Edith Catler

Edith Catler died on Simchat Torah, Sunday, October 4, 2026, 23 Tishrei 5787, at the age of 93 after a short illness. She is survived by her husband of 72 years Marvin Catler; her children Susan Catler (Keith Secular), James Catler, and Jane (Roger) Nober; her grandchildren Abraham, Deborah (Yovel Amir), and Ruth Secular, and William (Mary Quiroga), Benjamin, and Andrew Nober; and her sister Nancy Raphael. She was predeceased by her parents Max and Doris Starr, her brother Sherman, and her sister Phoebe Sharaf.

Edith Carol Starr was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the third of four children. She grew up in Brookline, and graduated from Brookline High School and Wheaton College. She met Marvin Catler when they were in high school. They married less than a week after she graduated from college, when Marvin was in the US Army, training in Baltimore. She moved to Baltimore, and then to Frankfurt, Germany, where he was posted during the Korean War. They traveled throughout Europe while he was in the service, and returned to the Boston area when he was discharged. After living a year in the Boston area, where Susan was born, they moved to Connecticut, where Jim and Jane were born.

They lived in West Hartford for more than 50 years. While in West Hartford, Edith was active in many volunteer organizations. She served as president of the local chapter of the American Jewish Congress, was active in the PTA, and led a Girl Scout Troop. For the Greater Hartford Jewish Federation, she refused to work for the Women's Division, and instead was the only woman to head another division for many years. At Temple Beth Israel, she was on the Board and led the Social Action Committee, spearheading the synagogue's project to sponsor a family of Hmong refugees. Through her leadership of their Community Relations Committee, the Town & County Club established a fund to provide scholarships to adult women seeking to pursue higher education.

She was also politically active, working on local election campaigns and get-out-the-vote efforts. She served on the Democratic Town Committee for many years, was appointed a Justice of the Peace, and was a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Edith became athletic as an adult. She played tennis and rode a bicycle until she injured her knee. She then began swimming to strengthen the knee and avoid surgery - more than a mile a day of the crawl. Later she took up walking and running, running five miles a day for years. Even in her later years, when she couldn't see well enough to walk and run outside, she walked in circles around their apartment, over a mile a day at a brisk pace.

After Marvin retired, they spent many years moving four times a year - summer on the South Shore of Massachusetts, spring and fall in West Hartford, and winter in Florida. They eventually sold the Connecticut house and only moved twice a year, between Nantasket Beach and Sarasota. In 2019, they moved to Sarasota full-time. In 2025, they moved to Rockville. Living in Ring House, they enjoyed the music and lectures, and being close to their children.

To make a contribution in memory of Edith Catler to Charles E. Smith Life Communities or to Tifereth Israel