LENORE ZISLIN nee LEVINE
June 16, 1929-November 17, 2021
Our beautiful, loving mother and grandmother, Lenore L. Zislin of San Mateo, CA, passed peacefully on Wednesday November 17th at the age of 92. In the week prior to her passing she was surrounded by love and family.
Born in Troy, NY, Lenore was the daughter of the late Sara and Louis Levine. She attended Lansingburgh High School, where she was affectionately known as “Lee.” She later attended Mildred Elley Business School in Albany.
Lenore married her beloved husband Stanley in 1955 and moved to Clifton, NJ, where they had 2 daughters, Linda and Jan. Stanley died unexpectedly in 1965 and even though this was a sudden and tremendous loss, Lenore was determined to be a present and supportive parent. She embraced life, independence and creativity, and fostered the same spirit in her daughters by taking them to museums, on ski trips, and shopping in Greenwich Village. She always said her greatest success was raising Linda and Jan.
In 1988, Lenore decided to move to Northern California to be closer to Linda and her husband Bob, and enjoy a lifestyle rich with culture, nature and activities that the area afforded her. Lenore took great pride and joy in her 2 granddaughters, Sari and Jordan. She loved playing with them, taking them to tea, teaching them to ice skate, and being present at all their school and sport activities. She always looked forward to the yearly family outings to the Half Moon Bay pumpkin patch.
Though Lenore was a bookkeeper, she was known for her artistic talent from a very early age. Throughout her life, she expressed this passion through painting, sewing, interior design, flower arranging, and her wonderful sense of fashion. In the 1990’s, she started a company, Le Sari, creating and selling personalized gift baskets. When she moved to Rossmoor, a retirement community in Walnut Creek, CA, she took up ceramics and jewelry making with great zeal, selling many of her pieces. Lenore was also famous for her brisket, chopped liver, Claremont Salad and mandelbrodt.
Lenore lived a full and accomplished life. We celebrate her love of laughter and sense of adventure, which she instilled in her children and grandchildren. We remember how much she loved travelling, museums, New York theater and attending the opera. She kept a sizable collection of Broadway Playbills dating back to the 50s, and fondly shared stories of seeing Zero Mostel in the original Fiddler on the Roof, as well as others.
She will be missed by her friends and family on both coasts.
She is survived by her children Linda Abramovitz (Bob), Jan Zislin Ulrich (Rob), grandchildren Sari Ward (Sean) and Jordan Abramovitz as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She is predeceased by her brothers Robert M Levine, Daniel Levine, and Marshall Levine.
Graveside funeral services will be held at the King Solomon Cemetery , 550 Dwasline Road in Clifton, New Jersey on Sunday, December 5, 2021 at 10:30am. Kindly arrive no later than 10:15am and drive to the main office of the cemetery where the procession will assemble. The family requests everyone to please wear masks.
In In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Hadassah, she was a lifelong member https://www.hadassah.org or consider a donation to UCSF’s Global Cancer Program. Gifts can be via check to UCSF Foundation, PO Box 45339, San Francisco, CA 94145 or online at https://makeagift.ucsf.edu/globalcancer. Please indicate that the gift is for the Global Cancer Program (B7262) in memory of Lenore Zislin.
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