Aaron S. Hamburger

Aaron Hamburger peacefully slipped from this life in the early hours of April 27, 2023 about 3 weeks shy of his 90th birthday.

Aaron was the oldest child of Leah and Gustave Hamburger, both school teachers in New York City. The family was soon joined by a second son, Mark, who became Aaron’s best friend, and Phyllis, the family’s housekeeper, who became a third parent to the boys. Childhood in Brooklyn consisted of games in the streets and parks of their multi-ethnic neighborhood, weekend excursions into Manhattan, elementary school at the progressive Little Red Schoolhouse, and scouting. Aaron was a member of Boy Scout Troop 69 and in 1947, just after the end of WWII, was very proud to be one of 8 scouts from Brooklyn selected to attend the World Jamboree in France. Aaron’s higher education continued in the city at Stuyvesant High School and then Columbia University where he earned a BA in 1955 and a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1956.

Immediately after graduating, Aaron married Sally Simpson and the newlyweds headed to Niagara Falls, NY, for Aaron to start his long career working for the Dupont Company in manufacturing, development, financial, and marketing positions. They also joined the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, and this liberal religious faith became a lifelong cornerstone for the couple.

Aaron and Sally were together for 65 years, until Sally’s death in 2021. Aaron’s career took the couple and their daughters Marjorie, Amy, and Julianne, to homes, neighborhoods and schools in upstate New York, New Jersey, and eventually to DuPont headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, where they settled in the Village of Arden. In 1976, Jenny Carr, an exchange student from New Zealand, lived with the family for the year and ever after was considered to be a fourth daughter as she maintained a life-long connection with the Hamburgers.

Aaron’s passions were his family, community involvement, Unitarian Universalism, gardening, eating and cooking, and the New York Times. His involvement with his community and church makes for a long list that includes serving on boards for the United Way and Common Cause of Delaware, being President of the Arden Gild, and serving as an Arden Trustee. He spent many years serving educational causes such as the Reading Assist Institute and being a school board member. At church, he was chair of the religious education committee, co-chair of the capital fundraising committee, and taught cooking classes. Aaron and Sally were also very committed to and involved with Star Island, a UU conference center in New Hampshire. Of particular note was Aaron’s role in founding the infamous Lobster Body Cartel.

After retirement, Aaron and Sally traveled the world extensively and, when home, continued to enjoy being engaged with their communities as well as their growing family, which at the time of Aaron’s death included 12 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

Aaron described himself as a humanist and his actions always supported this way of being in the world. He said that the people most influential to him were his father who taught him ethics, his wife with whom he made a family and who brought to his life a sense of humor, and his first Unitarian Universalist minister, the Reverend Paul Carnes.

During the last year and a half, Aaron gifted his family with many stories from his long life, which were recorded during weekly Sunday night Zoom meetings. These remembrances, along with the sound of his Brooklyn-accented voice, will be shared and treasured for years to come.

A celebration of life to be held in the Gild Hall in Arden, Delaware, is planned for the fall. In Aaron’s memory, contributions may be made to the Life on a Star Conference at the Star Island Annual Fund. Information about giving is found at http://starisland.org/donate/.