Selma Stein of Manhattan, Springs, and Boca Raton, Fla., died on Nov. 20 at home in Greenwich Village. Ms. Stein, who had been a longtime social worker and who loved the theater, was 89 and had been in diminishing health for five years, her family said.
She took great pleasure from travel, they said, especially to China, London, Spain, and France. She spent every summer for at least 40 years with family in East Hampton and, at the time of her death, still owned her house in Springs. She used to own another but had sold it 10 years ago.
Ms. Stein was born on March 23, 1931, one of two daughters of Harry Stein and Sadie Sherman Stein, both immigrants from Kiev in Ukraine. As a child she had to live in a convalescent home for three years as a result of having rheumatic fever. She graduated from Brooklyn College and in 1953 married Martin Brotman of the Bronx. The marriage ended in divorce. They had two children, who survive.
When the children were young adults, Ms. Stein, already having been a working mother, went back to school and earned two master's degrees in social work and psychology from Hunter College. She continued her career as a New York City welfare case worker, after which she worked for a time with the American Red Cross, then for the New York City court system as a probation officer, finally becoming a federal pretrial and probation officer for New York's Eastern District.
In 1994 Ms. Stein met Michael Lutzker, a professor of midcentury history and political science at New York University, and "they spent many joyful years together," her family said, including at her Springs house. He died in 2011.
"Selma was a beautiful woman with an iron will. As a single mother, she balanced the cares and complexities of raising her children all while dealing with high-profile criminals, including clients such as John Gotti, at work. She was an enterprising woman who rose from poor immigrant parents to own two homes in East Hampton," said Ms. Stein's daughter, Zoe Brotman-Denahy of Irvington, N.Y.
She and Mr. Lutzker were theater lovers and members of Guild Hall, as well as of Quail Hill Farm for a few seasons. She also enjoyed gardening at her house. They supported various progressive causes through the years, according to Ms. Brotman-Denahy.
In addition to Ms. Stein's daughter, her son, Ivan Baker, an on-air radio personality and music and digital executive in Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash., survives, as do five grandchildren, Jackson Denahy, Aidan Denahy, Beauchamp Baker, Harrison Baker, and Winifred Baker. A niece, nephew, and cousins survive as well. Her sister, Paula Weisburst of Floral Park, died in 2017.
Ms. Stein was cremated. The family is planning a memorial for family members on Zoom. Memorial donations have been suggested for the American Heart Association, 7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas 75231, or 1-800-242-8721.
