Susan "Shoshi" Satloff

Susan “Shoshi” Satloff of Westport, NY passed away on August 16, 2022.
Shoshi grew up near Jones Beach on Long Island and, upon graduating from high school, she attended SUNY Geneseo where she sang alto with the renowned Geneseo Chamber Singers with Dr. Robert Isgro. She majored in English/Dramatic Arts and received certification in Elementary Education. An excellent soccer player, she played college softball long before Geneseo had a women’s soccer team. After graduation, she spent a year on a kibbutz in Israel and traveled throughout Europe and Scandinavia. She was fluent in many languages. Returning to the USA, she began her work as a teacher at Westport Central School up until her retirement in 2018. She also served as an EMT on the Westport Emergency Squad for many years. At WCS, Shoshi was a long-time Kindergarten teacher, helping to establish it as a full-year learning experience. She introduced countless numbers of children to life-long learning, helping them understand far more than the alphabet and numbers. Indeed, she helped prepare them to be good learners and responsible citizens who would be kind to the earth and all its inhabitants. Shoshi held other positions throughout her tenure at WCS, but she will be forever remembered as a kind, protective and innovative teacher who often brought a therapy dog to school to help children be at ease and think outside themselves.

Shoshi’s family included legions of dogs who found a safe haven in her care. She trained many dogs to become companions to those with disabilities as well as to work with law enforcement. But she also opened her home to the stray, the unwanted, the weak and the abused, bringing them comfort and her joy. Known to many as the “dog lady” Shoshi could often be found walking a pack of dogs on Dudley road or feeding and exercising other residents including cats, donkeys and horses.

Shoshi spent many summers as the Assistant Technical Director at the Depot Theatre. While there, she also helped with company management and was often an actor’s first introduction to the Adirondacks. She loved to lead them on hikes, stop for pie at the Noonmark Diner, take them on grocery runs and explain why everyone in cars waved when they passed by and why you didn’t lock doors.

Shoshi’s life included years in the foster care system which shaped her spirit and her steadfast and passionate opinions for equal justice, civil rights, gender equality, the protection and empowerment of women, children and the disabled and those often marginalized by society. She didn’t sit idly, but engaged on all these issues and did not suffer those who opposed human rights and acted without integrity, empathy or a moral compass.

Shoshi became part of the community she served, developing and tending to life-long relationships which she never took for granted. If you were friend, you were family, and you could count on her love and loyalty. Shoshi often went above and beyond for others for no other reward than to make their lives better or easier. In doing so, she modeled selflessness and compassion for others.

She would want us to be kind, thought-filled and purposeful. She would tell us not to squander time, but delve deeply into that good book, try something outside our comfort zone, be grateful for what the earth provides, laugh and listen more, take a stand, love an animal, cherish your friends, be intrepid, and know that each of us stands on a frontier of choices in life--commit and keep moving forward.

Shoshi will be remembered by her many friends and students, and by her beloved Isgro/Melizzi/DeCamp families in Geneseo, NY, her fellow Chamber Singers, her best friend Karen Razzano, and her adoptive families, the Kelley-Mudies and Jones/ McCormick/Pastore/Weaver families of Westport, NY and beyond.

In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to a local charity that reminds you of Shoshi and be sure to hug a pet today. A memorial service will be held at Ballard Park on September 3 at 4:00 pm - please bring a blanket or chair and join in celebrating Shoshi.