Our brilliant, fiery, favorite redhead, Tillie Frances Lewton Moldowski Tobin, passed away on May 12, 2018 in Scottsdale, AZ. Although only five feet in heels, Tillie made a huge and lasting impression on all who knew her.
Born in New York City on Jan. 24, 1929, she loved everything about it: the museums, the theater, Central Park, all it’s cultural opportunities and the city vibe. At 17 she graduated high school and by 22 she achieved her masters degree in education from City College of New York. Then on to the University of Buffalo to become, at that time, one of the very few women to achieve her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Tillie went on to become an expert in adolescent psychology, sharing her talents and educated instincts as school psychologist, assistant professor, and eventually hanging her shingle for her private practice.
In 1964 she married her great love, Gary Martin Tobin, and together they settled in Port Washington and worked in the Roslyn school system supporting innumerous children and their families. Tillie and Gary took every opportunity to travel the world, usually renting a car and then going wherever the road took them. They shared many adventures and created marvelous and lasting memories. But Tillie’s dedication to her patients, and theirs to her, kept her New York private practice flourishing by telephone for 30 years.
In the mid-1990s, Tillie and Gary moved to Scottsdale, AZ and continued their world adventures. After Gary’s passing in 2007, Tillie started a new and wonderful life in Corte Bella Country Club in Sun City, AZ, using her passion for bridge as an entry into that very welcoming senior community. Friends, parties and outings were in abundance, and gave Tillie the much appreciated closeness and belonging. As health issues continued to plague her, Tillie move closer to her doctors in Scottsdale, AZ. Undaunted, she became an active participant in the Scottsdale Senior Center activities where she, yet again, was a member of a warm and caring community.
Tillie leaves behind her nieces and nephew, Jocelyn Tobin of Longmeadow, MA, Alison Tobin of Denver, CO, and Michael Tobin of Wellesley, MA; brother-in-law Stuart Tobin of Sahuarita, AZ; her sister, Batya Lewton of Manhattan; seven grand nieces and grand nephews; and many friends, associates, patients and members of the American Psychological Association who will remember her as a force of nature and a fixture in their hearts.
Arrangements were made by Sinai Mortuary and Beth El Cemetery, Phoenix, AZ.
