Selma Ann Slotnick Lait

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Selma Ann Slotnick Lait was born on February 18, 1936 at Boston Lying In Hospital to the late Celina Cooper and Isadore “Ike” Slotnick.   She passed away peacefully, December 9, 2023 at Newton Wellesley Hospital following a sudden decline in her health.  Her daughters, Marci Lait and Beth Lait Harris spent her final days with her.

Selma graduated from Barnard College in NYC in 1957 with a degree in fine arts.  After returning to Boston, where she married the late Robert L Lait, Selma enjoyed a long career in teaching.  She started out at Spalding Elementary in Newton and continued for years in more schools than you can name throughout Framingham, where she and Bob had settled and raised their girls.  She mostly taught reading, spanning all levels from remedial to exceptional.  Her tenure as a teacher was only interrupted by bringing up her kids in their formative years and by the tragic illness she suffered in 1979.  Not only did she recover from the brinks, she did so as a pioneering patient under the care of her revolutionary surgeon, the late Dr Michael Scott.  Following this chapter, she heroically returned to the classroom and courageously continued to teach young children in spite of her speech impairment.

Selma (or Sunny to many of her friends) was an avid patron of the arts, befitting her education.  Perhaps what many would remember her best for was her love of the opera.  She would routinely travel to NYC to attend the Met; when she was no longer able, she would attend Met broadcasts that had popped up in movie theaters.  She talked about The Barber of Seville and Lucia di Lammermoor up to the end, and fittingly, as all who knew her well, in her own attempt at Italian.

Selma leaves behind her daughters, Marci Lait of Manteo NC and Beth Harris of Somerset England as well as her two grandsons, Kai Harris of London England and Yul Harris of Indonesia.  She was predeceased by her husband Robert, way too early, and by her parents, Celena and Ike Slotnick, her sister and brother-in-law Dotti and Gene Green and her brother and sister-in-law Eileen and Hale Lait.  She has so many loving family members on both sides who have supported her over the years not to mention friends near and far, new and old, who have continued to stand by her and help her in her later years.

It is hard to pick out any one place to memorialize her, however, given that her most consistent limitation in life, and particularly in her final months, was her speech, the family would like to suggest that they consider helping others afflicted with aphasia, a problem that can devastate expressive and/or receptive language, by making a donation to the National Aphasia Association at aphasia.org.  Selma supported many causes, however, in her memory we would like to honor her by helping others who have been similarly robbed of their voice.

Graveside services will be held at Beth Israel Cemetery in Everett on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 12:30 pm.  Those who would like to but are unable to attend can contact the family to join us virtually. Shiva will be held at 2:45 pm on Thursday, December 14, 2023 in the Palanquin Room, Heritage Assisted Living, 747 Water St., Framingham, MA 01701.