Roselyn Solo
Roselyn Solo, born Roselyn Starr grew up in New York City during the Great Depression. She passed away September 6, 2021, at the age of 96. Her parents, Sadie and Phillip Starr, had immigrated from Russia in the early twentieth century and raised Roselyn and her older brother Irving to appreciate hard work and American values.
“Roz,” as she was known to her friends and family, was sent through secretarial studies in high school, while her brother Irving prepared for college and graduated as an engineer. Undaunted, Roz saved her earnings and put herself through high school and then attended the The City College of New York, while working a full time job.
It was at CCNY that she met her husband, Robert Solo, her professor in an introductory economics course. They married in the summer of 1956 and lived in NYC, where Roz began to work teaching modern history to high schoolers.
During the next decade Roz and Bob lived in Puerto Rico, Washington, DC, and Paris, France. Roz earned a Master’s Degree from George Washington University and during her time in France she researched and interviewed Andre Francois-Poncet, the ambassador to Germany during the 1930s.
Her work led to her writing a dissertation on Poncet and earning a PhD from Michigan State University, in where Bob began teaching in 1967. She subsequently taught modern history at Eastern Michigan University and at Landing Community College. As a retiree, Roz worked as a docent at MSU’s Kresge Center.
In East Lansing and Okemos, where the Solos eventually settled, Roz and Bob formed a strong community of friends, linking their contacts at the university, neighbors and locals, hosting discussion groups and social get-togethers. Roz will be remembered as a devoted wife and also as a supportive and loyal friend to many.
In addition to her faithful “crew,” Jane Wu, Kelly Dietrich, Betsy Yonker, Aurora, Jackie Hebden, Irene, and Analisd, who nursed her through her last days and to her many friends from the Book Club, Roz leaves behind her stepdaughter Tova Solo, son-in-law Pablo Gutman and grandson Theo Gutman-Solo of Arlington, Virginia.
A graveside service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 9, 2021, at Glendale Cemetery, Okemos, MI. Arrangements are by the Estes-Leadley Greater Lansing Chapel.
