Laura Pollock

Laura Faustini Pollock, a pioneer in adult education and adult educational broadcasting, died on April 18, 2012. She was 86. With her irrepressible zest for life, she was one of those unforgettable characters who made everyone happy to be around. In the mid-1960s she started teaching adult education classes. In 1967 she produced and anchored "Tonight School" on WKYC-TV, an adult education series of weeknight shows which was broadcast immediately after the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson. She also started a series of radio programs at WQAL and WWWS called "Adults Back to School," and continued it for 15 years. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1925, to the late Quinto and Lina Faustini nee Zaninot at St. John's Hospital. Her first language was Italian. She graduated from Cleveland's East High School, where she received the Mantel Order, celebrating scholastic excellence and leadership, and was student body president. She was the first person in her family to attend college. A graduate of the Cleveland College of the Western Reserve University predecessor to Case Western Reserve University, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree. She also obtained a Master in Speech Communications from CWRU. In her early years, she worked as a hair stylist and manager of the Joe Portaro Salon at Bonwit Teller in Cleveland. She was secretary to Dean Paul Anders at the Fenn College Business School. While raising three children, she held haircutting parties two and three times per week. She worked parti-time for the Cleveland Board of Education, Adult Education Division for 28 years. She was a member of The Canterbury Club in Shaker Heights, Ohio and Il Cenacolo Italiano di Cleveland, and many other organizations. As an adult she attended St. Margaret Mary's Catholic Church in South Euclid, Ohio, St. Pascal Baylon in Richmond Heights, Ohio, and Holy Rosary Church in Cleveland. She was a resident of South Euclid, Ohio from 1953 to 1963. She was a resident of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, from 1963-1993 and Lyndhurst, Ohio from 1993-2005. Since then she has been a resident of Judson Manor at University Circle in Cleveland. Her husband, Robert T. Pollock, to whom she was married for 51 years, was the former general manager of the Cleveland Transit System now RTA from 1969-1974. He predeceased her in 2008. Surviving her are her three sons: Randle R. wife Lili of Princeton, New Jersey; Martin R. wife Susan Gifford of Shaker Heights, Ohio; and Jay R. wife Jeanne, deceased of Mayfield Village, Ohio. She was a loving grandmother to Robert, Katherine, Casey, Mia, Juliana, Jayme and Jarahme. She was a sister to Anita Schuller deceased. She was an aunt and great aunt to many and a friend to countless others. Family and friends will be received at Brown-Forward Funeral Home, 17022 Chagrin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44120 on Friday, April 20, from 3-5 and 7-9 PM. A Funeral Mass will be held in The Community of Saints Parish at St. Ann Church, 2175 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118 on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 10 AM. Entombment will be private. The family suggests donations in her name to Cleveland Sight Center, 1909 East 101st Street, Cleveland, OH 44106; or to Case Western Reserve University - The Alumni Association, 11310 Juniper Rd., The Alumni House, Cleveland, OH 44106-7155; or to Il Cenacolo Italiano di Cleveland, 40 Skyline Dr, Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022.


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