Elissa "Lisa" Toni Tempkin's Obituary
Elissa "Lisa" Toni (Shavin) Tempkin, 77, passed away on October 26, 2025 in Tucson, Arizona. Elissa was born on January 17, 1948 in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Ruth (Piassick) Shavin and Samuel Joseph Shavin.
Elissa graduated from Grady High School in Atlanta in 1965, where she was the class Valedictorian and President of the National Honor Society. Elissa also served as President of the Trends Social Club. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Cornell University in 1968, where she was a member of the Alpha Chapter of Sigma Delta Tau Sorority. She earned her Master's degree in Education with Concentration in Reading from the University of Arizona in 1980.
In 1962, Elissa met her first husband, Gary Frank Howard. They married in Atlanta, Georgia in 1968 after her early graduation from Cornell and prior to Gary's deployment to Vietnam. They had two children, Heather and Ross, and divorced in 1985. Elissa married her second and enduring husband, Donald Lee Tempkin in 1995.
After college, she taught English in Mariettta, Georgia and Hampton, Virginia before moving to Austin, Texas and settling in Tucson, Arizona in 1974. She was a well-loved teacher of English, Spanish and Drama in the Sunnyside School District in Tucson. She also participated actively in community service in organizations such as the Tucson Community Food Bank, the United Jewish Appeal, Hadassah, the Brandeis National Committee and the Sierra Middle School Chapter of the Optimist Club.
Elissa adored the ocean and traveling the world with her husband, Donald. She had a lifelong hunger for learning and became a bat mitzvah in a shared ceremony with her grandson in 2019. She had an abundance of joy, laughter, curiosity and love, and took great pleasure in celebrating the people in her life and enabling them to shine.
Preceding Elissa in death were her mother, Ruth (Piassick) Shavin, her father, Samuel Joseph Shavin, and her brother, Brian Bennett Shavin. She is survived by her husband of 30 years, Donald Lee Tempkin, daughter, Heather Stacy Howard (Jorge Sanchez Suarez), son, Ross Evan Howard (Aimee Miller, Partner), step-daughter, Karen (Tempkin) Wheeler (Travis Wheeler), step-daughter, Amy (Tempkin) Sheinbein (David Sheinbein), and 12 adoring grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made in Elissa's honor to the Tucson Community Food Bank, the Cornell University Library or St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
Her family may be reached as follows:
Donald Tempkin
3831 E. Sumo Noveno
Tucson, AZ 85718
[email protected]
For those unable to attend in person, a livestream of the service will be available. You are more than welcome to log in 10 minutes prior to start time of 8 AM.
Join us at: https://www.econdolence.com/g9n6ptyk
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