Edna Berger Gelband's Obituary
EDNA BERGER GELBAND
1/6/1923 – 3/7/2020
Born January 6, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York, Edna, also named Yeta (after her maternal Grandfather Yitzach), was the youngest daughter of Minnie (nee Minnie Herschkowitz) and Louis Berger. She waspredeceased by both parents, her beloved sisters Rose and Frances, her brothers Albert and Stanley, her loving husband Bernard, and her eldest son Spencer. She is survived by her nieces and nephews as well as by her second son, Scott, his wife, Diane, and by her grandsons Matthew and Daniel and
Daniel's wife, Sheela.
Edna was a graduate of James Madison High School in Brooklyn, N.Y.. In her youth, she enjoyed occasional horseback riding at Prospect Park, to the frustration of her mother. Edna was active in her adulthood, also, enjoying swimming, water ballet and tennis, as well as reading, puzzles, needlepoint, board games with her family and hosting cards and mahjong games with her many friends. She also enjoyed watching Providence College basketball games and even attended a Boston Red SoxWorld Series game. Edna was always a gracious host whenever she had the chance.
It is said that she enjoyed occasionally playing her grand piano where Ambrose, her loving Bedlington Terrier, would lay uncritically at her feet. Edna could have been a fashion reviewer. She could be vocal if she didn't like your attire, yet genuinely complimentary if she did,. She was an immaculate dresser, always wearing her treasured diamond, heart-shaped necklace, but one of her favorite shirts was “Happiness is a Bedlington Terrier.”with a drawing of the dog's face. Edna liked to joke that she
was related to the Rockefellers by way of Ambrose's pedigree (Ambrose of Witherspoon Ridge whose great grandfather was 1948's Champion, Best in Show in Westminster).
During World War II, Edna found work in New York City assisting the Naval Department. Later, she assisted her husband in the retail business before joining the administrative staff at Brown University,
in Providence, serving as office manager at McDonald & Company (a brokerage firm in Akron, Ohio), and, finally, as a retail store manager in Delray Beach.
Edna was introduced to her husband through her sister Frances' husband, Sid Lending, who was a fraternity brother of Bernard's at the University of Virginia. Edna and Bernie first eloped, and then formally married on January 5, 1945. After marriage, they continued to live in Brooklyn, until Bernie's work brought them to Providence, R.I. They moved to Warwick, R.I., in 1957, where they had many friends, to Merrick (Long Island, 1962), and back to Providence, in 1965, where she took her position
with Brown University, followed by Akron, Ohio, in 1972. From Akron, Edna and Bernie settled in Delray Beach in 1977. They hosted a celebratory party for their fortieth anniversary in 1985, before Bernie passed away the following year. Edna remained in her Delray Beach home for more than
another 33 years where she enjoyed the company of friends, relatives and neighbors.
In 1937, her father, Louis, wrote her this blessing: “May your life bring you all the happiness you can stand and only enough sorrow to show you the difference.” Hopefully, this came to pass.
Beloved wife, mother and grandmother, Edna passed away peacefully on March 7, 2020, at age 97.
What’s your fondest memory of Edna?
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