Arlene J Furst. Born in Brooklyn, New York on June 9, 1930, to Aaron and Freida Mark. Mom really didn't have a middle name and what the J stood for is somewhat of a mystery. Sometimes she’d say it was June, sometimes she’d say it was Junior. I guess it will have to be left to our imaginations. She grew up living in Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. Mom had one older sister, Trudy, who was 5 years older than her. They were always close and had a beautiful loving relationship until the time Trudy passed away in 2010.
Her hard working father Aaron Mark owned a small mom and pop grocery store, which they lived in an apartment above the store. The grocery store was open 7 days a week and Aaron and Freida took turns and took separate vacations…show more content… We?) lived a happy life in Dayton, constantly entertaining with lots of their life long Dayton friends and spent a lot of time with family, in Dayton with my mom’s cousin Martins family, in Cincinnati with the Hodesh Family, the Schulman family, the Greenberg family, and Shor family where many of my dad’s cousins lived, and often traveling to visit mom’s and dad’s siblings in Massachusetts and California and my dad’ss cousins in Florida. The Furst and my mother’s sister’s family were very close and went on vacations together and visited each other in the summers.
Staying in touch with and spending time with family was of great importance, and my parents were the glue that brought all their families together. Anyone that was in anyway related to them was close family.
Jewish life was an integral part of our parents’ lives. Summers were spent at the JCC, swimming, playing tennis, and catching up with friends. Beth Abraham’s synagogue was a huge part of my parents’ lives. They went regularly for Shabbat services until our dad’s death. Also every Friday night, my mom prepared a feast for Shabbat dinner and she always invited welcomed friends and family to join us for dinner and the Jewish holidays. Mom was a gracious hostess making sure everyone had enough to eat and always encouraging everyone to eat and enjoy.…show more content… And to Felice, being a tremendous source of support (transitions/focuses on Felice)
The most special thanks goes out to my sister, Felice, who was devoted to caring for mom, making sure that her life everyday was well cared for since my (our? or omit) dad’s passing was special. Felice became involved learning about Alzheimer’s and shared weekly (updates?) with a support group of strangers and became a source of strength and knowledge to our family and her support group in need of knowledge and direction
Finally, on a personal note, one big thing I will miss is sharing with my mom pictures of the beauty of nature that I would show her on my phone and computer, and it would always put a huge smile on her face. I know that through these words I've shared with you showed the beauty that shined though her all her life. May her memory be a blessing to all that knew her. Amen.
