Bernice Beckwith Godine

Beloved wife of the late Morton R. Godine with whom she shared 47 years of marriage.

Tough-headed, tart-tongued, and loving mother of David Godine of Milton, Louise B. Godine of Manhattan, and Amy Godine of Saratoga Springs, and grandmother of Addison, Madeline, and Jesse Godine, and of Charles and Isabel Nicholson. Bernice was the daughter of Louis Beckwith, immigrant blacksmith turned manufacturer, and milliner Jennie Sherrie Beckwith; her late brother was Leo Beckwith.

From Dorchester, Bernice went to the Garrison School, Brookline High, and Smith College. Her MSW was from Simmons College but like many in her generation she put marriage and family before a paying career. Among the passions that energized her days were philanthropy, travel with her family, Democratic politics, tutoring, summers in Marblehead, and volunteering in a Brookline thrift store. Her self-schooling was relentless (master classes ranged from Chinese cooking to decorative tray painting to the Talmud), and giving was a life-long habit, too. She founded the Bernice B. Godine Foundation, lending her support to the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Beth Israel Hospital, Museum of Fine Arts, Huntington Theater, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Hampshire College, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Hadassah, and the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, among others. She loved Boston and all of New England, and had no use for snobs, malingerers, or Palm Beach in doses longer than three days.

A funeral service will be held at Levine Chapels, 470 Harvard St., Brookline, on Wednesday., April 27, at 1:30 pm.

Burial in Mishkan Tefila Memorial Park, 2619 Centre Street, West Roxbury.

After the burial, the family will be at her late residence, and welcome friends and family until 8pm, and on Thursday, April 28, from 4-8 pm as well.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to S.L.U.G., or Student Learning Through Urban Gardening, c/o Development Office, The Trustees of Reservations, 572 Essex Street, Beverly, MA 01915..