Dear Joni and Barry, 

I was deeply saddened to hear of Laura's passing. 

You probably don't know who I am because I haven't seen you since you were an infant, Barry, and I never met you, Joni, but I did speak to you on the phone when you were, I believe, working in publishing NY. I seem to recall that you did meet my son in the city at that time. I am your mother's first cousin. My mother, Belle Leib, and your grandmother, Anna, were sisters. 

I have very fond memories of your mom and Rhoda that go back to the days when they lived on 163rd Street and then at the beautiful Oxford Rd. house long before you were born. Although I left Cleveland in 1951, I always went to see your mom when we returned to visit my parents. And when I visited my mother in the 1970's Laura made a special trip to my mother's apartment in Beachwood to see me. I really appreciated her visit.

Unfortunately I haven't really kept in touch, but I did see Laura in 1993 in Cleveland and again in 1999 when I visited my sister, Toby, in Florida. Your mom took us out to a delightful lunch and it was one of the highlights of my visit. I recall asking her for email address and I remember exactly what she said. â€œI have a computer but I don't have email and I don't go online. But I do know all the terms.â€ She always had a great sense of humor. I know she will be missed.

My sincere condolences to both of you and your families. 

--Arlene Leib Shapiro

Hi Barry and Joni. I will always remember Laura as the nicest mom on the street. Our thoughts are with you. Much love, Paul and Barbara.

Joni,Barry,Anna and family, I am so sorry for the lose of your beloved mother and grandmother. She was a trully remarkable women. I will miss my conversations with her, she was so proud of you all. Some of my most cherished memories are the times I had with her over the last 30 years. When my Mom died she took me and my family under her wing and I am forever grateful for all she has done for us. Aunt Laura had gotten me through some of the toughest times in my life. I will miss her words of wisdom,her sense of humor,stories about my mom and her,and just knowing she was a phone call away. She was a blessing to everyone who knew and loved her. I love you Aunt Laura and am looking forward until we meet again. Your neice, Jody

My Dear Laura Daura,
I always called you that.  We used to talk, we used to visit, and maybe we will again some day. I love you.
All my love,
Joy

I knew laura from the time I was born as we lived directly across the street on rye road our whole lives.  joni and i caused as much trouble as we possibly could together (and it was alot).  i think it was for this reason that marvin thought i was not the best influence on his straight laced daughter (not). little did he know, she loved mischief just as much as i did. we caused trouble as often as we could.
the last time i came home to visit, laura had a wheel chair and an oxygen tank.  it was not the laura i remembered, although she remained as spirited as always.  she is much freer now, and that is definitely not the way she would have wanted to continue her life. laura always made the best treats for me as a little girl. chocolate pudding with coconut and whipped cream, and an ice box cake with an oreo crust, more whipped cream, and a cherry on top.  she would make these for me in my adult years when i'd come home from california to visit.  and we'd always laugh and laugh, and she and my mom would tell each other dirty jokes and smoke cigarettes on the front door steps. they spent hours there talking, smoking, and laughing. 
i know she has comfort in knowing that joni and i have continued the same friendship she shared with my mom joy klopper until the end of her days.  i send my love to joni and barry and i will miss laura deeply.  but she is forever in my heart.

I have said goodbye to my wonderful Aunt Laura. Who offered me advice over the years since the passing of my mom, Laura's sister Rhoda, in '81. Whose presence in my life through those years and to the end of her own nourished my yearning for familial continuity. Who gave me loving and positive support in my life's pursuits. 

She and Uncle Marv brought me my first camera from their trip to Japan, circa '70. I continue using it today to make landscape images for greeting cards I produce, which I proudly brought to her during a visit back home. Having left Ohio in '76, my few visits back were exceptional, in large part due to the time I spent with my aunt. 

July of '96 saw an intimate reunion of Hecht family and friends and included a walk from Belvoir Oval to Byron Jr High where we stood together watching the fireworks display. July of '07 found us at the deli and the bakery, where she insisted I eat lots, followed by a driving review of my residences growing up and a talking review of family history. August of '11 brought me home ... to say goodbye. And in between these infrequent visits were occasional phone calls which kept us in touch and up to date, and enabled me to retain a link to my parents' generation of family ties.

So in August of this year, I went back home for the sole purpose of spending time with Laura. Seeing her daily during an eight day visit was enormously fulfilling. I hope our interaction brought as much delight to her as it did me.

Each day for one to two hours we talked, laughed, crossword puzzled, looked at family albums spanning her life, read hilarious emails her friends sent her with regularity, and ate good food which she generously and thoughtfully had ready for me, knowing I would get wide eyed, wide smiled, and wide mouthed for those deli dishes and baked goodies she knew were my Cleveland favs.

Seeing Laura in a condition which confined her to a wheel chair, necessitated an oxygen hose, and required constant help getting up and down in the aspects of daily life was assuredly sobering to witness and, I learned, an overwhelmingly undesirable reality for her. "This is no way to live", she told me. Still, when the camera was upon her at my request, leave it to a beautiful woman to put forth a winning smile! 

I met some of the women who provided the assistance Laura required to get through each day. I conversed with Pamela, Nikita and others who in pairs and shifts were always present in Laura's life during these latter years. I thank them for the care and caring they gave.

It was tough to see her struggle with the ailments that limited her, and what I saw was a mere snapshot of her life in the totally of all the waking hours day by day. I am very happy she is now free.

I'll miss you, Aunt Laura. Say hi to mom.

Joni and Barry - 

Though with expectation, it is yet with sorrow that I offer my condolence to you with the passing of your mother, my aunt. 

Please forgive my absence from the service. I made a decision long ago to visit Cleveland and see Laura in life, and to honor her memory from afar. I did so this past August.

I spent time with her each of eight days during my stay. I hope I brought a little of the joy into her life at that time, that seeing her during our visits brought into mine.

We can only imagine what happens to us after death, and in that regard, I prefer to envision that Laura has reunited with your dad and my mom. 

What is more certain is that she is now free from the pains and limitations that bound her otherwise active mind and loving heart.

I will miss her. May peace of mind be with you both.

Laura and Marvin's family, be sustained by the wonderful memories of beautiful true friends,with LOVE.
  Drive

OBITUARIO

Laura Hecht Hecht Rollins

16 noviembre, 1924 – 14 enero, 2012

Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel

Muestre su apoyo

Comparta Un Recuerdo

Comparta
Un Obituario

Obtenga actualizaciones

Servicios