Shirley Sagin, pioneering adoption specialist, social worker and zealous volunteer, has died at 97

Shirley Sagin, 97, formerly of Philadelphia, longtime social worker, pioneering adoption specialist, and energetic volunteer, died Monday, June 12, of Alzheimer’s disease at Rydal Park rehabilitation center in Jenkintown.

Dedicated to finding homes and families for children in need of adoption, Mrs. Sagin was supervisor of adoption services for the Association for Jewish Children and the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia for more than 20 years in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. She was president of the Delaware Valley Adoption Council in the 1970s and helped establish the Delaware Valley Adoption Resource Exchange, now the Adoption Center, in 1972.

In addition to placing Jewish children and other children with families, Mrs. Sagin was passionate about finding permanent homes for older, disabled, and other children who could be difficult to place. She was especially active in the mid-1970s after the Vietnam War ended and thousands of orphans were brought to the United States.

“It’s a tremendously exciting thing when you feel you’ve intervened to bring a child and a family together who just might never have known each other,” she told the Ambler Gazette in 1974. In 1990, she told the Jewish Times: “Adoption is a second choice. It is not second best.”

As adoption supervisor for the Association for Jewish Children, Mrs. Sagin placed dozens of babies from an orphanage in Bogota, Colombia, with Philadelphia families in 1981 and 1982. She also consulted with family support nonprofits such as Parents and Children Together, and championed licensed adoption agencies over private adoptions, telling the Daily News in 1981 that women who are considering giving up their children for adoption should never be rushed into making such important decisions.

“She was open to progressive thinking,” former colleague Gloria Hochman said. “She broke rules and carved new paths. She believed that children and families should grow up together, and that families could surmount any problem.”

Mrs. Sagin spoke publicly about the rewards and challenges of adoption at forums and conferences, and was coordinator in 1991 of a JFCS celebration of Jewish adoptive families. “Because family life is central to Judaism, we feel it is time to celebrate the Jewish adoptive family and to affirm the link between the families attending and the larger Jewish community,” she told the Jewish Exponent.

She retired from full-time work in 1991 but, unable to sit idle while children were still in need, continued to screen families who sought adoption and counsel parents who had already completed the process. “She was a wonderful listener with an empathetic ear,” her son Todd said. “She was always deeply interested in the lives of others.”

Mrs. Sagin earned the 1992 Alison Award, named after a child she had placed, from the Adoption Center for “extraordinary commitment to children growing up in families.” At the presentation, the keynote speaker said: “Shirley is a woman who represents unconditional caring and optimism about the possibilities for all children.”

She was also honored by the National Museum of Jewish History in 1993.

Mrs. Sagin helped children find their biological parents if the parents were amenable, and families she worked with over the years often wrote letters and sent her photos of the children as they grew older. She also helped change restrictive state laws regarding adoption. “She was a wonderful person who made many concrete contributions,” former colleague Carolyn Johnson said.

Shirley Milner was born Oct. 25, 1925, in Philadelphia. She lived with her parents and older brother in South Philadelphia and often worked behind the counter at her father’s hardware store.

She graduated from South Philadelphia High School and was an editor on the school newspaper. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology at Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in social work from Bryn Mawr College in 1949.

She met Jerome Sagin on a blind date, and they married in 1950. They had sons Todd, Mark, and Steven, and lived in Springfield, Montgomery County. She moved later to Wyncote, Chestnut Hill, and Germantown. Her husband died in 2010.

Mrs. Sagin enjoyed reading, was a member of book clubs, and worked as a high school librarian when her sons were young. She attended orchestra concerts and the opera.

She was active with the League of Women Voters and the Sholem Aleichem Club. She knocked on doors in support of the 1968 fair housing act and supported the end of the Vietnam War.

“She was always supportive,” her son Todd said. ”She was a great role model.”

Hochman said: “She was a terrific person.”

» READ MORE: National Adoption Center celebrates 40 years finding homes

In addition to her sons, Mrs. Sagin is survived by five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and other relatives. Her brother died earlier.

A celebration of her life is to be held later.

Donations in her name may be made to the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia, 345 Montgomery Ave., Bala Cynwyd, Pa. 19004.