Judith Joan Citron Liebman passed away early Saturday, May 16, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was born in Middletown, Connecticut, on January 19th, 1931, to Jacob and Bessie (Treager) Citron. She left Middletown to attend nursing school at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, earning a nursing certificate so she could work her way through the BSN program at Simmons College.
She loved Boston, spending her free time riding a bicycle through the city and attending Red Sox games at Fenway Park. She often told a story about renting a sailboat on the Charles River and getting stuck under a bridge.
She met her husband, Jerome Liebman, at Beth Israel, where he noticed her thick, curly auburn hair and she noticed how funny he was. After their 1955 marriage, they spent five years shuttling between Cleveland and Boston while Jerry did residencies in pediatrics and cardiology.
After moving to Cleveland permanently in 1960, she brought up her four children, Joanne, Matthew, Laura, and Amy, in Cleveland Heights. There, with Jerry, she had a circle of friends met through Case Western Reserve University and activities in Democratic and liberal politics. She and her friends walked around the Shaker Lakes for many years, usually ending with a gigantic breakfast at Tommy’s on Coventry. In the mid-90s, Jerry and Judy downsized to a beautiful wooded glen in South Euclid along Euclid Creek Reservation. In 2014, they moved to Judson.
Manor in University Circle, to a lovely apartment overlooking the Cleveland Museum of Art lagoon, Severance Hall, and the CWRU campus.
She gave up nursing to raise her children but returned to school at CWRU for two master’s degrees, one in medical library science in 1975, and one in public health nursing in 1979. She then worked for the Visiting Nurse Association as a public health nurse and for CWRU as a research assistant studying rheumatoid arthritis. Her final position was at Menorah Park where she coordinated training for other nurses.
She was a good athlete and played basketball in high school. She loved trying new things, somehow mixing a great sense of adventure with an inordinately heightened sense of caution. She started the family skiing, taking a night class through the Plain Dealer at Boston Mills Ski “Resort” outside Cleveland. In the summers, she encouraged the family to start camping, and they loaded up their huge Dodge station wagon with every piece of equipment imaginable so they could camp in style. In the mid-80s, Judy convinced her husband to purchase a second home in Sanibel Island, Fl., with little money down. The condominium in Sanibel became a wonderful place to host three-generational gatherings of her far-flung family, including her children’s spouses, Charles Matson, Amy Michelson, and Chris Waychoff; seven grandchildren, Cameron and Jared Matson, Sarah Liebman, Danil Liebman, and Kathryn, Kelly, and James Waychoff; and nieces and nephews on both the Liebman and Citron sides.
She was a curious person and an avid reader, joining book groups and study groups. She loved non-fiction history, especially true-life disaster books by Erik Larson. The most recent books that she raved about were the Boys on the Boat and the Color of Water, whose author James McBride she met at a book signing. She loved classical and show music, played piano, and encouraged her children to play music and sing. Her grandchildren are following in this tradition.
Judith was energetic, persistent, and smart. She was always thinking and coming up with creative new ideas. She loved laughing, entertainment, and music. She was also a social activist, active in the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War, advocating for fair housing policies, and strongly supporting funding for public schools in the Cleveland area. She was involved in the Social Action Committee of her congregation, Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beechwood, Ohio, in the Cleveland area.
Jerry and Judy travelled the world, often as part of international conferences in Pediatric Cardiology. Her favorite country to visit was Japan, where she last visited in 2004. Mom had a wonderful fashion sense and was known for wearing colorful scarves.
In her later years, she cared for Jerry, who predeceased her in 2016.
The family has been grateful for the wonderful care and friendship provided by Kendal at Home staff and associates Katie Tipton, Renade Freeman, and Lynn Hinkle. We appreciate the compassionate treatment and concern we received from the doctors, nurses, and staff at University Hospitals and the Judson Park Health Center over these last nine weeks.
Donations in her memory should go to the Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio: https://www.vnaohio.org/support
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Planning
Service on Monday, May 18, 2 pm Eastern time, interment following
Shiva led by Rabbi Barry Block, of Congregation B’Nai Israel, in Little Rock, AR -- 7 pm Central time Monday, May 18
Shiva led by Rabbi Mike Rothbaum of Congregation Beth Elohim, Acton, MA -- 7 pm Eastern time Tuesday, May 19
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