Obituary for Dr. Esther D. Maltese (Denaro)
Maltese, Esther (Denaro)
Greece: Esther Denaro Maltese passed away on February 27 at age 73. She was a distinguished professor of education. Having earned her PhD degree at the University of Buffalo, she taught locally at Nazareth and Saint John Fisher colleges. In the 1990's Esther achieved international recognition for her monumental work, "Voices in the Shadows: Women Survivors of the Holocaust," a history which focused upon the psychological power of women to survive in Nazi concentration camps. The eleven Jewish women who testified had made their post-war life in Rochester, New York. This was first presented in 1997 at the Colgate Rochester Divinity School and then sponsored by the Holocaust Institutes in Milan, Italy and Jerusalem where Esther was guest lecturer. This led to the establishment in 2004 of the Rose and Joseph Interfaith Center for the Study of Genocide and Violence Prevention. Esther so named it after her parents as she professed it was they who impressed upon her during her high school years the horrors of World War 2. In the year 2000, she was awarded “Woman of the Year” by the Italian American Community Center. She also received the Woman of Valor award from the American Diabetes Association and served as president for the League of Women Voters.
Esther is survived by her loving husband Alex of 48 years, her brothers Jack (Beth), Joseph (Patricia), Gregory (Valerie) and many nieces and nephews. We especially thank niece Yvonne Handel for all the help given to Esther and husband Alex.
Funeral services were conducted privately with Family.
Greece: Esther Denaro Maltese passed away on February 27 at age 73. She was a distinguished professor of education. Having earned her PhD degree at the University of Buffalo, she taught locally at Nazareth and Saint John Fisher colleges. In the 1990's Esther achieved international recognition for her monumental work, "Voices in the Shadows: Women Survivors of the Holocaust," a history which focused upon the psychological power of women to survive in Nazi concentration camps. The eleven Jewish women who testified had made their post-war life in Rochester, New York. This was first presented in 1997 at the Colgate Rochester Divinity School and then sponsored by the Holocaust Institutes in Milan, Italy and Jerusalem where Esther was guest lecturer. This led to the establishment in 2004 of the Rose and Joseph Interfaith Center for the Study of Genocide and Violence Prevention. Esther so named it after her parents as she professed it was they who impressed upon her during her high school years the horrors of World War 2. In the year 2000, she was awarded “Woman of the Year” by the Italian American Community Center. She also received the Woman of Valor award from the American Diabetes Association and served as president for the League of Women Voters.
Esther is survived by her loving husband Alex of 48 years, her brothers Jack (Beth), Joseph (Patricia), Gregory (Valerie) and many nieces and nephews. We especially thank niece Yvonne Handel for all the help given to Esther and husband Alex.
Funeral services were conducted privately with Family.