Dora Magilner, 96, a longtime resident of Chicago’s West Side who taught English and French in grammar and high schools in Chicago’s public schools for more than 50 years, died Sunday in St. Francis Hospital of Evanston. “She had tremendous wisdom and common sense,” said her daughter, Ruth Ballis. “She wanted to get the most out of people no matter how young or old they were.” Born in Lithuania, Mrs. Magilner immigrated to Nashville with her parents when she was 3. She later moved to Chicago and returned to Tennessee for college, graduating from Vanderbilt University with a teaching degree. Mrs. Magilner spent much of her career at Rogers Park Grammar School, where she retired from education in 1977 as a clerical assistant to the principal. Throughout her life, Mrs. Magilner was involved in numerous charitable causes, Ballis said, volunteering for the Asthmatic Children’s Aid Society, reading to the blind and teaching English to Russian immigrants in exchange for home-cooked meals. Mrs. Magilner also is survived by a brother, Joseph Sadoff; three grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Waldheim Cemetery, 18th Street and Harlem Avenue, Forest Park.
