Bertha Olian Hurwitz, widow of Sidney Hurwitz, departed this world surrounded by her family and friends on June 8, 2018. She was born April 25, 1924 in St. Louis, MO. and is survived by her daughter, Linda Holman, her son, Mark Hurwitz, and her granddaughter, Susie Hurwitz.
Bertha was always a woman with vision. She and her husband became members of Temple Beth Israel when they arrived in Austin in the 1970’s, where she was honored for bringing 150 new members to the Congregation while she served as Membership Chairman and as well as serving as the Social Chairman. She was also a member of the Texas Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, American Cancer Society, and as the Program Chairman for the Austin Chapter of Hadassah. As a past President and Regional Officer of the Texas Music Clubs, past President of the Delphian Literary Society, and a member of the Lioness Club, she was active and gave many speeches to civic organizations.
She was no less driven as a business woman. She was the Vice President of the Hurwitz Man’s Shop that she and her husband owned and later became very successful in real estate. She received accolades such as Salesperson of the Year for bringing in more than $1,000,000 in sales and Salesperson of the month several other times. She always claimed that her greatest joy was matching families to their homes. She received letters for years afterwards from these families telling her how much she touched their lives.
The family would like to thank Hospice Austin and say a special thank you to Diana Hood and the three wonderful young ladies, Esperanza Quintero, Emily Culbertson-Hagan, and Yvette Arrambide, who made her last days the best they could have been.
Services will be graveside at 11:00 a.m., Thursday June 14th at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Cemetery in Pflugerville, Texas. Pallbearers will be Craig Hurwitz, Mark Salmanson, Jack Joseph, Christian and Collin Hagan, Kurt Barker, Matthew Levitt, and Junior Quintero.
Please visit www.cookwaldencapitalparks.com to leave an online condolence or share a memory with Bertha's family.
