Archives West Finding Aid

Zerline Aronin was born on February 6, 1901, in Castle Rock, Washington, to David and Rebecca Joelsohn. Because they were the only Jewish family in the town, they had difficulties keeping kosher so Zerline's parents moved the family to Bellingham, Washington in 1906. Then in 1916, on the advice of Rabbi Koch of Temple de Hirsch, the family moved to Seattle to be part of a larger Jewish population.

The Joelsohns bought a house on Spring Street and opened a cigar store downtown. Zerline graduated from Broadway High School in 1919, then studied sociology for two years at the University of Washington before her marriage to Morris Jacobson in 1921. After their move to Everett, Washington, she ran the Sunday school at the Orthodox synagogue in Everett from 1925-1928. Zerline moved back to Seattle in 1930 and worked for 13 years at the Emporium store owned by the Poll family.

In 1942, Zerline left the Emporium to help with the war effort. She took a day job with the armed forces supplier, Arthur Berliner, and a night job with the U.S. government. After World War II, she opened a jewelry store at 25th and Columbia, operating it for twenty years until her retirement in 1966. In 1952, she married Herman Aronin.

Zerline was an early volunteer with Head Start and a long-time member of the City of Hope. She was named an Angel of Seattle at the age of 93 for her tutoring work. By the time of her death in 2005 at the age of 104, she had outlived her four siblings, two husbands, and both of her children. She was portrayed in a November 17, 2003 Seattle Times article as a "poster great-grandmother" for healthy aging.