Obituary of Evelyn Weinstein

Evelyn Leifer Weinstein died Sunday, July 8, 2012 at Daughters of Sarah Nursing Center of complications from Alzheimer's disease. She was 89. Mrs. Weinstein, a longtime secretary for the New York City Board of Education at Andrew Jackson High School, moved to Albany in 2007. She was the widow of Bernard Weinstein, a garment industry contract negotiator, who died in 1988. She leaves three daughters, three grandchildren and a brother in Colorado. Mrs. Weinstein was born Oct. 18, 1922, in Brooklyn, NY, to Moses Leifer and Rose Greenfield Leifer. Her parents, first-generation Americans, instilled a great respect for learning in their children, and she graduated from Samuel Tilden High School at the age of 15. She attended Hunter College for two years before having to leave to help support her family. She finally received her degree in 1949 after finishing her course work at night. She met her future husband when she went to a wedding in place of her older sister; they married in 1944 shortly before he was drafted into the Navy. She followed him to Washington, DC, where she worked as a legal secretary for the Department of Justice, and to Gulfport, Miss. She returned to Brooklyn while he was stationed in the Philippines, and the couple settled in New York after World War II. A graduate of City College, Mr. Weinstein earned his master's degree in mechanical engineering there while his wife finished her college degree. He worked in engineering, while she began working for the Board of Education. In 1948, their first daughter was born, followed by a second in 1952 and their third in 1959. In 1954, the family moved from Queens to New Hyde Park, in Nassau County, where Mrs. Weinstein lived until her move to the Capital District. She was a stay-at-home mother until her youngest child started kindergarten, when she returned to work as a school secretary. At Andrew Jackson High School, she was the pupil accounting secretary for more than 20 years until her retirement in 1991. Mrs. Weinstein's love of learning made her strive to see that her three daughters had the education and opportunities that she was denied; all three daughters graduated from Barnard College. She tried to keep abreast of current affairs and the arts, and late in life joined Brandeis Women at the behest of friends to support that university. She also was a member of the National Council of Jewish Women, the Hunter College alumni association and the Lake Success Jewish Center on Long Island, as well as Congregation Beth Emeth in Albany. Mrs. Weinstein had a warm circle of family and friends, especially her fellow secretaries and teachers from Andrew Jackson, and she loved visiting with them and chatting on the telephone. She also was an enthusiastic Scrabble player and crossword puzzle aficionado and enjoyed the Broadway Theater, art museums and classical music, particularly opera. In later years, she was able to travel, touring Italy, England, Colorado, Ontario and New England, cruising the Caribbean and making trips to Florida and California. Though hampered by back pain for many years, she did not let it stop her from exploring the world. Mrs. Weinstein is survived by her daughters Ellen Blackman (Mark) of Oswego, IL; Linda Barnas (Michael) of Albany; and Sandra Friedrich (Peter) of Berkeley Heights, NJ; her brother, Professor Leslie Leifer (Elizabeth) of Denver, CO, and three grandchildren, Rachel Barnas, David Friedrich and Jonathan Friedrich Services at the Parkside Chapel, 98-60 Queens Blvd, Forest Hills, NY on Thursday, July 12, 2012 at 12:45pm. Interment will follow in the Wellwood Cemetery in Pinelawn, NY. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any memorial donations be made to the National Council of Jewish Women or the Alzheimer's Association. Shiva will be observed at 10 Linden Road in Albany, NY on Saturday evening from 7-9pm.