Marjorie R. Kaufman, May 24, 1922 — October 30, 2012 

A dear friend, teacher, and founding member of the Frances Perkins Program, Marjorie Kaufman passed away on October 30, 2012. Kaufman, professor emeritus of English, stepped in as the program’s first director and vital figure in getting the program off the ground. In the Fall 2004 Alumnae Quarterly, Kaufman reflected on some of the challenges the program faced 25 years earlier. “Despite the administration’s backing, she encountered barriers within the College when it came to the unique needs of older students. For example, ‘early on, I knew how important it was for the program to have its own telephone line,’ she recalls. ‘I knew that there would be women who had finally gotten up the courage to call about the program, and if there were no answer, they would take it as a sign that [college] wasn’t mean’t to be. And they’d put it off for another year.’ It took presidential intervention to get an FP phone line.”
Additionally, in these early days, there was no place to call home for the FP community. Kaufman again rallied for a place of our own and was eventually offered the Frances Perkins House at 52 College Street. Later, a fellowship in her name was created to honor a graduating Frances Perkins Scholar in the area of humanities. The impact and influence of Kaufman is great, both in FP community and the broader Mount Holyoke community. Please see below for Marjorie’s obituary.

(Published Daily Hampshire Gazette on November 2, 2012)
SOUTH HADLEY – The Mount Holyoke College and wider town community are mourning the loss of Marjorie R. Kaufman, a beloved member since 1954, who passed away on Oct. 30, 2012.

She was born May 24, 1922, in Milwaukee, Wis., to Nathan and Helen Kaufman. Her father instilled in her a lifelong sense of community service and her own ebullient personality and sharp intellect contributed to the warm esteem she enjoyed from generations of college students, colleagues and friends.
As former students who became dear friends will testify, her gift for teaching was matched by her gift for friendship. In both, her generosity of spirit shone through every honest critique and every kind gesture.

Marjorie was educated at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Washington and received her Ph.D in English Literature for a dissertation on Henry James from the University of Minnesota.

She loved to communicate her enthusiasm for literature and never quite gave up teaching even after her retirement from the College. She was a founding member in 1989 of the Five College Learning in Retirement Program. Her commitment to lifelong learning led her to be a propelling member of the College’s Frances Perkins program for mature students and eventually to lead several groups in Reading and Poetry Writing for the wider community’s senior population. In the Reading group she tackled Homer, Cervantes and Proust with her usual care and delight, bringing these ‘worthy’ works to life in her inimitable way until after her 90th birthday.

She was proud to be elected as a County Commissioner for the years 1995-1998, and she served continuously as a town meeting member since 1988. Her wry comment on that role was that it was a “matter of putting my seat where my mouth’s been!” It was still important to her in 2011, to the extent that she gave up an opera ticket to attend an all-day meeting.

She is survived by her goddaughter Kerry Dinh and her family of Northampton.