Stella Resnick, of Manhasset Hills, teacher, artist, mother, dies at 102

Teacher, athlete, textile industry businesswoman and artist are just some of the titles that Stella Resnick had earned throughout her life. But her most important, her family said, was that of mother and grandmother.

"My mother was an exceptional mother," said Resnick's daughter June German, an attorney, of Dix Hills. "One of her favorite phrases was, 'God helps those who help themselves.' I think she was a strong believer in raising children to be independent and to think for themselves."

The Manhasset Hills native died of natural causes in Delray Beach, Florida, on Feb. 20 at the age of 102, hours before her 103rd birthday.

Stella (née Weintraub) Resnick was born on Feb. 21, 1922, in Coney Island. She studied biology in college during World War II but put her education on pause, finding work in fashion design. In 1944, she met her late husband, Irving Resnick, through mutual relatives. They bonded over a shared interest in handball and quickly fell in love, marrying soon after.

Resnick assumed the role of a full-time homemaker and mother and the couple relocated from Bellerose, Queens, to Manhasset Hills in 1958, where they raised three children: June Resnick German; Suzanne Resnick, a clinical psychologist, of Chevy Chase, Maryland; and Arnold Resnick, an attorney and businessman, of Delray Beach, Florida.

"She taught everyone all sorts of street games that kept everyone busy outside for hours," German said. "On rainy days, we had sewing and cooking projects and various artwork and she always made sure we had wonderful books to read."

According to her daughter, Resnick believed strongly in the value of education. When her children were older, Resnick returned to college to complete her undergraduate degree at Queens College. In 1970, she earned her masters in education from Adelphi University.

In 1960, she was hired by the Port Washington School District where she taught kindergarten and first grade at the Main Street School. Throughout her 19-year tenure there, Resnick taught about 500 students  until retiring in 1979.

According to German, Resnick considered the ability to read to be "the gateway to education."

"That is why she believed it so important that each child that she taught had a solid foundation in reading," German said. "She was very proud that instead of grouping children together, she instituted an individualized reading program in which she worked with one child at a time to ensure he/she had a proper educational foundation."

After purchasing a second home in Florida in 1983, Resnick returned to work in the textile importing business with her son, Arnold, at A. Resnick Inc. Her son recalled the tradition of shopping for clothes with his mother as a child.

"Nothing made my mother happier than seeing one of her kids or grandchildren in an outfit she selected," said Resnick, who added that his mother had the ability to make anything look nicer. "My mother was also an expert at finding unused space in a house and creating something of beauty."

From renovating an apartment at North Shore Towers to transforming a backyard into a terraced garden oasis, to sewing garments, Resnick had a love and appreciation for design and fashion. "Apart from her family, she would wish to be known for making things beautiful," German said. "She made beautiful scarves, embellished all her clothes, designed quilts for all her grandchildren and fashioned purses from my father's ties."

Resnick was an avid and competitive tennis player who played well into her 90s as a member of the Shelter Rock Tennis Club. She swam every day and golfed until she reached age 100. According to her eldest granddaughter, Beth Brett, Stella Resnick was "a tour-de-force," especially regarding art.

"Stella was a visionary, ahead of her time. She passed down her love of her craft to my sister and me, teaching us to sew with a special passion for embroidery — now a nearly lost art form," said Brett, of Canton, Connecticut, who helped her grandmother showcase her art for the first time at the age of 99. "I submitted an application to Wish of a Lifetime, which granted her the opportunity to showcase her extraordinary textile art in a solo exhibition at The Camp Gallery in North Miami. More than 50 of her creations were displayed, and she led workshops, sharing her craft and passion with a new generation."

Throughout her life, Resnick crafted comforters, scarves, piano bench covers and pocketbooks made from her husband's ties. She even embroidered 15 receiving blankets for each of her great-grandchildren. According to her granddaughter, Resnick would wish to be remembered as the matriarch of her "close-knit" family.

"Nothing made her prouder or happier than spending time with her family," Brett said. "Her legacy now lives not only in her fabric art but in the inspiration she left behind — proof that creativity has no age limit."

In addition to her two daughters and son, she is survived by sons-in-law Harold German and Robert Kaylon, and daughter-in-law Julia Barash, as well as eight grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Her husband, Irving, died in 2003. A funeral service was held at the New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon.