Zelda Greenspun, 99 1/2, died on January 8, 2022 after a brief illness. She was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1922, the daughter of Harry and Millie Ettinger. She attended Lower Merion High School, graduating in 1940, the yearbook acknowledging that “In her small way, she was an integral part of the school.” During high school, she worked in the family shoe store, Ettinger‘s, on Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore. After high school, she gained her certification as a technician from Jefferson Hospital and also worked in the tuberculosis laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1945, she met her soulmate Leonard Greenspun, beginning a lifelong love affair that was cut short when Leonard died from colon cancer in 1986. Zelda had many interests, but her husband and five children were paramount. She created and prepared everything from invitations to decorations, to food to clean up for family celebrations at their home, often for over 200 people. She was a smart and hands-on mother who cared deeply for each child and made sure that each had what they needed growing up, all the while working outside the home, as well. She held positions at one of the early shopping malls, Bargain City in Levittown, PA in marketing and as one of the first professional comparison and consumer shopping consultants. In later years, Zelda worked at the family’s table pad factory, Lee Table Pad in the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia, first with Leonard and after his passing with their son Eric. She also joined two of her daughters in separate successful retail and design businesses.
Zelda had many interests and was a talented and experienced calligrapher, composing and designing invitations for her family and many others. Her signature creation was decorated cards for each place setting at events sponsored by charities and especially for the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association, as well as for weddings and Bar and Bat Mitzvahs of family and many friends. Zelda was recognized for her commitment to the Philadelphia ALS Association at a luncheon in her honor in 2006. She became active in the association after her father succumbed to that awful disease. In suburban Philadelphia over the course of 85 years, she was also active in B’nai B’rith, the Main Line Reform Synagogue Board and the Lower Merion High School Distinguished Speaker Bureau.
After spending her entire life on the Philadelphia Main Line, Zelda at the age of 85 moved to Portland, Maine close to her daughter Susie’s family. As she did wherever she went, she lived life to the fullest in Maine, joining a book group to discuss some of the many books that she read, the Cedars Auxiliary Board, and the ALS Association of Northern New England. She was grateful that she was able to live independently for 99 ½ years.
Zelda attracted many friends, young and old, wherever she went, always taking an interest in others. And to Zelda, family was everything. Her holiday meals were legendary. She reveled in the visits and accomplishments of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, rarely talking about herself. However, people were interested in her, especially her life experiences. A few years ago, she fulfilled a dream of “attending“ Harvard College, actually speaking to a senior seminar class about the experience of living through World War II. Though not Bat Mitzvahed as a 13 year old, she fulfilled that achievement at age 72 at Main Line Reform Synagogue.
Zelda is pre-deceased by her parents, her brother Si, and her beloved daughter-in-law, Jane. She is survived by her sister Beverly Rivkees and many nieces and nephews. She is survived by her children, daughter Andrea Ehrlich, her husband Alexander, and his son Adam, daughter Beth Frezel, her husband Jerry, and children Ron (Stacey) and their children Sam, Lily, and Maddie and Michael (Andrea) and their children Tess and Winnie, son Peter (Katherine) and their children Samantha Schoop (Josh) and their daughter Isabel, Liza Yang (Peter) and Jake and his son Ace, daughter Susie Schwartz (Steve) and their children Lenny, Andrew, and Jack, and son Eric (Jane, of blessed memory) and their children, son Dan and daughter Annie Berger (Rory) and their children Lucy and Abby.
Funeral services will be at Main Line Reform Synagogue, Beth Elohim, Wynnewood, PA on Thursday, January 13th at 12:30 PM. Pursuant to synagogue rules, for the safety of attendees, proof of vaccination and masking will be necessary. The service will also be live streamed at https://mlrt.org/livestream/. Rabbis Geri Newburge and David Strauss, Main Line Reform, Wynnewood and Rabbi Carolyn Braun, Temple Beth El, Portland, will preside. Interment will follow at Har Jehuda Cemetery in Upper Darby, PA
Zelda‘s family would like to thank the firefighters and paramedics of Portland Fire Department Ladder 4 and Medcu, the caring staff of Maine Medical Center, Rabbi Carolyn Braun, who provided a sense of calm and spirituality during Zelda‘s last hospitalization, her long-time primary care physician, Jamie Zeitlin, Dr. Mary Brandes, Dr. Andreas Stefan, Gosnell House which provided loving hospice care in Zelda‘s final days, even ensuring that she had her trademark red lipstick on, and Rabbi Gary Berenson of the Jewish Funeral Home, who provided comfort to Zelda‘s family and dignity to Zelda during her last journey to the Main Line.
Arrangements are by the Jewish Funeral Home in Portland and Joseph Levine & Sons in Philadelphia.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the ALS Association Greater Philadelphia Chapter, the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, or to the charity of one’s choice.