Senate Engrossed

State of Arizona Senate Fifty-third Legislature First Regular Session 2017

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1020

 

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 

on the death of marian lupu.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 

Marian Lupu, a zealous warrior for the elderly, died on August 14, 2016 at age 91 at her home in Tucson, AZ.

A pioneer in the field of gerontology, Marian and her collaborators developed services that made Tucson a model to be emulated throughout the nation and the world.  Her vision that aging is a valuable time in life, and that the "aged" are important contributors to society, was a philosophy she not only espoused but earnestly lived herself.

Born in Chicago, Marian grew up during the Great Depression in an observant Jewish household.  At the University of Chicago, she formed her lifelong commitment to fierce, creative and effective advocacy.  In 1948, Marian married Charles Lupu, and their nearly 60-year union was a source of great joy and stability for her.  Charles and Marian settled in Tucson in 1966.

Soon after, Marian became the founding executive director of the Pima Council on Aging (PCOA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing services to Pima County's older residents and their family caregivers.  With one small grant and a couple of volunteers, Marian built the PCOA into a robust organization, giving a strong voice to the needs of older adults.

With the help of community leaders, elders in her community, and academic partners at the University of Arizona, Marian and the PCOA developed many vital services.  Many of the services that she helped pioneer are now commonplace, including the concepts of continuum of care and comprehensive case management.  This model was showcased in a 1976 Special Senate Committee on Aging report, which highlighted how many Tucson agencies worked together to deliver adult day care, home care and special transportation at a time when these services were novel.  Pima County's elderly residents continue to benefit from Marian's foresight, tenacity and collaborative, innovative approach to building not only an agency but a system of valuable community services.

Marian became a well-known figure in the national gerontology field, attending four White House Conferences on Aging, becoming the first Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and serving as President of the Western Gerontological Society (later known as the American Society on Aging) from 1977-1978.  She became a trainer for directors of newly formed Area Agencies on Aging throughout the nation.

When she retired from the PCOA in 2007 at the age of 82, Marian had the distinction of being the longest serving Area Agency On Aging executive director in the nation.  However, it was not so much the length of her tenure as the tenacity and skill of her advocacy that won her widespread recognition and admiration.

After her retirement, Marian took her own advice and began an "encore career."  She served as President of the board and helped nurture Dancing in the Streets, Arizona, a nonprofit ballet school serving South Tucson and focusing on disadvantaged children who were otherwise unlikely to access ballet.  She saw working with children as a natural extension of working with older adults, and felt that children needed to grow up to be strong, contributing citizens in order to support the services elders need.

In 2014, Marian reflected on both how much had been accomplished as well as how much was still left to be done, saying, "I'm disappointed that aging is so much on the periphery of what professionals are being taught. . . [S]ociety itself has not learned how to use what older people can contribute to their families and to their communities in a much more positive and meaningful way."

Despite all she accomplished, Marian did not want people to just remember what she did. She wanted others to be inspired to continue to build, to care and to speak up, believing that this could best be accomplished through cooperation across all sectors—voluntary and governmental, local and national.  Marian felt that governmental programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Older Americans Act services provided the foundation and the framework on which private, local and volunteer agencies could build and that these entities could work together to accomplish the goal of a society that is "age friendly" across the entire lifespan.

Memories of Marian are cherished by her children and their spouses, Dale Lupu and Richard Gladstein, Jarold and Jana (Daniels) Lupu, and Soleste Lupu and Joseph Rodgers, and by her grandchildren, Ariella Gladstein, Noah Lupu-Gladstein, and Emily, Cydny and Neal Rodgers.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the Senate of the State of Arizona, the House of Representatives concurring:

That the Members of the Legislature sincerely regret the passing of Marian Lupu and extend their deepest sympathies to her family and many friends.