Gladys Reydman

Born to Samuel and Ethel Berger, Gladys was an outsized personality in a diminutive body. She was, at her core, the uninitiated embodiment of many things that religion and the enlightened try to teach to humanity-unconditional love, compassion, fairness, laughter and honesty.

An original thinker, Gladys was ahead of her time in countless ways. Long before "going green" became commonplace, she lived with deep respect for the earth and all its creatures. She believed every living thing deserved kindness—even the ants that visited her kitchen each spring. Rather than destroy them, she would leave out a bit of food during the day and gently shoo them back into the crack in the molding each evening. Resourceful and endlessly inventive, she delighted in creating clever gadgets and practical solutions. Gladys was happiest at the water, especially the Atlantic ocean where she grew up which she said was the "best ocean".

She was a force, and most who met her didn't soon forget her. She was a native born New Yorker and proud of her very modest beginnings in NYC and Long Island. She earned a degree in Sociology from Penn State and promptly left to live in Paris for 2 years with her sister to study French at the Sorbonne. She spoke about that time in her life often and was proud of herself that she worked the summers to pay for the boat passage to Europe.

Gladys Reydman lived life on her terms until the very end. She couldn't have done it any other way, it’s simply who she was.

A Funeral Service will be held at Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz 1985 South Taylor Road Cleveland Heights, OH 44118 on Wednesday, July 1, 2026 at 1:00 pm.

A Committal Service will follow at Mt. Sinai, 6575 White Road, Mayfield, OH 44143, US, on July 1, 2026.

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