Frieda B. Kohn

Frieda Briskin Kohn was born on December 16, 1930 to Mollie and Jake Briskin of Port Washington, WI. Beloved wife of Harris for 64 years, cherished daughter-in-law of the late Florence and Bob Kohn, loving mother of Bill (Janet), Steve, and Carolyn (Jeff), adoring grandmother of Ida (Ezra), Joshua, Sam, Ari, and Shira. Sister of the late Rae (Mel) Kramer, and sister-in-law of Richard and Lila Kohn. Loving aunt of Helene (Mark) Olefsky, Lenore (Dale) Shagrin, Paul (Marcia) Kramer, Lori Kohn, and Julie Walden. Fond machatunim of Barb and Al Winick, and Lee and (the late) Mel Blum. Frieda passed on July 13, after having valiantly fought to maintain good health since she underwent a liver transplant 35 years ago at the Mayo Clinic.

Though Frieda was outwardly reserved, she was always quietly determined, making her way from Port Washington, to the University of Wisconsin, to a job in market research with the Toni company at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. After marrying and having kids, Frieda worked as a full-time substitute teacher at the grade school attended by her children, Jamieson School, and continued to teach there for years after her kids had moved on to high school, college, and beyond. After she and Harris moved to Buffalo Grove from the city, Frieda stopped teaching and became very involved in Hadassah.

Family – immediate, extended, and the close friends she also considered to be family - was everything to Frieda. She stayed incredibly close with her many Wausau and Milwaukee cousins and made sure that her kids considered all their kids to be family as well. She felt so blessed to see her children marry and welcome her five wonderful grandchildren into the world. She was not certain she would live to witness all these events when she was diagnosed with a serious liver disease around 1980.

She was fortunate to be able to receive a liver transplant in 1988. Though the procedure at that time was fraught, Frieda was determined to stick around. She simply had too much unfinished family business to attend to, and with the help of wonderful doctors, her devoted family, and more recently, her dedicated caregiver Lourdes (Lou) Quim, she did so with great determination and focus. The strength of her spirit far outweighed her slight stature and outshone her soft-spoken demeanor. She was dearly loved, is already deeply missed, and will forever occupy a space front and center in our hearts.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Hadassah (hadassah.org) or Be The Match (bethematch.org).