Former Milwaukeean Esther Edwards of Hallandale, Fla., died Sept. 19 after a long illness. She was 76.
Born in Israel, she was raised in New York and moved to Milwaukee in 1954 when she married Jerry Edwards. The couple retired and moved to Florida in 1993.
Edwards taught religious school at Congregations Beth Israel, Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun and Sinai. She was known for her talents as a tapestry and needlepoint artist, according to her family, and her works hung in homes and synagogues around the world. She was also part of the Perhift Players, a Yiddish theater company, and JCC theater groups for many years.
She was known, her family said, for her special gift of “hachnasat orchim,” or welcoming guests.
“It was not unusual to have two guests, or ten guests, or the entire fleet of the Israeli merchant marine at [our] house for a Shabbat or holiday meal,” recalled her daughters.
Preceded in death by her husband in 2002, she is survived by daughters Marcy (Moshe) Yavor of Milwaukee, Donna (David) Neumark of San Francisco, and Rhonda (David) Newman of Toronto; mother Ruth Tendler and sister Hannah (Stanley) Tankell, all of Englewood, N.J.; and 10 grandchildren.
Rabbi Michel Twerski officiated at graveside services in Second Home Cemetery on Sept. 20.
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