Shirley Sidd, active Democrat and treasurer for Brookline, 83

SHIRLEY SIDD

When Shirley Sidd's husband, Allan, unexpectedly died during minor surgery in 1977 and left open his post as Brookline town treasurer, Mrs. Sidd did what she saw as the practical thing. She ran for his old job.

She won handily and kept the treasurer's post for 14 years, overseeing Brookline's coffers through bitter post-Proposition 2 1/2 cutbacks and tumultuous property revaluations.

"She was amazing. She blossomed into her own at that time," said her daughter, Diane Sidd-Champion, a labor lawyer in San Francisco.

Mrs. Sidd, who spent a lifetime devoted to liberal politics and supported the fledgling political careers of former governor Michael Dukakis and US Representative Barney Frank, died Sept. 25 at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco at 83. She had suffered a stroke two weeks earlier.

Mrs. Sidd, who retired from the treasurer's post in 1992, moved to San Francisco in 1996 to be close to her only child.

She immediately became active in progressive politics, volunteering every Tuesday for the American Civil Liberties Union and acting as treasurer for the Older Women's League of San Francisco, known as OWL, a nonprofit devoted to issues affecting women.

Friend Sheila Malkind of San Francisco said Mrs. Sidd was a role model for OWL members.

"They looked up to her as a mentor, just for the way she comported her life, her ideals," Malkind said. "She was probably the most practical person I ever knew."

Mrs. Sidd hosted OWL's annual patio party at her North Beach condo, as well as monthly book club meetings.

She loved C-SPAN, Coen brothers' movies, and martinis, according to Malkind.

"When she called up to go to the movies, she'd always pick some sort of gangster movie. She always impressed me because I never heard her cuss or anything like that," Malkind said.

Dukakis, who visited Mrs. Sidd in the hospital with his wife, Kitty, a few days before her death, said he first met her through her husband almost 50 years ago when Dukakis was a young Town Meeting member recruiting a liberal slate.

The Dukakises became fast friends with the Sidds and formed a close-knit circle of Brookline Democrats.

"She had this love of politics, the political process, and what you could do to make a difference," Michael Dukakis said.

Mrs. Sidd and others once chartered a trolley to attend an inaugural ball in honor of the governor's devotion to riding public transportation, he recalled.

"Even though I went on to greater heights and all that stuff, they were never reluctant to say, 'Hey, Dukakis, you're screwing up.' Allan did it many times, she more gently. Those are the best kind of friends to have," he said.

Born Shirley Lieberman in Portland, Maine, to parents who had emigrated from Eastern Europe, Mrs. Sidd was one of three sisters. The family soon moved to Boston, and her father ran a bakery in Dorchester. Her mother died when she was a teenager.

Mrs. Sidd graduated from Jeremiah Burke High School in Dorchester and attended classes as an adult at Northeastern University.

In the 1940s, friends introduced her to Allan Sidd, who took her to a political rally for their first date, according to their daughter. "My father took Shirley along, and she was hooked after that," Diane said. They were married 30 years.

She attended Democratic national conventions from 1968 to 1988 and was elected to the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, the Brookline Democratic Town Committee, and Brookline Town Meeting.

"She was a savvy woman. She was on the cutting edge of feminism in a lot of ways," said Brookline Town Clerk Pat Ward. "That was no small thing back in the day when she became treasurer. She was considered a department head you could turn to and trust."

In addition to her daughter, she leaves a niece, Marcia (Abelman) Benoit of Colchester, Vt.

A memorial celebration is set for 2 p.m. Nov. 16 in the Howe Building at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown. As Mrs. Sidd instructed, her body was donated to science through the University of California.