Richard Michael Shuldiner Obituary

Richard Michael Shuldiner, former reference librarian at Brooks Memorial Library, died at his home on Blakeslee Street in Brattleboro on December 14th.   He was 65.

Born on April 19, 1947 on the lower east side of Manhattan to the late Evelyn (Abelson) and William Shuldiner, he lived in that neighborhood for over forty years. He joked that he moved to Brattleboro in 1993 just because he did not want to spend his whole life living in one zip code.  He graduated at age sixteen from Stuyvesant High School, and later counseled Vietnam War draftees for the War Resisters League   in 1973; he graduated from the University of Buffalo, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with high honors distinction in English Literature.  He had a strong interest in rapidly changing technology, which led him to a career auditing computer systems for Citibank.  However; he found his true calling as a reference librarian.  He worked in the beautiful, main 42nd Street Library where each member of his department had to have reading knowledge of an additional language, his being German.  After graduating with a Masters in Library Science from Queens College in 1991, he worked at a public library branch in Manhattan’s financial center where he enjoyed organizing classic movie nights.  In his spare time, Richard led bike rides for Youth Hostels in New York City and at Walden Pond. In 1993, he moved to Brattleboro to become the reference librarian at Brooks Memorial Library.    He left that job in 2002 due to illness. Throughout his life, he published numerous poems in literary magazines.

Richard’s first marriage, to the former Helen Yovanopoulos, ended in divorce.  On May 17, 1997 he married Susan Alpert.  In addition, he is survived by his brother, Peter Shuldiner and his wife Clare Coulter, nephews Gabriel, and Marc Shuldiner, Marc’s wife, Keri D’Andrea, and their daughter, Fiona, of NYC. On his wife’s side, he is survived by his niece, Madeline, and nephews Benjamin and Samuel Alpert, of Maryland.

  1. A memorial service will be held at The Robert H. Gibson River Garden, 153 Main Street, Brattleboro, on Sunday, December 23, at 10 am.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community or the Brooks Memorial Library are greatly appreciated