Dolly Honig

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Dolly Roth Komar Honig, (Dolly Ellen Helen Rothziege), 89 was born to Harry Rothziegel and Anna Selma Muller on August 5, 1930 in Berlin and died at home Sept 16, 2019. Her early years were shaken by the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, impelling her politically active, Jewish father Harry, and later Dolly and her mother, to escape to Prague. She and her mother were among an extremely lucky group of refugees whose lives were saved in 1939 by obtaining passage on a sealed train from Prague to Oslo under the auspices of the humanitarian Odd Nansen. She survived the war years in Norway with the help of brave and caring people in Nansenhjelpen, and reunited as a teen with her father in New York, where he had dramatically escaped through a visa from Varian Fry. Quickly learning English as she had Czech and Norwegian, she studied art and married her first husband, physicist Arthur Komar, in 1952. She obtained a Master’s degree in art from Columbia University Teacher’s College and was featured in a televised program “Children Explore” showcasing her art classes as a teacher at public school 81 in NYC. After her divorce, she married physicist Arnold Honig and they moved to a farm which evoked fond memories of the farmers who hid her in Norway. Her lifelong career as a professional artist focused on clay and metalsmithing, teaching art classes including at the Everson museum, and she was active in the Syracuse ceramics guild and Oran Pompey historical society. She is survived by her two children from her first marriage, Arne and Tanya Komar, three grandchildren, Harold, Hannah, and Tessa; three stepchildren Lawrence Honig, Madeleine Lenski, and Jonathan Honig, nine stepgrandchildren and three great grandchildren. Her stepbrother Tom Fabian pre-deceased her. After Arnold’s death in 2012, she was able to live until the end of her life at their farmhouse with the help of her live-in companion, Sheila Roock. Funeral services will be at 10AM Sunday September 22 at Sisskind Funeral Chapel, 3175 E. Genesee Street. There will be no calling hour prior to the service. Burial will be in the Beth Sholom section of Oakwood Cemetery. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to a charity of your choice. www.sisskindfuneralservice.com