Edith Rita Samuels

EDITH SAMUELS (May 29, 1933—November 29, 2022) Edith Rita Schlusselberg Samuels passed away peacefully on the evening of November 29. A lover of theater, folk art, and Jewish theological argument, Edith will be remembered and missed by friends and family around the world. Edith was born in Brooklyn in 1933, and grew up loving the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk. Edith graduated from Midwood High School in 1949 at the age of 16, and attended Vassar College, where she made life-long friends. Although Edith was a member of the class of 1953, she took a hiatus and didn’t graduate until 1956. Edith met her husband Hershel Samuels on a blind date arranged by one of her college friends. Smitten by their mutual cheese-o-philia and his easy going manner, Edith carried on a long, letter-writing romance with Hershel as he completed medical school in Canada. The two married in January of 1954, and remained married for 64 years until his death in 2018. During that time, they attended thousands of Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway shows, museum exhibits, concerts, and lectures. After a brief stint in publishing, Edith dedicated herself to raising her children, which of course none of them appreciated. Later, feeling herself part of a transitionary generation of feminists, Edith returned to school to earn a Masters Degree in psychology. Her perfectionism made it virtually impossible for her to let go of her thesis, and her advisor ultimately demanded that she simply give him her hand-written draft as the final submission. She worked for many years in testing and assessment, creating professional certification exams for Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and other allied fields. As well, she worked for many years at the Flatbush Development Corporation, managing their apartment-finding program, and worked for many years at the UJA/Federation. Later in life she turned her energy toward learning more about the Old Testament and Jewish customs and to collecting family genealogical information. She often said that in another life she might have been a rabbi. She was a true New York Liberal, and worked tirelessly on the political campaigns of both Shirley Chisholm and Elizabeth Holtzman. Edith was loyal to a fault. She fostered lifelong friendships. Jeremiah did her hair for decades. A typical morning began with a couple of hours of phone calls from the wall phone by the kitchen table to friends and family to catch up on life events and make plans. She completed the New York Times crossword puzzle almost every day. Her six favorite words in the English language were “Let me speak to your manager.” Expert at seeing possibilities but less so at decisively acting on them, her motto was “Keep your options open.” Edith is survived by five children, Karen (Lewis/Jeffrey), David (Karen), Paul (Lisa), Judie (Paul), and Alex (Teri), two grandchildren (Avery, Jack), and two step-grandchildren (Nat, Will). She was predeceased by her parents, Abraham and Bessie Schlusselberg, and a daughter, Barbara. Graveside service and burial to take place at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery, Queens, NYC, on Wednesday, Dec. 7. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Alzheimer’s Association are appreciated.

Tributes

Edith Rita Samuels

May 29, 1933 - November 29, 2022