Among the community members we said goodbye to in 2022 is one upstate New York resident who left an important legacy in her community. Hedi McKinley — a social worker, educator, author, advice columnist, Holocaust survivor, and former WAMC board member, contributor, and volunteer — died in September at age 102.
Born in 1920 in Vienna, Hedi McKinley fled her childhood home during the Nazi occupation of Europe, arriving in England in 1938. She came to New York City a year later.
McKinley established herself as a clinical social worker and served as a professor in the University at Albany’s School of Social Welfare. She also continued a private practice into her 90s.
McKinley was married three times. Although she never had children of her own, she had several adult stepchildren and a circle of close friends and family.
Claire Lissance, a friend and cousin, described McKinley’s vivid long-term memory, even as she battled Alzheimer’s in her later years.
“We could talk about family, we could look at pictures, we could reminisce. And as her memory got worse and worse and worse, at least her long-term memory was excellent. So even if she didn't remember things from one minute to the next, we could go back in time. And she was spot on, clear as a bell. And that meant a lot to me,” said Lissance.
Lydia Littlefield, another longtime friend, healthcare proxy, and now manager of her estate, said McKinley kept a great interest in her friends’ lives. Littlefield described moving back to the Capital Region after the death of her mother, and maintaining a regular social schedule.
“Hedi and I would go to lunch every month, and just catch up and, and it was always a, it was a it was a meeting of minds. It wasn't… she wasn't taking pity on me because my mother had died and felt she had to take me out to lunch. In fact, we always paid our own way. And…it was a very grown up kind of situation. I quite enjoyed it. Because when I first started, I wasn't actually grown yet, but we remained, you know, we had that friendship for all those many years,” said Littlefield.
Friends say McKinley was brilliant, a great listener and conversationalist, and animal lover.
But Lissance said for years McKinley distanced herself from aspects of her past.
“She told me that she was absolutely terrified when she came to the U.S., that she got baptized. And she tried to assimilate as fast as she could. Even though of course, naturally, a lot of, you know, not all of her friends of were Jews, but she didn't…she was afraid,” said Lissance.
In an interview with WAMC’s Alan Chartock, McKinley explained her initial reluctance to discuss the Holocaust.
“I did not talk about the Holocaust until I met Shelly Shapiro, who runs Holocaust Survivors and Friends, and I began to work for her, I mean volunteer for her. But I never talked about it. I never spoke German. I wanted to become very American right away,” said McKinley.
In 1992, McKinley began working with Shapiro to share her story with schoolchildren.
“She is, was a person who could tell a personal story and give a message you know, give a message,” said Shapiro.
In another moment in her interview with WAMC, McKinley spoke about how her father’s store in Vienna was taken from him by Nazis.
“My parents couldn't leave that easily because you could not leave unless you paid your income tax. And my father had no way of paying income tax because they had taken his store away,” said McKinley.
“Let's go back to that. Do you remember when that happened?” asked Chartock.
“Oh, yes, he came one day and said this is no longer your store. This lady who has been a Nazi for many years wants it and it's ours. Goodbye,” said McKinley.
And she described how she escaped Austria. McKinley wrote to families in England seeking a job.
“I wrote to the three or four people saying, ‘I'm a Jewish girl, and I'd like to leave my country and work in England. Can you use me as a domestic servant?’ said McKinley.
“So these were people in England?” asked Chartock.
“In England. And I had one answer, OK. And that answer allowed me to obtain a visa because I had a job,” said McKinley.
“Who was the answer from?” asked Chartock.
“I no longer remember that name. Because when I got there, they said, ‘Hi, we don't have a job for you, but we wanted to rescue you, we will get to another job.’ Can you imagine that? And they got me another job,” said McKinley.
Shapiro says McKinley’s story and message resonated with students. To date, she keeps correspondence from young people touched by McKinley’s life story.
“You watch these students, they're totally engrossed. And then when the questions come, they ask, you know, ‘How did you have the strength to do this?’ You know, those kinds of questions. And, ‘What is your message and what do you want to tell people?’ And you know, she's telling people, ‘We're all the same. And that you can make it, you can make it you can do and be what you want to be,’” said Shapiro.
