide a broad range of programs and services in an atmosphere that is creative, energetic and pluralistic.”