Shatzi Weisberger

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Shatzi Weisberger
Weisberger in 2022, shortly before her death
Born	Joyce Schatzberg (1930-06-17)June 17, 1930 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	December 1, 2022(2022-12-01) (aged 92) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Pancreatic cancer
Resting place	Rosendale, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupations	Death educator activist nurse
Organizations	ACT UP Jewish Voice for Peace
Spouse	Gene Weisberger ​ ​ (m. 1951; sep. 1969)​
Children	2
Relatives	Samuel Gompers (great-grandfather)

Joyce "Shatzi" Weisberger (née Schatzberg; June 17, 1930 – December 1, 2022) was an American death educator, activist, and nurse in New York City. Weisberger turned to death education in her later life after a 47-year career as a nurse, during which she also became associated with various activist groups and movements. Her involvement in activism spanned the civil rights movement, the anti-nuclear movement, ACT UP, opposition to police brutality in the United States including through Black Lives Matter, and anti-Zionism as a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Born in 1930 to a lesbian mother and a homophobic father, Weisberger grew up in Brooklyn and was not close with either of her parents. She was married for 18 years and adopted two children, but broke off the marriage after reading The Feminine Mystique; her children cut contact with her for the next several decades. Weisberger later identified as a political lesbian.

As a nurse, Weisberger focused on obstetrics and end-of-life care. Her nursing career coincided with the peak of HIV/AIDS-related deaths in the 1980s, and she worked as a home care nurse for the dying, also becoming a member of ACT UP among other activist groups. She served as a Brooklyn Independence Party organizer for 25 years, and was an active protester against police brutality and supporter of abolition of the police and of prisons. She was additionally associated with anti-Zionism, and became affiliated with the New York chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace in her final years. She additionally gained an interest in death education as her own death approached, hosting death cafés and inviting a New York Times reporter to cover the end of her life. Weisberger died of pancreatic cancer on December 1, 2022.