Andrea Caron Kempf passed away peacefully on March 20, 2023, after a long struggle with Alzheimer's Disease.
She is survived by her husband of 30 years, Evan Luskin; two children, Robin Kempf (Peter Haxton) and Lucas Kempf (Purvee); and four grandchildren, Alison, Meerabela, Nick, and Hersh.
A war baby, Andrea was born in San Francisco, California, to Esther (Zelby) and Benjamin Caron. She was raised in Detroit, Michigan, attending Cass Tech, before moving with her parents and brother, Sam, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she completed her high school education. After graduating from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts, including a semester in Israel, she received a Master of Arts in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University.
She initially taught high school in Cleveland, Ohio, and in Manhattan, New York, but soon took her first job in a library at Columbia University. Later, Andrea moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her first husband, had her two awesome kids, and got her Master of Library Science from Simmons College. This launched her rich career as a librarian. She worked at the Albuquerque Public Library in the VISTA program, then at the University of Northern Colorado, and finally at Johnson County Community College.
Andrea was very involved in the Jewish community and she loved to cook, but she will be remembered most as an avid reader and book reviewer. She represented the JCCC Billington Library in China, Hawaii, the Netherlands, and Russia, and wrote a book about romance novels. She also wrote reviews for the Library Journal and The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle, among other publications, and won an award for Reviewer of the Year from Library Journal. She always had a book recommendation for everyone she met. Andrea met her second husband at a Jewish singles service at Kehilath Israel Synagogue, and together they traveled around the world and enjoyed many opera performances. She will be dearly missed by many.
A graveside service was held Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at Johnson County Memorial Gardens in Overland Park, Kansas. In lieu of flowers, the family would suggest donating to the Alzheimer’s Association, MAZON, Harvesters, or the Yiddish Book Center.
Online condolences for the family may be left at louismemorialchapel.com.
