Kenny Tamarkin passed away at home after a long bout with Parkinson's Disease, surrounded by his family as he had hoped.
He was the beloved husband of Jean M. Roberts; the devoted father of Cantor Tanya Greenblatt and her husband Scott Greenblatt, Noah Tamarkin and his wife Juno Salazar Parreñas, and Emily Tamarkin; the loving son of the late Shirley and Melvin Tamarkin; the dear brother of Lawrence Tamarkin and his wife Cali Tamarkin, and brother-in-law of Mary Routhe and her husband
Larry Routhe, and the late Kathleen Roberts and her husband Peter Mitchell; and the loving grandfather of Joshua, Michael, and Theodore Greenblatt. He is also survived by his first wife Susan Solomon and her husband Marshall, his Aunt Bernice Cohen and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Kenny was a dedicated adult education practitioner. In addition to being a teacher, he was a curriculum developer, provider of professional development, technology coordinator, grant writer, business manager, editor and published author.
Kenny earned a B.A. in Mathematics from Columbia University and an EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He worked at Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences (SCALE) for more than nineteen years and subsequently taught or consulted at the Northeast Worker Assistance Center in Lawrence, Project Steps at Malden Mills, Northeast SABES at Northern Essex Community College, Notre Dame High School in Lawrence, the 1199 SEIU Training Fund and the Asian American Civic Association.
In addition to teaching, he was an accomplished national author of the McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books publications Number Power: The Real World of Adult Math, Top Fifty Social Studies Skills for GED Success, the Complete Pre-GED (Social Studies Section), and Breakthroughs in Social Studies. He also co-authored several social studies books for McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books.
Kenny touched the lives of countless students and colleagues during his stellar career. As the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education from 2005 to 2011, he worked tirelessly to promote additional funding for the state's Adult Basic Education line item to support more students and provide needed resources to programs. His legacy as a dedicated adult educator and advocate will continue to have a positive impact on the field well into the future.
Kenny was an enthusiastic participant in Parkinson’s Disease research studies from the time he was first diagnosed in 2014. One of these studies co-led by Dr. Peter Wayne and Dr. Gloria Yeh of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital focused on the effectiveness of Tai Chi practice in slowing the disease. After the study concluded, Kenny kept attending classes, treasuring the community of his fellow Tai Chi practitioners and teachers, and always grateful for the mobility that his practice facilitated.
Donations can be made to the Tai Chi MIND-BODY program in memory of Kenny Tamarkin at Brigham and Women's Hospital or to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, an organization with which he was enthusiastically involved, https://www.michaeljfox.org/