Miriam Willis

Miriam Willis died at home on Friday, June 15, 2012. Miriam was born February 11, 1920, in Beaumont, Texas, where she spent her childhood. She was the middle child of Alexander Szafir and Florence Vaughan Szafir.

After graduating from The Baldwin School in Bryn Mar, PA, Miriam moved to New York City to study philosophy at Barnard College and dancing at the American Ballet School. In the late 1930s she returned to Beaumont to manage her mother’s bookstore. After World War II she married and followed her beloved husband, Dudley Willis, as his career took him from Texas to Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and, finally, Newark, Delaware, where they settled in 1955.

Ever the idealist, Miriam was a passionate advocate for fair and open government. She was a staunch supporter of the League of Women Voters and the public library, serving on both local and state LWV boards and county and state library advisory boards. She was instrumental in founding the Friends of the Newark Free Library and reforming library funding in Delaware. Concerned about the outrageous influence money had in determining public policy, she was a dedicated activist with Common Cause in its fight for campaign finance reform.

Her love of social justice, literature, theater and the arts inspired her children and grandchildren and influenced their lives and careers. Her enjoyment of lively and intelligent discourse attracted and sustained many cherished friendships. Her open heart and mind encouraged and comforted her many younger friends. She was a firm believer in exercise, especially swimming. Her children will remember her frequent advice, “Get in the water, you’ll feel better”.

A delightful wife and mother, Miriam is survived by her five children: Catherine and her husband Robert Wojewodzki of Newark, DE; Caroline and her husband James Cook of Palo Alto, CA; Michael and his wife Sharon of Elkton, MD; Nancy Alexine and her husband James Cloonan of Newark, DE; and David Dudley and his wife Ioanna of Van Nuys, CA. She was a loving grandmother to her seven grandchildren, Wendy Wojewodzki, Anna Wojewodzki Hunter, Jason and Trevor Willis, Gavan and Vivian Cook, and Zoe Cloonan, as well as her three great-grandchildren, Kaitlyn Hunter, Robert Childs, and Severn Willis. Her brother Alex Szafir and his wife Peggy also survive her.

Friends and family are invited to gather in the garden on Briar Lane at 5:00 PM on Saturday, July 7. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Miriam’s memory may be made to the Friends of the Newark Free Library, 750 Library Avenue, Newark, DE 19711.