Last fall the Lake Forest Patch did a piece on a 91 year old knitter and her year round handwork to help keep children warm and give the neediest of needy something in their Christmas stockings. . Before she left us on April 16, 2012 she had already finished some 20 hats and scarves toward Christmas 2012. Sophie Saneski Poltrack was born August 29, 1920 in Dupont , Pennsylvania. One of six children, she headed to New York during the Depression to make her way in the world. She married Joseph M. Poltrack in June , 1940 and together they built their life in his hometown of Stamford, CT. Sophie is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn and Mike Ashley of Lake Forest and her two grandchildren, Abby Ashley of New York City and David Ashley of Brooklyn, New York. Her husband preceded her in death in April 1999. Sophie spent her life as a homemaker, raising her children and quietly helping her husband behind the scenes in his construction and remodeling business. While in Connecticut she was active in the Women’s Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Sophie and her husband moved to the North Shore in 1997 when Joe became ill and to be near their grandchildren. Widowed in 1999 she became active in the Lake Forest Senior Center/Dickinson Hall. She joined a group called “Stitch ‘n Chat”, making friends, keeping busy and it was here she found her mission to knit and crochet lap covers, baby blankets and then the hats and scarves for children. Burial services in Connecticut will be private. A memory in Sophie’s honor may be made to the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Senior Center, 100 East Old Mill Road, Lake Forest, IL 60045.
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