Madeline Park Dreifus

Madeline Dreifus passed away peacefully at the age of 80, from heart failure, on the evening of June 16, 2026, in New York. She was born in Brooklyn in 1946 to Rose T. and Frank Park, who divorced soon thereafter; Rose raised Madeline and older brother Joel with the steadfast support of her own sisters and father.

After graduating from Erasmus Hall High School, Madeline entered Brooklyn College. In her sophomore year, she was introduced -- by Joel's then-girlfriend, Alexis -- to Alexis's classmate Charles Dreifus at what is now Baruch College. Madeline and Charlie married after earning bachelor's degrees in 1966, and Madeline began teaching elementary school in Brooklyn while Charlie started full-time graduate studies.

By 1969 Madeline had left teaching to become a stay-at-home mother to daughter Erika; daughter Joanna arrived in 1972. In 1978 the young family moved from Sheepshead Bay to Short Hills, New Jersey, where Madeline became a "professional volunteer," attending to not only her own household and aging relatives but also myriad organizations that mattered to her deeply, including her daughters' schools; The Arc of Essex County/Stepping Stones, which also motivated her return to graduate studies at Kean College (now University), where she earned a master's degree in special education; EIES of New Jersey; Grotta Center for Senior Care; National Council of Jewish Women; and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now Union for Reform Judaism). Her most profound and long-lasting community commitment was to Temple B'nai Jeshurun of Short Hills, where she chaired too many committees, held too many titles, and rendered too many quiet services to enumerate. In later years, she relished becoming a grandmother and helped raise Joanna's children in Manhattan.

In addition to her devoted husband of 60 years Charlie Dreifus, daughters Erika Dreifus and Joanna Dreifus (Ira Rosenfeld) and grandchildren Rachel Weisburst and Samuel Weisburst, she is survived by the children and grandchildren of her brother and sister-in-law Joel and Alexis Park -- both of whom predeceased her -- and many loving cousins. Both in her family of birth and the one she married into, she was everyone's favorite relative. She was a cherished friend, advisor, and champion for many others who will miss her deeply and the exceptional soul who routinely brightened strangers' days with a warm smile and kind word.

A Funeral Service will be held at Temple B'nai Jeshurun, 1025 S Orange Avenue, Short Hills, New Jersey 07078, on June 19, 2026, beginning at 10:30 am.

Generous to the end, she requested those wishing to honor her memory to support the Educational Alliance, the Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges (NJ), Temple B'nai Jeshurun of Short Hills, or the Wiener Family Palliative Care Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital.