Harriet Sperling

Obituary of Harriet SperlingHarriet D. SperlingHarriet Gotkin was born in 1932, and was 79 years old (not 80) when she died on Thursday July 12th at her home in Ocala, Florida, with her daughters at her bedside. Harriet was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She was 17 when she went to a dance and saw a dark haired, green eyed boy across the way, and she said to her friends "That's the man I'm going to marry." She was right; she and Stuart Sperling were happily married for 52 years, and if there is any justice in the universe they are together again now.Harriet and Stuart lived in Brooklyn, Queens, Bethel, CT, Toms River, NJ and Davie, FL before retiring to Ocala in 1994. Throughout their lives together, they made many friends and enjoyed a variety of activities, including bowling and square dancing, were active in the local Democratic Party and Marriage Encounter, and enthusiastically supported their daughters' participation in theater groups and competitive color guard.Harriet worked as a bookkeeper, legal secretary and office manager, retiring from the Broward County Sheriff's Office civil division in 1994. She was a generous woman who always seemed to end up as the secretary or treasurer of every organization she ever joined. She volunteered as an election poll worker almost all of her adult life, and was a hospital volunteer at Ocala Regional Medical Center. She was an active member of Temple B'nai Darom, where she was a past president of the Sisterhood and served as chair of the cemetery committee for years. She enjoyed going to the theater and she played mahjong with the girls twice a week until a few days before the beginning of her final illness.She was a loving mother and grandmother who will be greatly missed by her daughters, Sharon Sperling Gunning of Gainesville, FL, Elizabeth M. Barrett of Columbia, MD, and LtCol Ann Neal (USAF) of San Antonio, TX; sons-in-law Kevin Gunning, Bryan Barrett and James Neal; grandchildren Corey Smith and his wife Lauryn, Jennifer Neal, Kevin Barrett, Aaron Smith and his wife Julia, Shea Gunning, Michael Barrett, Kathryn Gunning, Jonathan Hagge, Robert "Buddy" Gunning, and Dallas Neal.Services for Harriet will be Sunday, July 15, 2012 at 1:00 pm at Temple B'nai Darom, 49 Banyon Course, Ocala with the burial to follow the services, all are welcome to attend.In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider making a donation in Harriet's memory to Odyssey Hospice or Temple B'nai Darom of Ocala, Florida.Arrangements by Roberts Funeral Homes, Bruce East Chapel, Ocala, Fl. 352-732-9944

Harriet Sperling

December 31, 1969 - July 12, 2012