Scheduled Services

PostHeaderIcon REV. ANDREA JANE HEAPS ZUCKER of HOLYOKE, MASS, May 11, 1948 – April 30, 2017

The Reverend Andrea Jane Heaps Zucker died at 4:30 am on April 30th at Hospice of the Fisher home with her husband Rob and their two children, Sophia and Zack, by her side. Andrea was deeply loved by her immediate family, her large extended family, and many, many circles of beloved friends that she attracted throughout her rich, multi-dimensional lifetime. 

Andrea was born May 11,1948, in Newark, New Jersey.  She grew up in Livingston, New Jersey with her parents and her younger brother, Richard. Andrea excelled in High School, received her undergraduate degree at Bryn Mawr College (where she majored in French), and her master’s degree at the University of Chicago (where she was an education major). She also attended Brown University’s doctoral program in Comparative Literature until finally realizing that her heart and soul would never fit comfortably in any traditional academic setting. Once this became clear, Andrea devoted her life and career to personally meaningful creative endeavors, often with children and teens. Nevertheless, she was always a mean, competitive scrabble player and could beat most anyone at Bananagrams.

 

 

In New York City, where she met and married her soul mate Rob, Andrea taught theater and English at several high schools and, together with Rob, collaborated on various theater projects, including a season of summer stock in Maine. When their daughter Sophia was born, Andrea moved with Rob to Florence, Massachusetts. They made their home there for 25 years where they raised daughter Sophia and their son, Zack. While parenting her children, Andrea free-lanced as a theater teacher at several schools in the Valley and taught theater for a number of years at The Drama Studio in Springfield. She particularly loved running the drama program at Northampton High School for a few years, and teaching theater at PVPA. 

Andrea was ordained in 2010 as an Interfaith Minister by the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME), an arts-based seminary that suited Andrea’s creative, eclectic spirit perfectly. Andrea expressed her compassionate soul through the arts and was particularly drawn to working with bereaved parents, and people facing their own mortality. She led writing workshops with the bereaved with her husband Rob and, as part of her ministry, was a chaplain at Baystate Hospice. 

Andrea was a deep thinker and an avid reader, particularly of novels.  For much of her life she was a rigorous writer of personal journals. She loved writing poetry and short stories, and participating in numerous AWA writing workshops. She passionately enjoyed choral singing, dancing, painting and knitting.  She was a legendary knitter, certainly among her knitting group buddies and others fortunate enough to have one of her woolen creations. She loved drawing, and some of her oldest, closest friends still cherish her flowery doodles.

Andrea was always politically progressive. As a Vista Volunteer she worked with impoverished youth in Colorado.  She was a die-hard lefty throughout her life and supporter of numerous organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign  (HRC) and women’s rights organizations.  The last march she attended was the Northampton Women’s March.  While she was not strong enough to walk down Main Street, she made her way to Pulaski Park and rested at the foot of the podium with the rest of the enthusiastic crowd behind her.  

Andrea did not want to die and believed for most of her illness that she would somehow beat the odds. She loved her life and was blessed with two beautiful grandchildren in January. Her Caring Bridge journals meant so much to her as she battled pancreatic cancer and struggled with her own fears and limitations, hopes and dreams. Her followers on Caring Bridge found her story inspirational because of her ability to honestly document her extraordinary journey. 

Andrea sparkled when she smiled. Her kindness and compassion were legendary among those fortunate enough to have known her, either personally or professionally.  Those of us with a spiritual bent are surely convinced that Andrea’s brilliant, loving, positive, funny, and courageous spirit has merely outgrown her beautiful body.  And yet we grieve, grateful to have had her in our lives while uncertain how to navigate in a world that must now keep on spinning without her physical presence. 

Andrea was pre-deceased by her parents, Ruth and Irving Heaps. She leaves behind her loving husband Rob, her children Sophia and Zack, her daughter-in-law Laura, her grandchildren Ellis and Ramona, her brother Richard Heaps, numerous beloved nieces, nephews and cousins, her loving in-laws Diane, Debbie, Cliff, Susie, Mark, and her mother-in-law, Dorothy. 

A Memorial Service for Andrea will be held on June 10th at 11am at The Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence. 

The family is tremendously grateful for the loving, professional care provided by each and every member of the team at Hospice of the Fisher Home. Donations in Andrea’s memory may be sent to: Hospice of the Fisher Home, 1165 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA.

 

 

 

Comments are closed.

Current Obituaries
To view full obituary details and/or sign the Memorial Guestbook click desired individual below.

ERIC DAY of EASTHAMPTON, MA died on March 1, 2024

ROBERT GRAY of AMHERST died on March 22, 2024

JOANNA HAYES of SHUTESBURY died on March 15, 2024

DENISON HARTMAN JONES of FLORIDA died on March 9, 2024

DONNA LEVIN of AMHERST died on March 23, 2024

MARTHA CHASE MITCHELL of AMHERST, MA died on February 11, 2024

LORNA M. PETERSON of AMHERST, MA died on March 16, 2024

PETER ALBERT (PAW) WARD of AMHERST died on March 3, 2024


Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!