Esther Abend, age 101, died on April 13, 2014, after a life well lived.
Funeral services were held at Louis Memorial Chapel on Monday, April 14, with burial at Sheffield Cemetery. The family suggests contributions to the Allen Abend Scholarship Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation, Hadassah or Congregation Beth Torah.
Born in Dubienka, Poland, on April 23, 1912, to Yehoshua and Nahama Greenfeld, she was educated in Lublin, Poland. She married her childhood sweetheart, Joseph Abend, in Dubienka in 1936 upon his return from Israel and just days before he left for the United States. She immigrated to join him two years later in 1938. They enjoyed a loving marriage of 41 years until Joseph’s death in 1977.
Esther was devoted to creating a good life for her family. She observed Jewish rituals and kept a kosher home. She took special pleasure in the accomplishments of her family. Esther worked in several family businesses and received recognition for her many years of volunteer service at Menorah Hospital gift shop. She was a volunteer for Hadassah and Women’s American ORT, and she supported organizations in Israel.
Esther was blessed with two sons, Stephen and the late William Abend, and their wives Barbara and Phyllis Abend; grandchildren, Nicholas Abend and his wife Gayle Chesley, Katherine Abend and her husband Kevin Wallace, Sarah Abend, Lynda Freshman and her husband Benjamin Freshman; and great-grandchildren, Jack and Alexander Abend and Anna Wallace. She is also survived by two nephews and their wives in Israel, Moshe and Mira Greenfeld and Noham and Rinat Greenfeld, as well as many relatives in Kansas City and throughout the United States.
May her memory forever be a blessing.
Condolences may be shared at www.louismemorialchapel.
Arr. The Louis Memorial Chapel, 816-361-5211.