Bessie Bloomfield

Cherished daughter of the late David and Anna Shuster. Beloved wife of the late Morty; Loving mother of Ira (wife Peggy), and Alan (wife Andrea). Cherished grandmother of Jennifer Hinderliter (husband Justin), and Michael Bloomfield. Great grandmother to Elke and Ian Hinderliter. Beloved sister to the late Gertrude (Trudy) Gershoff (husband Alvin), and aunt to Walter Gershoff (wife Carmen), Gary Gershoff (wife Angela), Ilene Halpern, and Jeffrey Eisenberg. Great aunt to Ashley, Eric, Joshua, Alexis, Anna & Clara Gershoff, Ashley and Brooke Halpern.

Bess was a good friend to many from her days in Beech Hills – Queens to her last few years at Gurwin Residences - Commack, and Sunrise Assisted Living - East Meadow. Her greatest gift was her family. Her legacy of the relationships she maintained between so many friends and family will survive her for years to come.

Bess and Morty, despite living on a modest income, lived a wonderful life together including many trips with friends and family all over the world. Her sons particularly a remember a summer long trip around the country which included fishing on the Cannon River, in Northfield, Minnesota, Yellowstone National Park, the Petrified Forest, the Grand Canyon, the Badlands, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. We also spent a summer in San Diego, and took trips to Niagara Falls, Europe, Israel and more. They also provided Ira and Alan with wonderful memories of two extraordinary Bar Mitzvahs.

Bess and Morty were very active in their local temple, with Bess becoming sisterhood president and Morty vice president of the Marathon Jewish Community Center. Bess received an award from the State of Israel for her fundraising work.

Later in life she started working at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, in Kings Point, as an administrative assistant and grew her responsibilities to eventually become the first “woman” head of administration at the Academy. During her time at the Academy, she met personally with Colin Powell and received a letter of thanks for her work from Vice President Dan Quayle.

Both her sons credit their acceptance into college and graduate school to her writing ability and editing of their essays. She was very proud of both sons, sending Ira to medical school and Alan to law school. Whenever they came home for a visit, they always craved a dish of her famous stuffed cabbage, chopped liver and sweet and sour meatballs.

The last several years in assisted living were particularly hard for Bess, especially after she suffered a stroke in 2019 and Covid in 2020. Her investment in her family and friends was reciprocated many times over as Ira and Alan channeled her and Morty’s strong work ethic and took a laser focus to her care and support, giving her much reassurance and peace. She was surrounded by wonderful and loving teams of doctors, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, home health aides and more. Everyone who cared for Bess commented on her will and fight to live, and to improve and progress with both a smile and a thank you. She was blessed to be able to remain at the assisted living level for her entire journey.

May her memory be a blessing

We will be sitting Shiva at the Hilton Garden in, in Westbury, 1575 Privado Road, Westbury, NY 11590, on Tuesday, from our return from the cemetery at about 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM, and on Wednesday and Thursday, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM.