Shirley Ruth Talbot

Shirley Ruth Talbot, 92, of Stockbridge, MA died peacefully at her home surrounded by family on Thursday, December 20, 2018.  Born in New York City on February 26, 1926, the daughter of Abraham and Paula (Moro) Hyman, she practiced couples therapy in Pittsfield and Stockbridge for 30 years with her husband of 71 years, Eugene Talbot.

Contrary to the customs of the time, Shirley insisted on attending college after graduating from high school in New York City. While at the City College of New York, from which she graduated in 1947, she met her future husband at a dance. As they both said, the music never stopped for the next seven decades.

Theirs was a love story of the times. After a 3-month college courtship, Gene joined the Navy as World War II was winding down. After the War, they became engaged and after Shirley graduated from CCNY and, just shy of their 21 ^st birthdays, they wed on February 1, 1947.

The next week they left for California so Gene could go to U.C.L.A. to pursue a degree in psychology. Intrigued by what her new husband was learning, Shirley went back to school to pursue her own degree in psychology and used it become a kindergarten and elementary school teacher. While in Los Angeles, they also began their family with their eldest child, Jo Anne, born in 1951.

While pursuing his doctorate at UCLA, a renowned psychologist from the Austen Riggs Center gave a guest lecture, and soon the Talbots moved to Stockbridge were Gene became a Fellow at Riggs. Gene was offered a staff position and Shirley and Gene put down roots in Stockbridge. Their sons, Andy and Bill, were born in the succeeding years. Although she often confessed to not being able to boil water when she got married, her move to the Berkshires coincided with her becoming a gourmet cook and “a foodie before there were foodies.”

As the children grew, Shirley joined Gene in a couples therapy practice first in Pittsfield and then at their home in Stockbridge. In addition to their couples’ therapy practice and Gene's private psychotherapy practice, Shirley was active in Stockbridge town issues. She retired in 1988. Her avid lifelong love of books led to her volunteering for many years with Recordings for the Blind.

She is survived by her husband Eugene Talbot; her children, JoAnne Ginsberg and her husband Benjamin Ginsberg of Washington, D.C., Andy Talbot and his wife Amy Johnson of Stockbridge, and William Talbot and his wife Andrea Talbot of Lee; her niece, Karen Shreefter and her husband Christopher Blair of Monterey, and grandchildren Josh Ginsberg and his wife Joahn Ginsberg of San Francisco, Rebecca Rutkoff and her husband Robby Rutkoff of Brooklyn, NY, Jessica Talbot of Brooklyn, NY, Hannah Talbot of Chevy Chase, MD,  and great-grandchildren Zachery, Ella, and Henry as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

A burial gathering will be held in the Spring.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Elder Services Meals on Wheels program or the Stockbridge Library through Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230.  To send remembrances to her family please go to http://www.finnertyandstevens.com