Josephine "Jo" Abrams

Known by most as Jo. Known by extended family as “Josie,” and known by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as “Gwama, Gwamala and Bubbe Jo,” Josephine passed away on June 19, 2023 at the age of 98. At the time of her death she was living at the Jewish assisted living facility, Heritage Pointe, in Mission Viejo, California. Jo moved there in January 2022 in order to be closer to her daughters in California. She had never lived outside of Manhattan before her move.

Jo was born on April 24,1925 in New York City. She was the only child of Fruma Basha Shundrovsky from Slonim, Poland, and Sasha Tschechow from Odessa, Russia. They lived first in the Bronx and then moved to Washington Heights. Fruma, who changed her name to Florence when she came to America, was a clothing designer and seamstress. Sasha, who was known as Alexander, was a cabinet maker and spent most of his time fighting for the Union and helping to develop the Workman’s Circle organization, which was instrumental in supporting Jews settling in New York. Florence was a Socialist and Alexander an Anarchist. Jo grew up immersed in political ideology, discourse and argument, which informed her own beliefs as an atheist and political activist throughout her lifetime.

Although they were always struggling to make ends meet, Jo was given acting, dancing, singing, piano and elocution lessons from a young age. She was a performer at heart. As a young girl she appeared on radio shows and dreamed of a life in the theater.

Jo met Marvin Abrams when she was 14 years old. A couple of years later, Marv went off to fight Hitler in Europe. After the war, at the age of 21, Jo married Marvin and they moved in with her parents in Washington Heights. Some years later they all moved together to 949 West End Ave., a large apartment where Jo and Marv started their family. Lea Carla was born in 1956 and Ruth Ann in 1960.

During the 1950s and 1960s Jo and Marv were active in politics. They worked on Adlai Stevenson’s campaign and worked to elect John F. Kennedy for president. They marched for civil rights bringing their children along with them. Jo’s creative spirit and love of family rituals motivated her to write her own Passover Haggadah which she shared with many friends and family and which we are still using today as a family.

Jo worked for Columbia Pictures in the publicity department and became the Union treasurer. She then moved on to NBC, when television took hold as the primary entertainment medium in the late 1940s. She spent 10 years getting her college degree and then her master’s in education. In the early 1960s Jo became a teacher. For the rest of her working life she taught elementary and junior high school, was a reading specialist and guidance counselor, and taught aspiring teachers at both Teacher’s College at Columbia and the City College of New York.

Jo’s first husband, Marvin, died in 1970. Many years later, at the age of 78, Jo married Herman Gruder (Hy) and she moved from the Upper West Side to the East Village.

Jo was involved with the Friends of Yiddish, a group dedicated to preserving the language and culture of Yiddish and became an active member of the Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus. When her husband, Hy, was suffering from Alzheimer’s they both joined the Untouchables Chorus, for Alzehiemer’s sufferers and their spouses and caregivers. She was an active member of the 14th Street Y, where she volunteered in the Early Childhood program and was known as “Bubbe Jo.”

Jo was beloved by so many. For some, she was a mother figure. For others, a mentor. She was intensely loyal, a formidable conversationalist and devoted mother, grandmother, great grandmother and mother-in-law. Until her last moments, Jo was singing, dancing and extending herself for the people she loved. She is survived by her daughters, Lea and Ruth, her granddaughters Maggie and Eva, their spouses Scott, Claude, Will and Kare and her two great grandchildren Malcolm and Julia. She will be sorely missed.