Rena E. Gesmer

Rena Edith Gesmer (formally Niditch), age 93, of Newton, on Thursday January 26th. Beloved wife of the late Bennett Sander Gesmer. Devoted mother of Susan Gesmer of Goshen, Mass. and Lee Gesmer of Dover, Mass. Loving grandmother of Alexandra Gesmer of Dover, and daughters-in-law, Valerie Johnson Gesmer of Dover and Hermine Antelman of Goshen. Dear sister of her loving and devoted brother, the late Stuart Nye, of Boston, Mass. and Miami, Florida. She is survived by other dear family; her sister, Elaine Binder; her niece and nephew, Nancy Binder Selover and Tom Binder; three grand nieces and one grand nephew; and many cousins. She was the daughter of U.S. Vice Consul and attorney, Abraham Lincoln Niditch, and visual artist Hannah (Romanow) Niditch. Rena was born and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts. She spent three years as a child in the 1920s living with her family in Miami, Florida and a shorter time with her family in Southern California. Rena was a graduate of Brookline High School and the Miss Allen Secretarial School. She loved learning and excelled as a student. In 1946 she married the love of her life, Bennett Gesmer. Early in their marriage Bennett’s work as a chemical engineer took them to Bennington, Vermont, and Springfield, Mass. In the late 1940s Rena and Bennett returned to Brookline to be closer to both of their mothers. In 1959, Rena and Bennett bought a house and moved to Newton where they raised their two children and lived for the remainder of their lives. Rena found great pleasure and meaning in being a mother and a wife. She worked as a secretary and a homemaker. She spent many years as a volunteer at The Newton Wellesley Hospital, in Newton Mass. Rena was a lifetime member of Boston Hadassah. She and her family, along with her own family of birth, were members of Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline. Rena and her mother Hannah, shared a deep appreciation for opera and theater. They were both great fans of the Boston Opera Company and the American Musical Theater. In her younger years, Rena delighted in going dancing with her husband. Rena loved the Boston Pops, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, classical, and klezmer music. In her last two years she found great pleasure in listening to recordings of the western Massachusetts singing group, Wings! Women’s Chorus, of which her daughter Susan is a member. Rena loved the ocean and spent many happy weekends with her husband at MIT reunions at The Chatham Bars Inn, in Chatham, Mass. She spent summer weeks throughout the decades vacationing in Chatham and Wellfleet, Mass., and Ogunquit, Maine. She loved learning, reading, poetry, parties, entertaining, art, traveling, meeting new people, making new friends, and being a loving and devoted friend in her many lifelong friendships. Rena lived through the deaths of many of her closest friends, including her best friend, Edith, and her dear sister-in-law, Ruth Fine (Gesmer). Since Bennett’s death in the summer of 2010, Rena continued to deeply grieve the loss of her husband, best friend, and soul mate of sixty-four years. For the last sixteen years of her life Rena suffered from neurological pain not amenable to medical treatment. We should all be so strong, so beautiful, so accepting, so attentive, so considerate of others, so giving, so loving, so lovely, so graceful and so pure of heart and soul. Rena accepted everyone for who they were, never trying to change anyone, always seeing only the best in others, always with an open heart and interested, curious inquisitive mind toward everyone and everything that entered her life. She was an extraordinary woman. Funeral arrangements were made through Levine Chapels, Brookline, Mass. Interment services were held privately at Sharon Memorial Park on Sunday, January 29th. Contributions in Rena’s memory may be made to the Boston Chapter of Hadassah.