Pauline “Polly” Kalman

Polly Kalman, the daughter of Russian immigrants Sonya and Louis Olansky, is survived by two children, Toby, of West Barnstable on Cape Cod, and Eliot, a resident of Athens, Ohio. Polly died on February 12, just five weeks shy of crossing the centenarian threshold. She was preceded in death by Irving, her husband of 65 years, and by Toby’s daughter, Amy, who died in infancy. In 1957, the Kalmans moved from their Roxbury apartment to their new home in Newton Centre. Polly resided there until her January hospitalization.

Accomplished with needle and thread, Polly kept busy for many years performing clothing alterations for friends and neighbors. She followed both the BoSox and the Pats. She was a long time volunteer at the Children’s Section of the Newton Free Library. She also volunteered for the Newton Low Vision Group.

The Kalman family, consistent with Polly’s charitable history, requests that memorial contributions be made to the Jewish National Fund and/or to a favorite environmental or animal welfare non-profit organization.