Shoshana Levinson, a spirited and spiritual woman, is gone from us following a long and valiant battle with metastatic cancer. She passed peacefully during the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 18, 2024 after having said her goodbyes to family and close friends. She was born Susan Ruth Levinson to Allen and Esther Levinson on June 3rd, 1952. Shoshana was raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the youngest of three siblings. She graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s and from the University of Bridgeport with a Master’s degree in Biology and Nutrition. She worked as a successful nutritionist in her own practice in Mansfield and in doctor’s offices in West Hartford, Simsbury and Orange, CT, and online via her website (www.eatwellusa.com). She and her husband Chris Crossgrove were married for 42 years. In addition to Chris, she is survived by their son Jeremy Crossgrove, his wife Denise Nightingale, and grandson Marlowe of Revere, MA, sister Marsha Mason of Windsor, brother George Levinson of Hamden; nieces Peri Mason of New Jersey, Jessica Mason Rioux of Windsor, Cathy Ross of Alabama and many relatives and friends. She was a Master Gardener and loved being outdoors, whether hiking in the woods, tending her own extensive and beautiful gardens and bonsai trees or visiting arboretums and public gardens each year on her birthday. She enjoyed visiting and improving their land in the forests of Vermont where they built an off grid cabin by hand. While in her 20’s she lived year-round in a teepee in the woods of CT. Shoshana and family loved to travel and visited places both near and far including Mexico, Costa Rica, France, Ireland, Italy and Israel. She will always be remembered as a strong willed, opinionated liberal with a kind heart. She was a political and anti-war activist and a counselor for the GI Rights Hotline. She loved music, singing, and was her sister’s favorite swing dance partner. She was enthusiastic about food, cooking and eating well. In the 1970s she ran the kitchen at the Shaboo Inn—the famous music venue in Mansfield. She was a founding member of the Willimantic Food Coop in the early 1980's. She recorded and produced an Audio CD in 2008, "Mindful-Eating; Making Peace with Food" and wrote the column “Food for Thought” for The Willimantic Chronicle for several years. Shoshana was also a devoted volunteer docent at the Benton Museum of Art and the Gurleyville Grist Mill. Her courage, resilience and bravery in facing her diagnosis was an inspiration to all who knew her. Always facing challenges head on and aiming to improve circumstances for others she initiated a chapter of the international Death Café at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Manchester, CT, where she and Chris were members and sang in the choir. As a force of nature and love she will never be forgotten by the legions of friends and relatives who had the pleasure of walking with her through life.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Society East, 153 Vernon Street W., Manchester, CT Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 1pm with a snow date of February 15th)
In lieu of flowers, donations in Shoshana’s memory may be made to Joshua’s Trust (www.joshuastrust.org) or the Natural Resources Defense Council (www.NRDC.org)
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