Thursday, March 28, 2024 -
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Ellie Greenberg, 1932-2021

The phrase “lifelong learning” is popular now, particularly among institutions that offer educational opportunities to people beyond college. The term might as well have been coined by Dr. Elinor “Ellie” Miller Greenberg, Denver’s respected proponent of lifelong education who left our midst on erev Yom Kippur.

Highly educated and intellectual, warm and friendly, Dr. Greenberg was convinced of the power of education at any age so that people could live their best lives — all their lives. She shared her knowledge through the many books she authored and the workshops she led.

The Intermountain Jewish News profiled Dr. Greenberg twice (in addition to many Shmoos column entries about her many career achievements): first in 1982 as a “Very Important Woman,” and again in 2009 as a senior who was still making an impact in education, and in women’s and civil rights.

In that 1982 interview, Dr. Greenberg predicted with uncanny accuracy that the world would soon enter a technological age of radically enhanced communications. Because she saw it coming, she was prepared to embrace technology for the good, while never losing her passion for old-school bound books and the printed word.

Dr. Greenberg was born during the Great Depression and grew up in a time when women’s roles were traditionally defined, but she became a feminist. Not the bra-burning, slogan-chanting, militant type, but the type who knew the potential for women to become and do whatever they aspired to do, and to reshape our society. Among her countless endeavors, she curated a series of feminist luncheons featuring Colorado female authors who were role models.

We are grateful that Ellie Greenberg reached her full potential as she helped others do the same.

Copyright © 2021 by the Intermountain Jewish News




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