Ruth Fischer Melnicoff

Ruth Melnicoff, age 95, of Charlotte passed away in Naperville, IL on Thursday, July 25, 2024. Having lived in Charlotte for nearly 42 years, she had just relocated to Illinois to be with her son and daughter-in-law when she passed.

She was born in Deva, Romania, to the late Rabbi Julius S Fisher and Gizella Fisher, nee Sreter. She left Romania with her family to escape Hitler on August 1, 1939, just one month before WWII broke out, at the age of 11. She temporarily resided in (then) Palestine and Kenya before arriving in the U.S. in 1941. From there she temporarily lived in Detroit, and then Chicago, before settling with her family in New York City where she completed her years of junior and senior high school. She attended Adelphi College in New York for a year, followed by a year at Hunter College. While there she met and married, on February 20, 1949, her husband, Dr Samuel G Melnicoff, who was completing podiatry school at Long Island University. They moved to Syracuse, NY, for a little over a year, but then relocated to Geneva, NY, for the next 33 years where Dr Melnicoff established his podiatry practice.

In Geneva, Ruth raised two sons, Mark and Paul Melnicoff. She participated with Hadassah and with the League of Women Voters. She also took up the hobby of oil painting, turning her home into quite the art gallery. In the late 1960s, Ruth set out to finish her education, earning an Associate’s Degree at Auburn Community College. She then pursued and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary and Special Education from SUNY at Geneseo, followed by a certification in these fields. She worked for the New York State BOCES program for 10 years to provide an education to LD students before retiring, along with Sam, to Charlotte in 1983. Following her husband’s passing in 1987 she became a member of Temple Beth El where she volunteered in their gift shop for many years. She spent her last 8 ½ years at the Brookdale Carriage Club, making several friends and being “just a charming lady” to converse with.

She is survived by her son, Mark Melnicoff (Rhoda), of Naperville, IL, five grandchildren, Jolene (Collin) Szewczyk of Glenwood Springs, CO, Myles (Laura) Melnicoff of Albany, NY, Sari Melnicoff of Oakland, CA, Trevor Melnicoff of New York City, and Jessica Melnicoff of Asheville, NC, and four great-grandchildren, Shneur, Simcha, and Chana Wendy Melnicoff, and Asher Szewczyk.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr Samuel G Melnicoff, and her son Paul Melnicoff (Melanie).

A memorial service was held at 11:00 Monday, July 29th at Temple Beth El. Interment was in the Hebrew Cemetery of Charlotte.

For those wishing to send memorial gifts, please consider Hadassah (https://www.hadassah.org/donate), or Jewish Family Services of Greater Charlotte (https://jfscharlotte.org/donate/).