Esther Manella was born on March 1, 1936 in Israel. She grew up in Bat Yam with her mother Tzipora Biedak Manella of Łódź, Poland, father Moshe Manella of Kelz, Poland and older sister Ruchama Markovich (six years her senior). In 1954, she served in the Israeli army. She was part of a division responsible for map-drawing which aided the troops in the field. Later, she would work for a book publisher drawing maps.
At the age of 22, she serendipitously met her future husband, Alexander Gordon (formerly Abrascha Gorbulski) who travelled from America to visit relatives in Israel. They married in Tel-Aviv at the Ramat Aviv Hotel in January 1959, established themselves in New Jersey, and remained together for 52 years.
During those years, Esther worked as a seamstress, became a mother, worked in retail, went on to become a Hebrew School teacher at Temple Emanuel in Livingston, NJ and Temple Sholom of West Essex in Cedar Grove. Later, she had a very successful career as a real estate agent at Weichert Realtors, Livingston and West Orange offices.
Esther finally retired at the age of 82 and moved to Monroe Village which she was apprehensive about early on and later came to love.
Esther is survived by her son Ronald David Gordon, daughter-in-law Robyn Gordon, grandsons Ethan Gordon and Noah Gordon; daughter Ora Adina Gordon, son-in-law Jonathan Richmond, grandsons Zachary Richmond and Alexander Richmond; niece Hagit Markovich; nephews Miki Golani and Yoram Golani, their spouses and extended families.
