Nomi Loeb

Nomi is survived her husband, Laury, her children, Roni (Tzvi), Gabi (Jolie), and Adina (Jeff), nine grandchildren: Adiel (Ari), Hadas, Moriya, Sinai, Sydnie, Hadar, Elana, Annie, and Ayala, and one great-grandson, Aviv.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1944, Nomi and her parents (Arieh and Reny Gottesman) moved to Brooklyn in 1959 where she attended Midwood High School and spent summers at Camp Ramah in Nyack, New York where – at the age of 18 – she met Laury Loeb, her future husband. A brilliant student, she went on to Brooklyn College, where she received a BA in Sociology, before spending time in graduate school at University of Pennsylvania and ultimately earning a Masters in Social Work from Rutgers University. In 1967, three months after getting married, Nomi and Laury moved to Shiraz, Iran for 18 months while they conducted field research together for Laury’s Anthropology PhD dissertation. Their love of travel and curiosity about the world led to nearly half a century of adventure across the globe. They moved back to New Jersey before finding their true home in Salt Lake City in 1973.

Nomi took a teaching role before eventually becoming the principal of the religious school at the Congregation Kol Ami synagogue, where Laury also served as Cantor. In this and many other service roles, Nomi was a tiny-(4’ 8”)-but-mighty pillar of the Jewish community in Salt Lake City, where her warmth, her love of people, and her deep connection to Judaism left an indelible mark on the lives of hundreds of individuals and families. After 15 years as principal, Nomi decided to return to her social work roots and joined the University of Utah Hospital where she spent the next 15 years as a medical social worker in the labor and delivery and NICU departments. There, she helped countless women and their families as they transitioned to new parenthood, comforted families who experienced pregnancy loss, supported parents of premature and sick babies, assisted prisoners and teen moms, and facilitated adoptions. After retiring from the University Hospital, Nomi – along with her beloved Laury – traveled near and far, to visit their children and grandchildren and discover new adventures.

Nomi found fulfillment and meaning in her work; however, she remained deeply devoted to her immediate family and to the ever-widening family-of-choice she and Laury nurtured over the last 50 years. Her reputation as a great cook was widely known and enjoyed by the crowds she and Laury regularly fed at their Shabbat table, their home open to all. The two of them also “adopted” many into their family: people both within and new to the Jewish community, work colleagues, neighbors, sometimes travelers passing through Salt Lake who just needed a meal and great conversation, and in the past two years, the dedicated, kind, and attentive staff in the memory care unit at The Ridge Foothill. Nomi’s capacity for love was a gift and was simply enormous, as anyone who spent time with her immediately felt. She leaves behind a legacy of kindness, devotion, and an unwavering commitment to family and community. Her warm and gentle soul will be missed.

The Loeb family.