Miriam Minkoff

Miriam, known to her family and friends as Mimi, was born on November 20, 1934, to Louis and Florence Price. The oldest of four children, she grew up in Somerville, MA., and often helped to take care of her 3 younger brothers (Allan, Barry and Stephen).

Starting in high school Mimi enjoyed acting in radio plays and theater. Mimi met her husband Robert (Bob) on a blind date while she was still in high school and he was attending Harvard Dental School. After the two year wait required by her father, Mimi and Bob were married in Boston in June of 1954. Their incredible bond and marriage of nearly 70 years is legendary for its strength and commitment. Mimi and Bob navigated life's ups and downs together in the most devoted way imaginable. It often seemed that they existed in their own world of two.

Mimi attended Simmons College for a while before Bob was drafted during the Korean War.

They then moved to Rolla, Missouri, where Bob was stationed with the Army. After Bob's military service, they moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Mimi completed her Bachelor's degree in journalism and Bob did his dental residency, both at the University of Michigan. Mimi often told the story of interviewing Eleanor Roosevelt and Madame Chiang Kai-shek while a journalism student at UM.

In 1959, Michelle, the oldest of their three daughters, was born in Ann Arbor. After Bob completed his residency, they moved back to the Boston area where Bob set up an orthodontic practice and their daughters Gail and Susan were born. During this time, the young family enjoyed summers at their house on Cape Cod. In the mid 1970's the family spent two years in California when Bob took his first faculty position at UCLA. They then settled in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for about 10 years. Bob became faculty in the Dental School at UNC, and Mimi took a job as an administrative assistant at the brand new Lineberger Cancer Center also at UNC. While at the Cancer

Center Mimi helped ensure that the administrators, researchers, students and postdocs had the support they needed to succeed. In 1984 Mimi and Bob moved to Houston where they would spend the next 34 years. Mimi's career took off during their time in Houston with Mimi working first as a development director at the Kelsey Seybold Medical Clinic, and then as a grants manager at the non-profit Swalm Foundation. Mimi was a passionate advocate for the disadvantaged and so her work at Swalm matched well with her personality and beliefs. She loved her work traveling all around the state of Texas visiting organizations which had applied for funding from the Foundation. Mimi and Bob spent several pleasant years in retirement in Houston before moving in 2018 to Agoura Hills, California. Later in life Mimi always talked enthusiastically about how much she enjoyed working, especially during their time in Houston. Her most passionate life's work, however, was taking care of her family to which she was entirely devoted.

Mimi and Bob enjoyed attending cultural events: art museums, foreign films, chamber music and orchestral concerts, and most notably the Houston Grand Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. Mimi and Bob instilled their love of the arts in their children and grandchildren as well. Mimi was an avid and wide reader, often reading several books at once, and she kept active and fit her whole life. Mimi loved children and doted on her four grandchildren. She had a friendly, open, and welcoming presence that made others feel seen and appreciated. She was a uniquely strong and optimistic person who absolutely refused to focus on the negative. Mimi is greatly missed by her surviving relatives, her husband Bob, her brother Allan and his wife Carol, her brother Stephen and his wife Susan, her three children: Michelle and her husband Bob, Gail, and Susan and her husband John, and her four grandchildren Westy, Sydney, Samuel and Max, and, as she often remarked, her several granddogs.

A funeral service for Miriam will be held Saturday, September 2, 2023 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Griffin Mortuary, 5600 Lindero Canyon Rd., Westlake Village, CA.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.piercebrothersvalleyoaks.com for the Minkoff family.