Sally Allen Livingston
February 24, 1947 ~ October 4, 2018
Dr. Sally A. Livingston, 71, passed away in Washington D.C. on October 4 after a long journey with brain cancer.
She was born on February 24, 1947 in Montague, MA. After the death of her mother, Adeline (Sojka) Geraghty, when Sally was just seven years old, she lived with her aunt and uncle, Stella (Sojka) Skrzypek and Joseph V. Skrzypek, who became her adoptive parents.
A graduate of Turners Falls High School, Sally attended Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Manitoba, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Renaissance history, after which she entered the doctoral program at the University of Toronto.
Sally returned to Western Massachusetts and spent several years as an assistant professor of history at Hampshire College in Amherst. She left academia to pursue a career in development and fundraising, as the director of development for Seattle Opera, the American Farm School in Greece, and then as executive director of the Sisters of Providence Foundation in Springfield. Entering the investment field, she was partner for several years at Woods and Livingston in Springfield before starting her own firm. She also served on the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct.
One of the accomplishments of which Sally was most proud was the founding of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. As an active member of women’s organizations, she attended the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, and upon returning, she and two other attendees, Dianne Doherty and Martha Richards, started the Women’s Fund to empower women and girls to bring social justice and economic opportunity into their lives. Since its founding, the Women’s Fund has provided over $2.5 million dollars in philanthropic grants, impacting more than three million women and their families.
In 2001, Sally’s life came full circle when she decided to complete the Ph.D. degree that she had begun many years earlier, earning her doctorate in Comparative Literature from Harvard University in 2008. In the following years, she was a Lecturer on both History and Literature and Comparative Literature at Harvard. In 2011, she joined the Department of Comparative Literature at Ohio Wesleyan University where she was promoted to associate professor in 2015. At the age of seventy, she was awarded tenure in recognition for her work as an innovative teacher, a generous and committed mentor to her students, and her scholarship at the intersection of literature, history, and economics.
Sally was predeceased by her loving parents. She was the cherished sister of Mary Ann (Mimi) Ginsberg and her husband, Dr. Stuart Ginsberg, of Arlington, VA, and devoted aunt to her beloved nieces and nephews, Allison Ginsberg and her husband Kevin Walter of Brooklyn, NY, Sarah Ginsberg and her partner Andrew Rusiecki of New York, NY, and Adam Ginsberg of Arlington, VA. She also leaves a host of extraordinary friends and colleagues.
Contributions in Sally’s memory may be made to the Sally Livingston Scholarship Fund at Ohio Wesleyan University, Mowry Alumni Center, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware, OH 43015 or to the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, 1350 Main St. Suite 1006, Springfield MA 01103.
A private burial will be held at a later date.
She was born on February 24, 1947 in Montague, MA. After the death of her mother, Adeline (Sojka) Geraghty, when Sally was just seven years old, she lived with her aunt and uncle, Stella (Sojka) Skrzypek and Joseph V. Skrzypek, who became her adoptive parents.
A graduate of Turners Falls High School, Sally attended Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Manitoba, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Renaissance history, after which she entered the doctoral program at the University of Toronto.
Sally returned to Western Massachusetts and spent several years as an assistant professor of history at Hampshire College in Amherst. She left academia to pursue a career in development and fundraising, as the director of development for Seattle Opera, the American Farm School in Greece, and then as executive director of the Sisters of Providence Foundation in Springfield. Entering the investment field, she was partner for several years at Woods and Livingston in Springfield before starting her own firm. She also served on the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct.
One of the accomplishments of which Sally was most proud was the founding of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. As an active member of women’s organizations, she attended the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, and upon returning, she and two other attendees, Dianne Doherty and Martha Richards, started the Women’s Fund to empower women and girls to bring social justice and economic opportunity into their lives. Since its founding, the Women’s Fund has provided over $2.5 million dollars in philanthropic grants, impacting more than three million women and their families.
In 2001, Sally’s life came full circle when she decided to complete the Ph.D. degree that she had begun many years earlier, earning her doctorate in Comparative Literature from Harvard University in 2008. In the following years, she was a Lecturer on both History and Literature and Comparative Literature at Harvard. In 2011, she joined the Department of Comparative Literature at Ohio Wesleyan University where she was promoted to associate professor in 2015. At the age of seventy, she was awarded tenure in recognition for her work as an innovative teacher, a generous and committed mentor to her students, and her scholarship at the intersection of literature, history, and economics.
Sally was predeceased by her loving parents. She was the cherished sister of Mary Ann (Mimi) Ginsberg and her husband, Dr. Stuart Ginsberg, of Arlington, VA, and devoted aunt to her beloved nieces and nephews, Allison Ginsberg and her husband Kevin Walter of Brooklyn, NY, Sarah Ginsberg and her partner Andrew Rusiecki of New York, NY, and Adam Ginsberg of Arlington, VA. She also leaves a host of extraordinary friends and colleagues.
Contributions in Sally’s memory may be made to the Sally Livingston Scholarship Fund at Ohio Wesleyan University, Mowry Alumni Center, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware, OH 43015 or to the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, 1350 Main St. Suite 1006, Springfield MA 01103.
A private burial will be held at a later date.
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