Annemarie Brod Shelness

Annemarie Brod Shelness was born on June 30, 1922, in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), to Artur and Eugeny Brod and died peacefully on March 23, 2017, in Clemmons, NC. She grew up in Prague and attended boarding school in London where she remained after World War II. She reconnected with a family friend, Rudolph Shelness (Tschelnitz), also originally from Czechoslovakia. They married on May 28, 1948 and resided in Huddersfield, England, where three of their children were born. In 1957, Annemarie and her husband immigrated to the United States and settled in Westchester County, NY, where their fourth child was born. Along with raising her children, she bred and trained Labrador Retrievers, wove samples for her husband's textile design firm, and held a variety of jobs including one with the Greater New York Blood Center. In 1965 she manifested her interest in public health by founding the Northern Westchester (NY) Highway Safety Council through which she exposed the deficiencies of school bus safety and launched programs geared to driver awareness and child passenger safety. A few years later, she became the Executive Director of Physicians for Automotive Safety (PAS), where she and PAS President Seymour Charles, M.D. focused on public policy in the field of highway transportation and the need for national standards for the design and manufacture of child safety seats in automobiles. They coauthored articles published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, including, ""How Safe is Pupil Transportation?"" (1970) and ""Children as Passengers in Automobiles: The Neglected Minority on the Nation's Highways."" (1975). These publications ignited the concern of pediatricians and spurred the development of the field of child passenger safety. In 1978, she produced an educational pamphlet and video for parents, healthcare professionals, educators, and government agencies, Don't Risk Your Child's Life (currently in its ninth edition). Upon the death of Dr. Charles and the dissolution of PAS, she founded Shelness Productions in 1989, first based in Connecticut and then Winston-Salem, NC, to continue her work in this field. Over the course of her career she was quoted in many national publications, appeared on radio and television programs, lobbied and testified before Congress, sat on professional committees and task forces, spearheaded the founding of grassroots advocacy groups, and made a major impact on public awareness, industry policies, and government legislation. She was preceded in death by her husband, Rudolph; her brother, Stephen Brod of London; and her parents. Surviving are children Nicholas Shelness (Maggi Allan) of Edinburgh, Scotland; Felicity Pine (James) of Southbury, CT; Gregory Shelness (Barbara Yoza) of Winston-Salem, NC; Jonathan Shelness (Lisa Hamilton) of Des Moines, IA; and grandchildren Michael Pine of Chicago, IL; Katherine Henderson (Reid) of Concord, NH; Nathaniel Shelness of Brooklyn, NY; and Sarah Shelness of Winston-Salem, NC. Friends may visit the family at Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel between 5-7 pm on Monday, March 27, 2017. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Animal Adoption & Rescue Foundation, 311 Harvey Street, Winston Salem, NY 27103 (aarfanimals.org) or Forsyth Humane Society, 4881 Country Club Rd, Winston-Salem, NC 27014 (forsythhumane.org).

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