Tributes

Susana “Shoshana” Kaufman passed away on May 31, 2026 at age 85 after a long battle with Scleroderma. A self-taught painter and sculptor, Susana was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Sept. 30, 1940 to Shlomo and Adela Cialic, the eldest of their three children. In 1958, at age 18, Susana immigrated to Israel with her parents and most of her family from Argentina. Soon after moving to Israel she met her husband Enrique Kaufman (1934-2010), a fellow Buenos Aires native who had also recently immigrated to Israel. She became an immigrant a second time when in 1968 Shoshana and Enrique moved to the United States in order for Enrique to pursue his career as a psychiatrist. One of the biggest challenges of Shoshana’s life was being away from her tight-knit family in Israel. She made up for it by creating her own community of Argentinian, Israeli and Cincinnati friends who became their extended family. These honorary kin would gather at the Kaufman home, often on Jewish holidays and other life events, speaking a mixture of English, Hebrew and Spanish, while enjoying Shoshana’s restaurant-quality cuisine. Shoshana Kaufman was, among other things, an exquisite sculptor. She would take a raw piece marble, granite or wood and chip away, polish and polish it until she converted the stone into her precise vision. Not only was she tough as marble, but she treated life in the same way she sculpted. She had a vision and she chipped away until that vision became a reality. Shoshana was a balabusta and CEO of the Kaufman enterprise. She loved her family and friends with ferocity and took her job as family matriarch with equal dedication and drive. Her sculptures are prized possessions in the homes of friends and family around the country and the world, serving as a permanent reminder of her artistic brilliance. While caring for her three children, and in particular caring for her son Ehud ( Udi) who suffered from significant developmental delays, she went back to school and earned a Bachelor of Arts and later a Masters in Art from the University of Cincinnati. In addition to her tireless devotion to her family, Shoshana was an advocate for people with disabilities, helping to co-found and co-fund, along with Enrique, the Halom House in 1985, a community-based residential home for adults with developmental disabilities. A world traveler and art collector, Susana spent her final years in her favorite place: her apartment at the Regency, where she was surrounded by her sculptures, paintings, and treasures collected from around the world. She also loved gazing at her Aura digital picture frame for hours every day, smiling and bragging to anyone who would listen about her beautiful family and the amazing life she lived. She is survived by son Oran and daughter-in-law Danielle Barshak, as well as son Gil and daughter-in-law Stephanie Kaufman (Wesling) and four grandchildren, Shira, Gabriel, Emmett and Grace, as well as many beloved family members in Israel. Graveside services Tuesday, June 2, 1:00 PM at Adath Israel Cemetery, 1661 Sunset Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45238. Shiva will be observed Tuesday evening only with a Minyan service at 6:30 PM at her residence at The Regency, 2444 Madison Road, #507, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208.

Tributes

Susana "Shoshana" Kaufman

September 30, 1940 - May 31, 2026