Nellie Shek

Nellie Shek 83, of Queens Village, died Tuesday, January 17th of Alzheimer’s disease. Her funeral ceremony and interment were held on Thursday, January 19th. Nellie was born February 5th, 1928 in Havana, Cuba to the late Isaac Warszavsky and Berta Rumianik. Her beloved stepfather, the late Jaime Novomodi, always referred to her as “the daughter of my heart”. In 1948, she married her childhood sweetheart Sidney Shek in Havana, after Sidney had recovered from wounds he received in action during World War II in Europe. After their wedding, Nellie and Sidney lived briefly in Brooklyn, NY and then moved to Queens Village where they raised three sons. Theirs was a loving and joyful marriage, which ended when Sidney succumbed, in 1997, to illness related to his military service. Nellie and Sidney’s sons - Charles, a social worker, William, a veterinarian, and Mitchell, a dermatologist - credit their accomplishments to Nellie’s love, hard-work and fierce determination to assure that they had opportunities not available to her in depression-era Cuba. Nellie was fluent in three languages including her native Spanish, Yiddish learned as child and English learned after moving to America. During her life she worked as a teacher’s aide, a seamstress and a sales representative for Nina Shoes. Nellie’s lifelong devotion to her family, friends and community were legendary. She served several terms as president of the Bell Park Jewish Center sisterhood, and she volunteered at a local hospital. Nellie was honored on many occasions for her service to the Jewish community and in thanks for her volunteer work. Because she was always present in times of need, Nellie will be irreplaceable as mother, grandmother, neighbor and friend. Her everlasting humor, beauty, energy, passion, strength and love will be deeply missed by those who survive her including her sister Sarah Lehman, her sons, their wives Myroon, Jill and Norma and her grandchildren Joshua, Max, Alex, Denise and Debra.

Contributions in the memory of Nellie Shek may be made to any of the following:

Taub Institute Columbia University Medical

CenterATTN: Dr. Richard Mayeux

630 West 168th Street,

P&S Box 16

New York, NY 10032

212-305-2391

https://giving.columbia.edu/giveonline/

Bell Park Jewish Center

231-10 Hillside Avenue

Queens Village, NY 11427

718- 464-9144

ATTN: DEVELOPMENT DEPT.

Alzheimer's Association

New York City Chapter

360 Lexington Avenue, 4th Floor

New York, New York 10017

http://www.alz.org/nyc/