Obituary of Florence Saidel

Florence L. Saidel z”l, 1915 - 2016 ALBANY, NY Florence L. Saidel died peacefully on July 30, 2016, less than two months before her 101st birthday. She was born in Schenectady, NY, on September 17, 1915, to Ida and Meyer Levine, Jewish immigrants from Poland. After marrying in 1937, Florence and her husband Joseph Saidel lived in Glens Falls, NY. She then made her home in Albany for nearly 50 years. Mrs. Saidel had a fulfilling life in a changing world. When she was growing up in Schenectady, her father sold fruit and vegetables from a horse-drawn cart. He and her mother later owned a small grocery store on Emmett Street, and the family lived behind the store. Her only sibling, her younger brother Leonard Levine, died in Albany in 1986. Florence met her husband while he was studying at Union College in Schenectady. She liked to recall that she was only fourteen at the time they met, but told him she was sixteen, as he was “a college boy.” However, he had graduated early from Bolton Central School, Bolton Landing, NY, and was then only fifteen. From that meeting came a romance that led to their marriage after Mr. Saidel graduated from law school in 1937. The couple settled in Glens Falls, his birthplace. Their three children, Dr. Rochelle Saidel, Mindy Mangot, and David Saidel, were born and raised there. During that time, Mrs. Saidel was a traditional full-time wife and mother, preparing lunch and dinner to serve her family every day of the week. She was also active in the local Hadassah chapter and the Sisterhood of Congregation Shaarey Tefilah. During the summers, the couple were part of a family hotel business, Twin Pines on Trout Lake, in the Town of Bolton. Mrs. Saidel moved from Glens Falls in 1966, after her husband gave up his private law practice and began working in the New York State Law Department. This required some adjustment, after decades of ties with a close circle of friends and family in Glens Falls. Mrs. Saidel succeeded in building a new life in Albany, making good friends and enjoying nearby family that included two grandchildren, Esther and Daniel Wolk (Rochelle’s children). She also worked until she was 82 years old in the Senior Adult Department of the Albany Jewish Community Center. She was active in the Upper New York State Region of Hadassah, and made several trips to Israel. Meanwhile, she also continued her traditional role as a homemaker for her husband. This role become considerably more difficult after he began suffering from Alzheimer's disease, but she never stopped lovingly taking care of him until he died in 1997. Mrs. Saidel had six grandchildren: Sarah and Alex Mangot, Jonathan Saidel and Laura Saidel Shakelford, as well as Esther and Daniel Wolk. She also had eight great grandchildren: Emmunah, Yosef, Eliyah, Yedidyah, Caleb, Ilana, MacKenzie, and Callen. Author Meika Loe included Florence's advice for aging gracefully in Aging Our Way: Lessons for Living from 85 and Beyond (Oxford University Press, 2011). Mrs. Saidel saw a great many changes in her lifetime as technology advanced. She was grateful to celebrate her 100th birthday at a party with family and friends in September 2015. Thanks to the loving support of her family and a group of devoted caregivers, she was able to remain in her own home until the last week of her life. She is survived by her children and their spouses, Dr. Rochelle Saidel and Prof. Guilherme Ary Plonski of Manhattan, Jerusalem, and São Paulo; Mindy Mangot and Neil Mangot of Long Beach, NY; and David Saidel and Joan Saidel of Austin, TX; her six grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren. Services and interment will be in the Shaaray Tefila Cemetery in Glens Falls, NY on Monday, August 1, 2016