Sylvia Eisner

Sylvia Eisner, born November 21, 1924, in Brooklyn, NY, died on July 14, 2022 in Plantation, FL, just three months following the death of her beloved husband of seventy-seven years, Harold Eisner. She met Harold when they were both teenagers working at Climatic Rainwear, where Harold fixed sewing machines and Sylvia snipped threads around button holes. They married when Harold was on weekend leave from the Coast Guard during World War II.

Sylvia and Harold had three daughters: Rayna Gaye Abrahams, zichrona l’avraha, (Ken Abrahams); Lori Joy Eisner (Steven Mandell); and, Tami Beth Wolf (Michael Wolf). They had seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren and very many nieces and nephews, all of whom they loved. She bemoaned the fact that the family was spread to the east and west coasts, and she didn’t have the opportunity to see everyone very much, although she spoke of them often and appreciated phone calls. Tami, Michael and their three children visited frequently from Tampa. Sylvia and Harold were overwhelmed with happiness when their grandson (who went to great lengths to be stationed in south Florida), wife, and, incredibly, a great grandchild lived in Plantation, and they saw one another often.

Sylvia and Harold were devoted to one another, attended many activities together, and were seen holding hands all the time. After Harold died, Sylvia told her children that when they went to bed at night, they held hands.

Sylvia (née Zimmerman) had two sisters, Ruth and Delores, both of whom preceded her in death. The family was very poor, and they were deeply affected by the Depression, like so many others. This informed Sylvia’s whole view of life. A positive spin of the Depression-era mentality was that she was the queen of reduce, reuse, recycle. She always had piles of things that she was sure “someone” could use. She was an avid collector of coupons even if she didn’t use the item.

She sent coupons to her daughters and offered them to people in grocery stores who were buying the product. She always looked for “buy one, get one” deals.

Sylvia believed strongly in many things:

Judaism. She always made sure that the family lived near and joined a Conservative synagogue wherever they lived, kept a kosher home (even when that was challenging), made sure all the holidays were properly celebrated, and prepared traditional Jewish foods, including mandelbread for which she was famous.

Education. She made sure that her three daughters understood, even before they entered kindergarten, that they would be attending college. She loved reading and learning, and she was a life-long learner who continued to study by attending senior summer school, elder hostels, and lectures. She was dedicated to acquiring knowledge; she worked at the information desk in the Augusta Public Library in Georgia, and later as a librarian at the Medical College of Georgia, where she worked for ten years. There was no internet at this time, and many people relied on her expert skills at finding information or the perfect book.

Tzedakah. Sylvia remembered that when she was a very little girl – poor and living in tenements in Brooklyn – her mother would wrap coins in small pieces of cloth and give them to beggars and those who were even more poverty-stricken. Sylvia understood the importance of charity, both in making donations and in volunteering. She became recording secretary for almost every volunteer organization to which she belonged. Even when our parents didn’t have much money, Sylvia sent checks of five or ten dollars to dozens of organizations – Jewish organizations, charities for children, medical research, human rights causes, etc. When they moved to Florida twenty-seven years ago, she was extremely happy that she could dedicate herself to volunteer activities. One of her primary ‘jobs’ was volunteering for an elementary school where she tutored children and graded papers, and the teacher for whom she worked for many years appreciated that every hour that Sylvia worked gave the teacher another hour for her to be with the children. She also volunteered for the Low Vision Center. She received appreciation certificates from so many organizations, including the Red Cross for having donated possibly gallons of blood. Harold and Sylvia went to Israel for a month to volunteer in Netanya

In addition to traveling around with senior summer school, Harold and Sylvia traveled - (took the family on a Caribbean cruise), went to Alaska, Hawaii, and visited several national parks.

One of her granddaughters said she had “matriarchal sass,” and a grandson said she was the “genetic source of his grit.” Her eldest daughter called her “program chairman” orchestrating the tasks of the day. Though she was stubborn, she was feisty, friendly, assertive, courageous, and “in charge.” Even in her final days, she had a beautiful, infectious smile that she displayed often.

It was a life well lived. She will be missed.