Obituary of Gita Taff

GITA ( GERT) SOLOMON TAFF Former Albany High School English Teacher and Albany native, Gita (Gert) Solomon Taff, died Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem, Israel. She was 91 years of age. The daughter of well-known Albany clothiers, the late Abraham and Anna Solomon, Gita attended Vermont's Green Mountain Valley College and later graduated with a degree in Journalism from New York University. One of the first women to work for the Associated Press, Gita pursued a career in teaching, specializing in the teaching of English at Albany High School, before she retired to Israel in 1981. She was known by her students to be a stickler for good grammar and served as the advisor to the school newspaper and annual yearbook during her tenure at the high school. After retiring from the teaching profession, she followed her daughter Janie and son Zev by moving to Israel with her husband Cy who predeceased her in 1993. While in Israel Gita was the ultimate volunteer. She trained to be a clown, devoting many hours to entertaining children at hospitals throughout Israel. She also volunteered to teach English to new Israeli immigrants from Ethiopia and Russia. Gita served as President of her synagogue's Sisterhood for nine consecutive terms and was a Vice-President of Israel's Hadassah Organization which raises funds for medical research and provides state of the art medical equipment to hospitals in Israel. While living in Albany, Gita was active in Temple Israel, serving for many years as an advisor to the congregation's United Synagogue Youth Organization. She also served as President of the PTA of Public School #19 where her children attended. Her pride and joy were her family, her three children, her seven grandchildren and her five great-grandchildren. She was the sister of the late Bender Solomon (Mildred), Marcus Solomon (Lillian), Ruth Solomon Minick (Jason) and Shirley Solomon Teper (Edward), and grandmother to the late David Shukrun, all of blessed memory. Her sole surviving sibling is Toby Solomon Olender (Donald) of Clifton Park. She is mourned by her children, Zev Taff (Edna) of Kfar Veradim, Israel, her daughter Janie Shukrun (Momi) of Moshav Faran, Israel, her son Rabbi Reuven Taff of Sacramento, California, her daughter-in-law Judy Finkelstein-Taff of Chicago, Illinois, her brother-in- law, Herbert Taff ( Teresa) of Fort Lee, New Jersey, her grandchildren, Yael (Gabi), Avi (Amy), Josh, Ari, Eviatar and Avishag, greatgrandchildren, Bar, Ben, Yohonatan, Ayla and Mika, her sister, Toby Solomon Olender (Don) of Clifton Park, NY, and many adoring nieces, nephews and cousins. Funeral services were held in Netanya, Israel on Thursday, August 19th. Friends and family in the Albany area may pay their condolences to Gita's sister, Toby Olender, who will be observing the Jewish mourning practice of Shiva beginning on Thursday, August 19th and continuing on Friday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday from 1pm to 4pm at Oak Brook Commons, Apt. 105, Clifton Park, NY. Contributions in Gita's memory are suggested to the Abraham and Anna Solomon Memorial Fund at Temple Israel, 600 New Scotland Avenue, Albany.