Irma Bennett Mednicoff

Irma Bennett Mednicoff, of Amherst, and formerly of South Hadley, Natick and Boston, MA, died peacefully at age 88 on June 7 of natural causes. She will be missed deeply by her family, who had the privilege of her loving presence for many years.

Irma was born in Boston on February 15, 1925 to Simon Bennett and Rebecca née Segel, both of Russian Jewish heritage. She grew up in Dorchester with her older brother, the late Dr. Warren Bennett, and her younger sister, Barbara Schwartz, currently of Kalamazoo, MI. She excelled at the former Boston Girls’ Latin School, and completed degrees from the Boston Dispensary Laboratory School and Framingham State College. She worked from the 1940s through the 1980s as a lab technician at Boston-area medical research labs at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Medfield State Hospital and Tufts-New England Medical School.

She was a gifted and methodical worker. The quality of her technical work and intellect allowed her to co-author medical research papers with leading researchers in hematology and pathology, such as the late William Dameshek, in which she took pride. Indeed, in today’s world, Irma likely would have received the encouragement and support to become a top medical researcher in her own right.

She married the late Melvin Mednicoff, a teacher, in the spring of 1950, and shared a loving and rich life with him until his early death in 1986. Irma and Mel were very proud of their home in Natick, and the nurturing environment they provided to their only child, David Mednicoff. Indeed, Irma found great joy in, and worked unflaggingly to inspire and support, David’s achievements at Princeton and Harvard. She was also a gourmet cook and a founding member of Temple Israel of Natick.

Irma and her late husband shared a passion for travel and visited much of the US, Europe and the Middle East together. Among her travels was 50-hour trip from Tunisia to Morocco through all of Algeria with her son on a bus, where she was the only woman, receiving the admiration and applause of the collected group of Arab men.

Irma had a lifelong love of classical music, which she also kindled in her husband and son. Her presence at Boston Symphony concerts at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood were important to her throughout her life.

Several years after Mel’s death, Irma met the late George Brass, of Natick and Brockton, who proved a caring and jovial companion for many years. In 2004, she moved to Loomis Village in South Hadley to be close to her son and his family. Her final years were spent in close community with her loved ones at the Center for Extended Care in Amherst.

In addition to her late husband and son, a professor of public policy and Director of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, she leaves behind Prof. Joya Misra, her daughter-in-law, and her very beloved grandchildren, Amina and Rabi Mednicoff-Misra, all of Amherst. She also leaves behind her sister Barbara’s children, Prof. Julie Schwartz and the late Carol Schwartz, and their children, Matthew and Victoria Evans of Kalamazoo, MI, Adam Fudala of New York City and Hana Fudala of Washington, DC. She also leaves behind her brother Warren’s children, Prof. Susan Bennett of Baltimore and Laurie Bennett of New York City, along with Laurie’s children Rebecca Bennett Clark of Berkeley, CA, and Samuel Clark of Cambridge. In addition, she leaves behind the children and grandchildren of George Brass in Brockton and Israel. All of these loved ones will continue to remember Irma’s legacy of elegance, erudition, politeness, and deep loyalty.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 AM on Monday, June 10 at Stanetsky Memorial Chapel , 1668 Beacon Street, Brookline, after which interment will occur at Children of Israel Cemetery in Haverhill. David’s family will be sitting shiva at their home in Amherst in the week following the funeral. Donations in Irma’s name can be made to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 www.bso.org or the Association for Women in Science, 1321 Duke Street, Suite 210, Alexandria, VA 22314 www.awis.org .