Martha Landesman Vinocur

MARTHA L. VINOCUR (nee Landesman), age 94, died July 24, 2015. Beloved wife of the late Dr. Samuel Vinocur; devoted mother of Amy (Ron) Greenspan and Ilene (Stephen) Rhodes; loving grandmother of Sam (Angie) Greenspan, Sarah (Abram) Schwarz and Seth Rhodes; loving great grandmother of Hannah Schwarz; dear sister of Richard Landesman (deceased). Graveside services will be held in Bet Olam Cemetery (Park Synagogue section) on Monday, July 27 at 11 A.M. The week of shivah will be observed at the Ilene and Stephen Rhodes residence, 6252 Morning Glory Circle, Solon MONDAY FOLLOWING INTERMENT UNTIL 8 PM, TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY FROM 2 TO 4 PM AND 7:30 TO 9 PM AND FRIDAY FROM 2 TO 4 PM. Contributions are suggested to the Park Synagogue Wolf Religious School (www.parksynagogue.org). Arrangements through BERKOWITZ-KUMIN-BOOKATZ MEMORIAL CHAPEL (800) 448-2210 90 94 50/52 Things to Know About Martha Vinocur Martha Edythe Landesman was born on August 6, 1920, which, like this year was a Friday. Hebrew date: 22 Av 5680. Martha was named after her maternal grandmother, Ida, thus her Hebrew name, Yitta Miriam. She was born in Romania—because borders had switched after World War I. Nonetheless, she is still Hungarian! Martha used to speak Hungarian. She still understands it. In fact, once when she was at the bakery and two ladies there were talking about a third lady—in Hungarian, Martha turned to them and said, "I understand every word you're saying!" So there. Her parents were Dr. William B. Landesman and Elizabeth Weiss Landesman. When she was six months old, her family immigrated to the United States. Her family did not go through Ellis Island. When her family first arrived in America, they lived in New York with her Aunt Helen and Uncle Frank in Brooklyn. Her family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, because her father's parents were there. In Cleveland, the family first lived on Lakeview. They moved around a lot until they got to Bushnell Road in University Heights, a wilderness at that time. Her brother Richard was born in 1924. Martha became a naturalized citizen in 1926. Martha attended Coventry Elementary School, Roosevelt Junior High, and Cleveland Heights High School. Martha's piano lessons at the Institute of Music lasted until the instructor smacked her hands. She refused to go back. Martha also took dancing lessons. She can still do a time-step. Martha got her first bicycle (a blue one) for her twelfth birthday. That's when she learned to ride a bike. Martha was Confirmed in 1936 at Temple on the Heights. Martha got her first drivers' license when she was 16. In those days you didn't have to take a test. All you had to do was pay 35 cents. Her friend, Laura Demick, was getting her license and Martha went along. Why not? Her first car was a dark blue Chevy convertible with a rumble seat. Dick co-opted it. Martha graduated from Heights High in 1938. After graduation, Martha went to Ohio State—but didn't like it. Then she attended NYU. Kind of homesick, Martha returned to Cleveland and went to Dyke Business School. Her very first paying job was for the US War Department. Martha met Sam Vinocur on a blind date in April 1946. Engaged in September, Martha and Sam were married at Temple on the Heights by Rabbi Rosenthal on November 17, 1946. Aunt Phyllis was her matron of honor; Uncle Joe and Uncle Lou stood up for Sam. The couple first lived on Milverton near Shaker Square. Martha became a mom when Amy was born on March 4, 1948. In September 1949, the family moved to 3795 Berkeley Road in Cleveland Heights. Martha was known to mow the lawn wearing galoshes! Martha became a mom for a second time when llene was born—during a diarrhea epidemic—on November 11,1949. After llene was born, Martha decided to lose weight—and she did: 50 pounds which she kept off the rest of her life! Martha squeezed fresh orange juice for Sam and the girls every day. She ate the orange peels—inside out. The girls really liked Martha's apricot rolls. As a mother of two babies, Martha liked to take the girls in the baby carriage to Taylor Road. She'd shop at Unger's and a filthy little grocery store called Campbell's. When the girls were at Millikin Elementary School, Martha was active in the PTA, serving as Programming Vice President. Martha wasn't averse to a quick "potch"—although she preferred, "Wait 'til your father gets home!" One time after the girls fought, Martha moved llene from the girls' shared bedroom to the extra bedroom. The girls got home after school, argument forgotten, and discovered the move. Horrified, they retorted, "You don't understand. You didn't have a sister." (True, but she dearly loved Dick.) One of Martha's fondest memories is her trip to New York City for Merv's wedding. She loved seeing West Side Story. In fact, she loves musicals! The family took a trip to South Carolina, stayed with Martha's cousin, and disliked every minute of it! They loved their trip to Washington D.C. and Williamsburg, Virginia—even though the car broke down on the way home. With the Joe Vinocurs, the family visited Greenfield Village and Ann Arbor. Martha and Sam were part of the Vinocur-Task family Couples Club. Martha always had a good relationship with her brothers-in-law, her sisters-in-law, her in-laws, her aunts & uncles, her cousins, her nieces & nephews, greats, and great-greats. She has an especially good relationship with her sons-in-law! For a while Martha worked in the office of Gruber's Restaurant. She liked the soup they gave her for lunch. Martha encouraged Amy and llene to play the piano, then sold the piano when the girls went to college...then bought each of them a piano for their first homes. When llene was so wrongly punished (a whole day being "watched" because she had spoken during homeroom), Martha marched into the principal's office and made the wrong right. On the day of Amy's wedding, Martha and Amy went to the movies and saw Hotel. Martha and Sam sold the Berkeley house in 1972 and moved into an apartment on Monticello Boulevard. She moved into her current apartment on Milton Road in 1985. Martha and Sam lost their empty nest when llene moved in after she graduated from college. When Amy and Ron moved back to Cleveland—before the kids were born, Amy, Ron, llene, and Steve had dinner at Martha and Sam's house every Wednesday. Martha learned how to crochet—and made lovely afghans. In fact, she was so good, that she went to Fairfax, llene's first teaching assignment, and taught a group of girls how to crochet. Martha's greatest losses: her father, her mother, her brother, her husband. Martha's greatest treasures (for now): Sam, Sarah, Seth, and Abram. Martha was the kids' favorite babysitter. Martha was a big fan of the three kids' Consecrations, Confirmations and B'nai Mitzvah. Because Martha was not much of a fan of animals, the only pet Amy and llene had as kids was a turtle. Martha has learned to love Ninja (of blessed memory), Laska, and Gibson. She's not so sure about Webster. Although not a great sports fan, Martha watched sports on TV with husband Sam and happily attended her grandchildren's games. On the other hand, she was not a fan of Sam and Seth's wrestling matches. Then there was the day Sam and Sarah tied up her whole living room in a web of yarn, pulled, and broke a lamp. Grandma Martha wasn't too mad. Martha much preferred going shopping with Sarah. Although Amy and Sam were rather indifferent, Martha loved joining Ron on his boat. Martha has celebrated a lot of graduations—and looks forward to Seth's college graduation next year. She was impressed during her trip to Los Angeles with Sam's original play, Barely a Bear. Martha was a proud grandmother as she walked down the aisle at Sarah and Abram's wedding in her salmon dress. After Sam died, Martha worked as a saleslady in a little store at Meadowbrook and Lee. Then she worked at Waldorf Towers in the leasing office. Then she worked in the Greeting Card Room at the Hebrew Academy. She retired in 1996. Sadly, over the years she has had a number of falls—which have led to two new hips, rotator cuff surgery, and carpal tunnel surgery. She also has had cataract surgery. Martha rehabbed twice at Montefiore. She was glad to get home! Martha used to visit her cousin Elsie in Phoenix. They roamed the West: Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, and Hawaii. Martha enjoys cruising. Her children and grandchildren all loved the cruises to the Caribbean that she treated them to. Martha, along with her childhood friend Wilma, took a cruise to Bermuda. Loved it! Martha, along with her friend Ida, toured Israel. Loved it! Seeing your friends die. Hate it. You can still see Martha tooling around in her red Mercury Tracer, license plate SAV5. Martha had an email address for a little while. She's a bigger fan of her cell phone. Martha is an aficionada of Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You can Dance. The last movie Martha saw was The Blind Side. She liked it a lot. (In fact, she likes movies a lot!) Martha, Amy, and llene have lunch together (almost) every Saturday. Martha brings the bagels Martha likes her pancake at Eat at Joe's. Truth to tell, Martha's palate is not too exotic. Thumbs up for grilled cheese! Thumbs way up for coffee ice cream! Celebrating holidays and special events together is important to Martha. The best ones are like today—when all the grandchildren are home and together. Martha still talks about her 85th birthday party (with Aunt Lee (age 90) and Aunt Esther (age 95). We hope she talks about this one as well! Changes in the last five years: Martha gave up her car as her eyes grew worse. Reliance on a cane and a walker put a crimp in her two-step. Worries about safety, especially with the unreliable elevator in her apartment building led to Martha's moving to a first floor apartment in another building in the complex. But that - and Saturday lunches - came to an end when Martha fell at Amy's. That led to bouncing back and forth: hospital, Solon Pointe skilled nursing, Solon Pointe Assisted Living. Martha was strong. She worked hard to rehab so that she could be at our Sederim in March. She made it to both. And there was more good stuff. Sam married Angle in 2013. Baby boy Greenspan is due in early September. Sarah and Abram bought a lovely home in Pepper Pike. More importantly, they produced the irrepressible Hannah, #1 great-grandchild, now 2 ½. Seth graduated from college, got a job with the Columbus Clippers, and met his Sarah. 94 50/52 . Martha was the last Vinocur/Landesman of her generation. Her death at 7:10 A.M. on July 24, 2015 is such a loss.