Rhoda Honigberg, a native New Yorker who came to Amherst as a young UMass faculty wife in 1950 and lived in the town the rest of her life, passed away on November 2 at age 96.

            In her 72 years as a town resident, Mrs. Honigberg and her many friends enthusiastically took part in a variety of civic endeavors. She taught in elementary school prior to becoming a mother. She was active in the League of Women Voters, including service as president, and remained interested in politics and campaigns her entire life. She served on the Amherst School Committee as a member and then chair from 1968-71. She was a member of the school building committees for Wildwood Elementary and Crocker Farm Elementary. This experience enabled her to write the chapter entitled “Public Education in Amherst,” which appeared in Essays on Amherst History (Vista Trust, Amherst 1978).

She served on the town solid waste commission, which selected the site and oversaw the opening of the transfer station and recycling center on Belchertown Road. She also supported the proposed change to the town’s government structure in 2018 and, at age 92, recorded a telephone message urging residents to support the change.

            Mrs. Honigberg was born on November 13, 1925, and grew up in Brooklyn, the daughter of Michael and Sylvia (Bien) Springer. She advanced at an accelerated pace through the City’s public school system, graduating from high school at age 16. She received her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Queens College and her master’s degree in Shakespearean Literature from Columbia University.

            Mrs. Honigberg was predeceased by Bronislaw M. Honigberg, Ph.D., her husband of 44 years, who was a Professor of Zoology at UMass from 1950 until his death in 1992. Mrs. Honigberg worked as her husband’s editorial assistant on several prestigious scientific journals. She also helped acclimate the many doctoral students and post-doctoral scientists from around the world who worked in Dr. Honigberg’s laboratory.

            Mrs. Honigberg traveled extensively. She accompanied Dr. Honigberg on sabbaticals and to international conferences in, among others, France, Scotland, Germany, and Kenya. She also traveled with friends throughout Europe and North America, including Alaska, Hawaii, and passage through the Panama Canal. She was an avid reader and solver of crossword puzzles.

She was devoted to her family, her friends, and her town until the end.

Mrs. Honigberg is survived by her sons Paul Honigberg, of McLean, Virginia, and Martin Honigberg, of Concord, New Hampshire; her daughters-in-law Carol Honigberg and Ann Honigberg; and five grandchildren.

            Mrs. Honigberg will be laid to rest in a private ceremony. The family requests that donations in lieu of flowers be made in her name to the University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation, Inc., for the purchase of periodicals and monograph serials in the biological sciences; the Jones Library, Inc. (Amherst); or the League of Women Voters Education Fund (Amherst). Memorial guestbook at www.douglassfuneral.com