Zina Tillona, 89, of Amherst, a professor emerita of Italian at the University of Massachusetts and retired attorney, died peacefully on December 6, 2018, at the Hospice of the Fisher Home, Amherst.

Born in Sicily and raised in Brooklyn, Zina first came to Amherst in 1951 to teach Romance languages at UMass. During most of the ensuing seven decades, she made her home here and touched the lives of generations of students, colleagues, friends and neighbors. She served the Hampshire County and Five Colleges communities in two successive careers – first as an educator, scholar, and college administrator, then as a lawyer in private practice.

She is survived by her sister Patricia Tillona; niece Susanne Tillona; nephew Thomas Tillona; sister-in-law Carol Tillona; and many cousins and dear friends. She was preceded in death by her sister Francesca Tillona; brother Salvatore Tillona; and brother-in-law Stephen Barry.

Zina was born in Licodia Eubea, Sicily, on September 3, 1929. Her parents brought her to New York in the early 1930s, settling first in Lower Manhattan and later in Brooklyn. A precocious student, Zina graduated from Brooklyn’s Abraham Lincoln High School at age 16. She earned a B.A. in Italian language and literature from Hunter College in 1950 and an M.A. in Italian literature from Wellesley College in 1951.

Zina was an instructor in UMass’s Department of Romance Languages from 1951 to 1960. From 1955 to 1957 she was a Fulbright scholar in Rome, where she studied at the University of Rome and taught English at the Center for American Studies. She earned a Doctorate of Modern Languages in Italian in 1960 from Middlebury College, completing a dissertation on Luigi Pirandello’s Novelle per un anno. She taught Italian at Wellesley from 1960 to 1964 and at Boston University from 1964 to 1966. Zina returned to UMass in 1966 as a professor of Italian and head of the Italian language program. From 1972 to 1979, she served in the UMass-Amherst administration as associate provost and special assistant to the chancellor. She retired from UMass in 1986 to pursue a second career in law.

She received her J.D. in 1986 from the Western New England College School of Law, Springfield, and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. For two decades, she practiced law in Hadley and Amherst. Her practice included family law, elder law, guardianship and criminal defense. Zina was also active in public affairs, serving the Town of Amherst as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Charter Commission and the Representative Town Meeting.

Zina made numerous visits to Italy and traveled widely in Europe, Asia and Latin America. She loved to cook and to do the New York Times crossword. An avid reader, she had a particular fondness for mystery novels and courtroom fiction. She was an active member of Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst, for more than a quarter century, and a member of the Amherst Club and Five Colleges Learning in Retirement.

A memorial service will be held at Grace Church, 14 Boltwood Avenue, Amherst, on Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 11:00am. Additional details are available at www.douglassfuneral.com