Gertrude Etta (Stahl) Epstein of Canton, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 77 years of age. Daughter of the late Shirley (Idelkope) and Earl Stahl. Loving wife of Dr. Neil Epstein of 57 years. Beloved mother of Adam Epstein and his wife Lucia of Wellesley; Evan Epstein and his wife Courtney of Mansfield; and Noah Epstein and his wife Desiree of Herndon, VA. Cherished grandmother of Ana-Natalia, Bruno, Jude, Alexis, Zachary, Siena and Adelyn. Family was a central and significant part of her life.
Gertrude was born in Springfield, MA on November 23, 1946. She graduated from Classical High School in Springfield and went on to get a dental hygiene degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. There she met her future husband, Neil, who was a dental student at the same school. After completing her Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) degree at UPenn, she continued her education and earned a graduate degree in Dental Health Education at Columbia University.
Trudi and Neil started their married life in West Nyack, NY, where she became head of dental health education at the Clarkstown School system. However, always longing to get back to Western Massachusetts, they relocated first to Amherst and then two years later to Northampton with their new son, Adam. There she taught dental health at Springfield Technical Community College School of Dental Hygiene and Neil practiced pediatric dentistry in Springfield. Evan and Noah came along in the proceeding years. With this growing family, Trudi needed to find a new career that offered more flexibility. She eventually got her real estate license and started her own business managing other people’s real estate and developing a significant real estate portfolio of her own. Eventually she owned more than a dozen units, which included real estate in the Northampton area where she lived, as well as properties on Cape Cod and in Valbonne, France.
In addition, Trudi was an assistant to Aaron Lansky during the early years when he was creating and developing the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst. She loved life and made many friends all over the world. In fact, she and Neil fulfilled their fantasy of living in the south of France four months a year for 15 years. She was an avid skier and tennis player and had many hobbies including collecting antiques, French Quimper Pottery, the arts and independent world travel, where she made many friends.
More recently, her life changed dramatically when she developed breast cancer, and after being successfully treated for that, developed uterine cancer 5 years later. She was a true fighter and never gave up in the face of adversity.
She survived and credited her survival with the care she received at Dana Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals. With her new outlook on life she redirected her extraordinary talent to philanthropic work that included personal philanthropy, fundraising and service on multiple not for profit boards.
In October 2023, Trudi and Neil moved to Orchard Cove, a continuous care retirement community in Canton. She started to enjoy her new community and everything it had to offer. She was loved by everyone who knew her and will be deeply missed.
Family Service for Gertrude will be private.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Gertrude’s name may be made to the Brigham & Women’s Hospital at www.brighamandwomens.org or to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at www.dana-farber.org
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