Madeline passed away at age 96 leaving her son, Rabbi Jeff Foust and his wife Ellen, of Boston, plus her grandchildren David and Erica Foust.
An educator’s educator, innovator, and make-it-happen person, Madeline Foust was confirmed from the Cleveland Jewish Center (the future Park Synagogue) in 1938 at age 15.
Not long afterwards she opened up the synagogue’s first pre-school branch in Cleveland Heights, and then went on to first become a highly successful primary school teacher and then university professor and then high powered educational consultant for Cleveland developing and implementing a self-rule concept offering schools opportunities for creativity and innovation while keeping a common budget formula.
In the Jewish community she managed teacher training and curriculum development both for the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies and Park Synagogue. She also was a mid-western regional president for Brandeis Women (now Brandeis National Committee) and active with their national board.
After retirement and moving to Tampa Florida she twice won a Jewish Woman of the Year Award, once for her work as president of the Tampa Towers Senior Living Complex and again for being instrumental in starting a new temple in Tampa Palms.
She also was an active board member of Temple Rodeph Shalom for several years and helped start a Brandeis Women’s chapter in Tampa. She also was a lead volunteer at St Joseph’s Hospital for assisting patients coming in for outpatient surgery plus a longtime usher at Tampa’s Performing Arts Center.
If you would like to make a contribution in her memory, you can send it to Park Synagogue for the Este Braun Rabbinic Scholarship Fund or to a charity of your choice.
Funeral services will be held at BERKOWITZ-KUMIN-BOOKATZ MEMORIAL CHAPEL, 1985 S. TAYLOR RD., CLEVELAND HTS., on Sunday, February 10, 2019 at 2:00 PM.
Burial will follow at Bet Olam Cemetery, 25796 Chagrin Blvd in Beachwood, Ohio.
The family will receive friends SUNDAY FOLLOWING BURIAL at the residence of David and Debra Sterling, 26610 Hendon Rd., Beachwood.
To view these services at 2 PM Sunday please navigate to www.bkbmc.com/smallchapel.
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