Josephine Kleiman Solomon, 97, of Highland Park, Illinois, left this world peacefully at home, in the loving care of her four children, on Sept. 19.
Josie, aka Jokie, was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sept. 4, 1927, to the late Saul and Esther Kleiman, Kansas City’s leading and innovative Hebrew and religious educators. They instilled a love of Jewish tradition, learning and culture in Jokie (and her two beloved older siblings, the late Morton Kleiman and the late Blanche Feiman). She passed the love along to new generations in both celebrations and observances in her warm home and in her work and career spanning 32 years as director of education at Congregation B’nai Torah in Highland Park, Illinois. She liked to say that she had joined the “family business.” Prior to her work at B’nai Torah, Jokie served as children’s program director at the Mayer Kaplan JCC in Skokie, Illinois.
Possessing an uncommonly large and open heart, Jokie loved people — her devotion to and interest in family and friends was unbounded, and her love for humanity overall was an unshakeable principle. She was an accomplished pianist whose fingers miraculously continued to find music at the keyboard even as Parkinson’s disease restricted her motor abilities. She respected and nurtured the individuality of her adored four children and embraced each of their partners wholly. Her grandchildren brought her great joy, as did her beloved nieces and nephews and her treasured friends.
Jokie loved music, theater, cooking, listening to birds singing, telling jokes, reading the New York Times and doing its daily crossword puzzle, and especially chocolate. Anyone who knew her is the better for it.
She is survived by her four children, Debby (Bob) Simon of Overland Park, Kansas, Alisa Solomon (Marilyn Neimark) of New York City, Michael (Diane Scarpace) Solomon of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Rena Solomon (Mark Bandy) of Evanston, Illinois; and three grandchildren, Benjamin Simon of Chicago, Alex (Rachel Shanberg) Simon of Chicago and Jorie Simon of Overland Park.
Graveside services were held on Sept. 23 at Shalom Memorial Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The service was also streamed and will remain available on Josephine’s webpage at www.NTFunerals.com.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances to Har Shalom Synagogue (Har-Shalom.com) or the Michael J. Fox Foundation would be appreciated.
