Irene Schiff Groban, a longtime resident of Scarsdale, NY, died on November 12, 2025, at the age of 102. Born in Springfield, IL to Rose and Bill Schiff in 1923, she grew up in Columbus, OH in a large and close-knit extended family. Her father and his brothers founded Schiff Shoes, which expanded and grew to become Shoe Corporation of America, a publicly traded company that operated on the East Coast as A.S. Beck. Her family’s philanthropic activities included supporting the founding of the State of Israel and the establishment of Brandeis University.

Irene was an extremely proud graduate of Wellesley College (Class of 1945). She married attorney Robert S. Groban in 1943 and moved to New York City. They raised their three children in Scarsdale, NY. Her husband died in 1982. In Scarsdale, she was very active in the League of Women Voters and Wellesley-in-Westchester, which she served as longtime president. Throughout her life, Irene was an ardent and enthusiastic bridge player and was nationally ranked as a Life Master in 2014. She never wavered in her belief that NYC was the best city in the world, even when it was no longer accessible to her.

Irene returned to school and earned an MSW from New York University in 1973. She practiced social work in White Plains and founded A Different Start, a program that helped low-income parents in housing projects in Yonkers raise their children (quite progressive at the time!) For her work on A Different Start, she was named Social Worker of the Year by the Westchester division of the National Association of Social Workers in 1991. In 1994, the Westchester County Board of Electors noted that A Different Start had been "recognized many times with praise in the press" and that "accomplishments such as these should be properly recognized and acclaimed,” and issued a Proclamation commending it as the Project of the Year.

Throughout her life, Irene remained a unique force of nature and continued to engage in and support the many projects and causes in which she so strongly believed. In later years, she moved to The Ambassador of Scarsdale, where she made many friends and continued her activities, including Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood, bridge, Rachel Maddow, support for Israel and Jewish causes, and the local Wellesley book group, which she attended with her cousin and best friend, Carole Straus.

When asked to rank the presidents during her long life, she never hesitated to name FDR as the best and our current president as the worst (by far).

Irene will be remembered for her resilience, humor, Democratic politics, generosity, strong opinions, love of travel (especially with her grandchildren) and commitment to family. Family was always her highest priority and greatest joy. She will be greatly missed by her children, Robert of Scarsdale, NY (Nora); Betsy of Cambridge, MA (Alan, deceased); and Margaret of South Portland, ME (Larry); her grandchildren Eli, Matthew, Phoebe, Rebecca, Hilary, Victoria, and Lizzy; her great-grandchildren Alila, Parker, Molly, Olympia, Ira, Luke, Harry, Bhoomi, and many nephews, nieces, great-nephews and nieces, and friends.