Syrul Frank Lurie
Beloved Librarian, Mother and Grandmother
Syrul Frank Lurie passed peacefully on March 19th surrounded by her family, just shy of her 92nd birthday.
Syrul was born in Boston on March 27, 1934. Her father, Frederick Frank, was an attorney and an accountant. Her mother, Lena Simon Frank, worked in her family’s grocery store and then for decades at the Blue Hill Credit Union, both in Mattapan and Brookline.
Syrul grew up in a vibrant Jewish community in Mattapan, with her younger brother Stanley Frank. Syrul proudly graduated from Girls Latin School in 1951, along with her lifelong friends, Avis Horwitz (Lampert) and Judy Rottenberg (Diamond). From Mattapan onward, Avis, Judy and Syrul shared a lifetime of friendship, camaraderie and joy.
While a student at Girls Latin, Syrul met and fell in love with her lifelong partner and eventual husband, Robert (Bob) Lurie, who predeceased Syrul in 2018.
Syrul attended Brandeis University, receiving a Bachelor’s of Arts in English and American Literature in 1955. Brandeis had a profound impact on Syrul: the school had only recently been established as a four-year institution, but attracted world class faculty and was rapidly becoming a center for science, the arts, and humanities. Syrul immersed herself in her studies and gained new insight into music and the arts from such scholars as Leonard Bernstein and Irving Howe. She thrived at Brandeis, all while commuting everyday to and from her parents home in Mattapan.
Following Syrul’s graduation, she and Bob were married in October, 1955. She continued her affiliation with Brandeis, working at the newly established Brandeis University Library until the birth of her oldest son, Andrew Lurie in September, 1957. Following the birth of their second son, Howard Lurie in January, 1961, Bob and Syrul moved to South Brookline. Their daughter Ellen Lurie (Hoffman) was born in January, 1968.
Tragically, Syrul’s oldest child, Andrew, died unexpectedly in 1980 during his first semester of graduate studies in library science at the University of Chicago, where he had previously received his Bachelor’s degree. This loss catalyzed Syrul to return to her love of letters and education, and she began a longtime affiliation with the Brookline Public Schools, first as a volunteer, then a library media specialist and finally a reference desk librarian at Brookline High School.
Her drive to honor her late son, Andrew, led her to attend Simmons University, where she received her Masters in Library Science in 1985. She continued working at BHS until her retirement in 2001, building many long lasting friendships with teachers, her fellow librarians and countless students. Alongside Bob, Syrul was instrumental in the establishment of the 21st Century Fund, one of the first philanthropic foundations created at a public high school in the United States.
Syrul and Bob deeply loved each other and also their times on Cape Cod, where they spent every summer.
Syrul will be deeply missed by her son Howard and his wife Teresa Betit of South Dartmouth Mass. and her daughter Ellen and her husband Matthew Hoffman of Bethesda, Maryland.
She was deeply loved by numerous nieces and nephews and their children. Her granddaughters meant the world to her and she loved every celebration and conversation with each of them: Aliza and Gemma Lurie and Celia and Isabel Hoffman, and Haley Sinker.
Services at Temple Israel, 477 Longwood Ave., Boston on Monday, March 23nd at 10:30 am (Parking on the Riverway). Following interment at Sharon Memorial Park, 40 Dedham St., Sharon, MA, a memorial observance will be held at the home of Howard Lurie and Teresa Betit.
In lieu of flowers, remembrance may be made to the Andrew Warren Lurie Scholarship Fund ℅ Brookline High School, 115 Greenough Ave., Brookline, MA 02445.