Joan Schine, 87
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Joan Goldwasser Schine, widow of Harold L. Schine, died Sept. 18 in her Westport home after a long illness. She had Alzheimer’s disease. She was 87.WestportNow.com Image
Joan Schine: fought back recall attempt. Contributed photo
Born in 1923 and raised in New York City, Mrs. Schine was the daughter of Edith (née Goldstein) and Israel Edwin Goldwasser. She attended Horace Mann School and was graduated from Smith College.
Following her marriage to Harold L. Schine, of Bridgeport, the couple moved to Trumbull and then Westport, where they raised their four children.
Mrs. Schine was a longtime chair of the Westport Board of Education during the late 1960s and early 70s and was instrumental in bringing Project Concern, a program that enrolled students from the Bridgeport schools, to Westport schools.
Mrs. Schine successfully fought back attempts at a recall election to remove her from the Board of Education while supporting the goal of integration.
She went on, after the death of her beloved Harold in 1977, to forge a national reputation in service learning for middle grade students while leading the National Center for Service Learning, headquartered in New York City.
She served as consultant on service learning to schools and foundations and edited one of the first books in the field, Service Learning, published in 1997 by the National Society for the Study of Education/University of Chicago Press.
In addition to her career in education she read widely and attended theater in New York City from the time she was a child in the 1930s until late in her life.
She also enjoyed vacationing at Bald Mountain Camps near Rangeley, Maine, where she hosted an annual gathering of her family. Well into her 60s, she played doubles in tennis, often with her sister, Marjorie Wyler, who predeceased her.
Mrs. Schine is survived by her children – Judith Seltz of Alexandria, Va., James Schine of Yardley, Pa., Robert Schine of Middlebury, Vt., and Beth Schine of Framingham, Mass., and by her 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
She is also survived by her older brother Edwin L. Goldwasser of Urbana, Ill.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, Sept. 26, at 2 p.m. at Westport Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Ave.
