Beatrice Nemzer

Died

NEMZER--Beatrice, passed away peacefully after a brief illness and surrounded by her children on April 18, 2019. She was just shy of her 92nd birthday. Born Beatrice Kramer on May 27, 1927, in Brooklyn, she is the last surviving of the five children of Hyman and Fanny Kramer. "Shebby" Kramer grew up immersed in a sprawling network of extended family and friends in Bensonhurst, with summers spent with her family in Belle Harbor. She attended New York City public schools, New Utrecht High School, and graduated Brooklyn College in December 1948. "We thought we'd change the world" she would often say of her college days. She began her career in social work in several Jewish social service agencies in New York, and would reminisce (a favorite pastime of hers) of those times of protests, hootenannies, and rent strikes. Beatrice married charming Roland Nemzer in 1953. They had three children, Dorothy, Joshua, and Adam. Although Shebby was a lifelong New Yorker, not long after her beloved Brooklyn Dodgers left so did she, decamping to Norwalk, Connecticut, to raise her family. She did do so with brio creating a household of warmth and fun, parties and holidays. She continued her professional career, serving as Executive Director of the Norwalk Jewish Community Council from 1965 to 1976, earning a Masters of Social Work degree from Hunter College in 1975, and then serving as a Professor of Social Work (and later Department Chair) at Western Connecticut State University. She loved helping her students and working with her colleagues at WesConn. Beatrice and Roland divorced at the end of the 1960s. But she "kept the family together" at the house on Ledgewood Drive amidst the turmoil of that era, while fully embracing the civil rights, feminism, and social justice causes riveting the nation. In 1975, Bea married Bernard Kabacoff, and they lived happily for nearly forty years. Bernie and his three children, Deena, Larry, and Rob, together with Bea and her three kids, formed a robust family unit, producing eight grandchildren, a budding crop of great-grandchildren, and many a Chanukah party or other celebration. Beatrice was predeceased by her two husbands, many suitors from her younger days, her beloved siblings Edie, Ruthie, Budgie, and in 2018 Milton at age 99, as well as her very special niece Jeannie and cousin Maishie. She is survived by her children and step-children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, her closest friend Annette Roth, and her abiding belief in equality and justice, family and roots. She voted for Henry A. Wallace in 1948, loved Paul Newman, wore a mean kaftan, drank Tab when it was around, was always up for a Broadway show, and was once voted (as the story goes) "Miss Subway." In her final days some referred to her as Queen Bea. The Queen of our hearts. Shtill and shtetl.

Source: The New York Times

Published on: 26-04-2019