Obituary of Marilyn Z. Grashow

Marilyn Zellie Grashow, 76, of Horseheads, New York, died on February 9, 2025. Marilyn was born on April 19, 1948, to Bernard Garner and Naomi (Fiadengold) Garner. She was born in and was a child of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, where she lived steps from the boardwalk. Along with her younger brother Robert Garner, she grew into young adulthood in Brooklyn and it was in Brooklyn that she met her future first husband, Norman Zarnitzky, at a Jewish singles dance. In the early years of her first marriage, Marilyn was a steadfast mother to her two children, Frances and David, making frequent trips to Holmdel Park, The Museum of Natural History, and, for some reason, the carpet store. It was to her credit that her children’s days were filled with playing music, reading books, and eating grilled cheese sandwiches of muenster cheese on pumpernickel rye. After divorcing her first husband, Marilyn entered the workforce in her mid 30s, holding various jobs to support her children. She ultimately went back to school and earned her Masters Degree in Education from Kean College. She soon began teaching math in the New York City school system, ultimately teaching at Seward Park High School on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where she continued to teach until her retirement. She met and later married Charles Grashow in 2003. In Charles, Marilyn found a constant friend and companion, the two remained married for 22 years through the end of her life. Marilyn also had a fanciful spirit for adventure. She visited Paris one summer, once rode horses across the Icelandic Tundra, and woke early one morning 80 kilometers outside Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, well before the sun was up, to ride with the eagle hunters. Marilyn is survived by her husband, Charles Grashow and her two children, Frances and David Zarnitzky, not to mention her two feline dependents, Pugsly and Wednesday. Marilyn is also survived by two grandchildren, John and Kelly Zarnitzky, both of whom are fortunate to have a good share of her intelligence, musicality, and unconscionable funny bone. Marilyn was preceded in death by both her parents as well as by her brother, Robert Garner, who died just last May. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the SPCA of Tompkins County at https://www.spcaonline.com/gifts