Pauline “Polly” Liss, a Northern Virginia education advocate who expanded career training and STEM opportunities and was active in civic and Jewish life into her 90s, died June 24. She was 98.

Liss founded the Arlington County Coalition for Career Education and served as its president from 1978 to 1999. She also chaired the Virginia State Career Education Advisory Committee for 25 years and worked with education organizations to promote career preparation and access to opportunity.

Her son, David Liss, said his mother believed choosing a livelihood was among the most important decisions a person could make. Too often, young people entered jobs without enough information about their abilities or options.

“She wanted everyone to have the opportunity for a career and a life,” he said.

Liss was born Pauline Roush on Oct. 18, 1927, and grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the youngest of five children. Her parents, Louis and Rose Roush, were Jewish immigrants who came to the United States at about 17 and operated a restaurant, shoe repair shop and other small businesses.

Her mother had survived violent antisemitism in Eastern Europe. During one pogrom, David Liss said, she witnessed a rabbi being taken away and shot.

Antisemitism also touched Polly Liss. As a child, she was walking home when neighborhood children threw stones at her after being taught that Jews had killed Jesus. She remembered the attack for the rest of her life.

Another childhood memory stayed with her. Her mother, supporting five children and running the family businesses, attended only one school parent event. Liss later said she wanted to do for other children what her mother had not had time to do for her.

She attended the University of Alabama, studying languages and earning a bachelor’s degree in 1948. Her knowledge of Spanish and some Portuguese brought her to Washington, where she worked for international organizations, including the Pan-American Union. Her work included editing a statistical publication and traveling to Latin America.

She married Merwin Edgar Liss in 1958. The couple first lived in Washington and later settled in Arlington.

After spending several years as a homemaker and volunteer, Liss returned to school while her three children were in junior high and high school. She studied late at night and earned a master’s degree in social foundations of education from the University of Virginia in 1982.

“I don’t know how she physically did it, but she did it,” David Liss said. “I was very proud of her.”

Her education work continued long after her children left school. Through the Arlington County coalition, state advisory boards and national organizations, she pushed educators and policymakers to give students more information, training and exposure to careers.

She also promoted science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and helped develop STEM initiatives connected to Virginia school systems representing more than 280,000 students.

Liss continued writing to educators, universities, government officials and political leaders well into her 80s and 90s. At Ashby Ponds, the Ashburn retirement community where she lived for about 16 years, she organized a discussion with several area school superintendents about STEM education.

At 92, she established a sustainability group at Ashby Ponds and guided it through the COVID-19 pandemic. She continued writing articles and letters on education, teacher preparation, gun policy and public issues.

“She never really stopped advocating,” her son said.

Writing was a pleasure and tool for Liss. She used it to explain issues, persuade policymakers and help people facing difficult decisions.

After three of her sisters died of breast cancer, Liss chose to undergo a preventive double mastectomy in the 1980s, years before genetic testing and preventive surgery were widely discussed. She later wrote about the decision and spent more than 20 years counseling women through the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization.

She also advocated against genetic discrimination and participated with her family in research on BRCA1 variants, which are more common among people of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.

Her public service included decades as an election poll worker and lifetime membership in the League of Women Voters. She also supported accessible parking after seeing the difficulties faced by her husband and others with physical disabilities.

Judaism remained central to her life. The family belonged to congregations including what was then the Arlington-Fairfax Jewish Congregation, now Congregation Olam Tikvah, and Temple Rodef Shalom. She made certain her children attended Hebrew school, observed holidays and received a Jewish education.

Liss was a longtime leader in Women’s American ORT, whose mission of expanding education and career training matched her own. In 1996, she received the Shirley Scher Woman of Valor Award.

At Ashby Ponds, she helped lead and expand the Jewish community, organizing holiday gatherings, memorials, educational programs and social events.

David Liss said his mother saw service as its own reward. She sought results rather than recognition and became the family matriarch, offering guidance and stability across generations.

At home, she was warm and attentive. Her son remembered that she would sit beside his bed in the morning, wake him gently and talk with him before he began his day.

In her later years, whenever someone asked how she was doing, Liss often answered, “I’m cute and dandy.” She liked the word “dandy” and joked that using it would keep it from disappearing.

Even during the final days of her life, she gave the same answer.

“She was intellectually curious, driven by service and the betterment of others,” her son said. “She was empathetic, joyful, patient and warm.”

Ellen Braunstein is a freelance obituary writer. She welcomes suggestions for individuals who had meaningful ties to the greater Washington Jewish community. Email csix@midatlanticmedia.com.