Alice I Roth

Alice was born in 1942 in Cleveland and grew up in Elyria. Her parents, Margaret and Henry Moss ran and owned Moss Jewelers in Elyria. She graduated valedictorian of Elyria High School, studied at Brandeis, and then earned her bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Illinois.

Alice married Jonathan Roth z”l in 1968, a holocaust survivor from Munkach who fifteen years was her senior. She then worked tirelessly to bring his sister’s family to Cleveland from the former Soviet Union in the 1970s. They enjoyed 44 fruitful years of marriage, raising three children and welcoming nine grandchildren who will always remember her by two songs she sang to them: “Zippety Do-Dah” and “A Little Bit of Love,” a ditty she made up. A few years after Jonathan died in 2012, Alice launched a local dating service to increase her chances of finding a partner and eventually married again to Stephen Altman of Cherry Hill, NJ. They enjoyed seven close years together in both Cleveland and Cherry Hill.

In addition to raising three children, Alice carved out a career from multiple helping professions. Her early career included teaching high school English at Shaw High School (Cleveland) and checking prices for the Consumer Price Index. She then directed a Cleveland nonprofit, the Heights Area Project, encouraging Jewish families to move into the Heights area as the neighborhood was becoming racially integrated. Afterwards she joined the Bellefaire Jewish Children's Bureau (JCB) as a fundraiser to support Autism care, foster care, and the needs of at-risk youth.

Alice earned a reputation over decades in her community as a generous host of meals for Shabbat and Jewish holidays. She went out of her way to accommodate numerous guests (there was always room for one more). She wore her emotions on her sleeves. She was relentlessly upbeat and grateful. Even in her final days, she repeated that G-d had blessed her with more than she ever could have imagined.

Alice is survived by three children: Mark Roth (Yehudit), Gary Roth (Aviva), and Julie Roth (Justus Baird); her husband Stephen Altman; nine grandchildren: Chaim (Rebecca), Shira, Elyssa, Noam (Devora), Galit, Ayelet, Ilan, Rafael, and Noa; and three great-grandchildren: Yonatan, Nadav, and Talia.

Contributions should be directed to The Jonathan Roth Torah Fund at B'nai Jeshurun or Bellefaire JCB, both in Cleveland.

Arrangements were made under the supervision of Berkowitz Kumin Bookatz Memorial Chapel.