Obituary of Miriam W. Kreitner

Miriam W. Kreitner, of Honesdale, died on Nov. 23, 2016, in Wayne Memorial Hospital, after an illness. Mimi, as she was known, was born on March 8, 1928, five minutes after her twin sister, Marilyn, to Francis E. and Florence L. Wood, in Conifer, N.Y., a logging village in the Adirondacks that is now gone. They grew up in Millerton, N.Y., where their father was a high school principal. She graduated from Cornell University with a BA in mathematics in 1949, and later received an M.Ed. in counseling from Penn State. After Cornell, she came to work as a mathematics teacher at Honesdale High School. She married Richard L. Kreitner in 1955, took time off to raise their two children and returned in the early 1960s to be a guidance counselor at Wallenpaupack High School, where she stayed till retirement in 1991. Meanwhile, her twin, Marilyn, was a guidance counselor at Honesdale High School, causing confusion and mirth among a great many touring college representatives. She was an Elder and former Sunday School teacher at the First Presbyterian Church in Honesdale, and for many years was a trustee of the Minor Fund, selecting books for the Wayne County Public Library. Mimi was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Richard Kreitner; and her brother, Rutson Wood, of Cincinnati. She is survived by Marilyn and Walter Barbe, of Honesdale; her daughter, Kitty Kreitner, of Honesdale; her son, Kenneth Kreitner and his wife, Mona, of Memphis; and two cats. Miriam Kreitner is remembered by generations of former students as a great teacher, a sympathetic guidance counselor and a lifelong friend. Visitation will be Saturday, Nov. 26, at 10 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Honesdale with a service at 11. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Wayne County Public Library, the Dessin Shelter or the First Presbyterian Church. Arrangements are attended by the Arthur A. Bryant Funeral Home, 1228 Main Street Honesdale, Pa 18431