Bernice "Bebe" (Singer) Rosenstein

Adored mother of Alan Hershman (Cullie Treichler), Jordan Hershman (Diana Lloyd), Shari Hershman Holstein (Steven Holstein); adored stepmother of Kenneth Rosenstein, Laurie Rosenstein Roy (z”l), and Howard Rosenstein (Shannon McDonald (z”l); beloved Grandma to Jacob Holstein, Aliza Holstein, Livia Lichtenstein-Hershman, Elana Hershman, Tova Lichtenstein-Hershman, Jacob Hershman, Sam Rosenstein and Jackson Rosenstein. Bebe’s first husband, Jacob (“Jack”) Hershman (z”l), and her second husband, Alan Rosenstein (z”l) both predeceased her. Bebe is also mourned by scores of extended family and friends, and the many communities she touched.

Bebe was an extraordinary person – she exemplified how to live a life of purpose, meaning, joy and service to family and community. Despite facing more than her share of life’s most difficult challenges, Bebe was known for her incredibly positive attitude, sunny disposition, enthusiasm, thoughtfulness, and kindness to others. She always seemed to have a smile on her face and make the best of every situation.

Bebe grew up in Mattapan, Massachusetts, surrounded by family. She lost her mother to cancer when she was just five years old, and her father died when she was 12. Yet Bebe recalled a childhood filled with happy memories. Bebe’s stepmother, Helen Singer, raised Bebe after her father died, and later moved with Bebe to Tucson, Arizona when she was 16.

While in high school there, Bebe coaxed her way into a job as a nurse’s aide at a local Catholic hospital, although she had no prior nursing experience. From that point on, Bebe devoted herself to a career in nursing. At 18, she moved back to Boston to attend the Beth Israel Hospital School of Nursing. Over the next 40 years, she worked as a registered nurse in the obstetrics wards of the Beth Israel and the Newton-Wellesley Hospitals, and at the Pre-term Abortion and GYN Clinic in Brookline, Massachusetts, where she fought on the front lines for women’s rights in the 1970s and thereafter. Bebe also spent many summers as the Camp Nurse at Camp Yavneh in New Hampshire. She was always known for the meticulous and loving care that she gave all of her patients.

Bebe met her first husband, Jacob “Jack” Hershman, while a nursing student, and they got married in 1956. She and Jack had three children together. Unfortunately, when Bebe was just 30, Jack suffered a debilitating stroke, and he died five years later. Bebe then raised her three young children alone, while working nights as a nurse. Miraculously, Bebe did it all, preparing her kids’ school lunches, carpooling them to school, making their dinners, working as the sole breadwinner, and somehow remaining her incredibly upbeat and energetic self. Bebe was also known for making extraordinary holiday meals every year for her entire extended family, with her legendary cooking and baking skills.

In 1979, Bebe married her second husband, Alan Rosenstein, and became a stepmother to Alan’s three children. Bebe cared for them, always, as if they were her own. When Alan developed a debilitating degenerative disease in the late 1990s, Bebe cared for him devotedly until he passed away in 2001. Thereafter, she carried on as her family’s matriarch -- the glue that held together her very large extended family -- and she formed meaningful bonds with each of her eight grandchildren.

Throughout her life, Bebe played an active role in every community she touched. She contributed her time and efforts generously, including in her later years. For example, she made dozens of costumes for the entire cast of school plays in which her grandchildren performed, such as Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, and Beauty and the Beast. She developed a great idea for making cloth bibs, which she called “Bebe’s Bibs.” She sewed literally hundreds of them, delightedly giving them away as gifts to family and friends for their newborn babies. At Fuller Village, where she lived the past ten years, Bebe was always in the thick of community activities, especially during their annual fair, when she’d bake and sell for their fundraiser a tableful of her many delicious cakes, cookies, and breads. Bebe was an equally lively volunteer at events sponsored by her local synagogue.

Bebe was truly what is known in Hebrew as an “Ayshet Chayil,“ a “righteous woman.” Supportive, giving, kind, funny, strong, spirited, wise, loving, adventurous, and bold, Bebe is a model for future generations of strong women. She worked tirelessly to take care of everyone else, while always making it look easy. She also somehow managed to have a positive impact on just about everyone who was lucky enough ever to have come into her orbit. Bebe’s legacy lives on through her family, friends, and everyone who had the tremendous privilege of being in her presence and being touched by her innumerable acts of loving kindness.

Funeral Arrangements: Bebe’s funeral will be held at Stanetsky Memorial Chapels, 475 Washington Street, Canton, MA, on Tuesday, September 6th at 10:00 a.m. and it can be attended virtually at https://tinyurl.com/Bernice-Rosenstein. Interment at Sharon Memorial Park.

Memorial Observances: Immediately following the services, at Fuller Village, 1372 Brush Hill Road, Milton (enter at main entrance and ask to be directed to Bebe Rosenstein shiva), from 12:30 until 4:00 p.m. Additional Shiva Observance at the home of Jordan Hershman and Diana Lloyd, 25 Briarhill Road, Sharon, MA, on Tuesday, September 6 from 7-9 p.m.; Wednesday, September 7 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.; Thursday, September 8 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.; and Friday, September 9 from 1-4 p.m.

Donations: In lieu of flowers, donations in Bebe’s memory may be made to any of the following organizations: Shannon’s Path, Inc (9 Hickory Road, Southborough, MA 01772) www.shannonspath.org; Temple Beth Shalom of Blue Hills (18 Shoolman Way, Milton, MA 02186) www.bethshalombluehills.org; and Fuller Village Benevolent Fund (1399 Blue Hill Avenue, Milton, MA 02186)