Albany - Evelyn Silverman Cohen, 105, passed away on Friday December 20, 2024 at Albany Medical Center. Born in Detroit, Michigan she is the daughter of the late Louis and Fannie Silverman.

Evelyn is survived by her devoted son, Shem Cohen; and her grandchildren, Elana Cohen and Raphael Cohen. She is also survived by a host of nieces and nephews.

Funeral services for Evelyn will be held on Sunday December 22nd at 1:00 pm at Ohav Shalom Cemetery (Western Ave. Section)1620 Western Ave. in Guilderland. The services will be livestreamed and can be viewed on The Levine Memorial Facebook Page by "Liking" the page. 

A complete obituary will be posted here at a later time.

 

Eulogy by her son Shem Cohen:

Think of the last 100 years.  Draw that timeline of history in your mind’s eye.  Born just after WWI and the Spanish Flu, just when women were granted to right to vote… she watched silent movies evolve to talkies… reached childhood during the Great Depression… came into adulthood during WWII and the Shoa, the founding of the Jewish State of Israel… lived through McCarthyism, the cultural revolution and renaissance of the 60’s… the birth and explosion of technology…

These were the times that defined the broader story of my mom’s life, a life she lived with incredible faith, courageousness, hope… and a deep dedication to continuing the traditions past to her from her parents, Jewish immigrants from  the Ukraine who fled the shtetels as the Cossacks pillaged and burned their farms and villages and left to journey into a completely unknown future. 

My mom took that tenacity, strength, hope, love of life, family and Jewish traditions forward as not mere spoken values and ideas, but as the very fabric of her being and compass of her life.

 Core to her being was compassion and Gmilut Chasidim, always… always showing up to help those in need, caring for those who were sick, working tirelessly for charities and doing whatever she could to support the new Jewish homeland in any ways she could.

Her destiny brought her to a life of being a single mom in a time when this was not so common, and raising a child on her own, working multiple jobs and still serving as President of her Hadassah Business and Professional group supporting the establishment and development of Hadassah Hospital, and saving religiously for purely giving Tzedakah.  She considered it one of her great accomplishments to have saved and contributed enough to have her name on a small plaque on a wall at Hadassah Hospital.  When she was finally able to make a trip to Israel and saw that small plaque with her name on it… knowing full well it  wasn’t a new wing or fancy new medical equipment or any other big machar symbol, it was enough to know that she accomplished a dream to have contributed enough to make even a small difference for the better.

My mom defined her life through what she could offer the world, the people whose lot she could make better in any ways she could, the social justice she could nurture forward, and the communities she could strengthen. 

My mom loved music and the arts.  I was raised going to symphonies, art museums, theater, operas and especially the ballets – but only the best… whenever the Russian Ballet came to the Kennedy Center in DC, we were there… We saw Baryshnikov and Nureyev and so many others… every time a wonderful milestone for her to have saved enough to make that experience of being part of the highest form of expression of the art. 

Raised in the times she was raised the girls weren’t educated in Hebrew… that was for the boys- and she was determined to change that. In her mid-70s she went to classes and had her bat-mitzvah, another milestone in her life, reading parts of the Shabbat service, and reading from the Torah.

She loved me, her son, with all of her heart, and her grandchildren with all her soul. She was all her nieces’ and nephews favorite aunt because of her zest for life, love of being in joy, love of her family, and having fun. Her zest for life was clear in all she did, from preparing family meals for Pesach to, in her mid 80s playing baseball with her grandkids in the backyard.

Wherever she went, she was noted for her integrity, discipline and commitment to giving every ounce of energy to what mattered. When she retired after 35 years with the same firm as a bookkeeper, the words, respect, and appreciation for  the person she was, was apparent by firm leaders during her retirement celebration, and who continued to call her for over 20 years with their best wishes on the new year and her birthdays. Even in the nursing home, she was president of the resident association.

My mom, Evelyn/Chava Cohen was an incredible force of goodwill in the world, and did in fact, make the world a better place. May her memory be a blessing.