Obituaries are supported by a generous grant from Sinai Memorial Chapel.
Sheryl Lynne Blumenthal
Oct. 29, 1943–May 20, 2024
Sheryl passed away peacefully after a brave battle with leukemia.
Sheryl was a devoted daughter to Gladys and Hillie Blumenthal, the loving sister of Frank Blumenthal and the late Stephen Blumenthal, and the loving sister-in-law of Maddy Blumenthal. She was a special aunt to Philip Blumenthal and Risa Federighi, and a great aunt to Gabe and Gianna Federighi. Sheryl was Godmother to Sabrina Wang. Sheryl was the beloved lifetime partner of Paul Findley. She also is survived by her loving cousins Judy and Norm Sobel, Letty and Gary Morris, and Cindy and Craig Morris.
Sheryl was a graduate of San Mateo High School and UC Berkeley. She earned her master’s degrees in sociology and psychology. Sheryl worked as a guidance counselor at City College of San Francisco until her retirement in 2017. Sheryl was also involved in her family business, Eagle Jewelry.
Sheryl will be sadly missed by her Eagle Jewelry family, her many friends and colleagues, and her excellent caregivers Blanca, Silvia, and Diana.
Memorial services were held at Congregation Beth Jacob in Redwood City. Contributions in Sheryl’s memory may be given to Congregation Beth Jacob Adult Learning Fund, to cancer research, or to the charity of your choice.
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Donald Stanley Green
Donald (Don) Green passed away in Israel on March 7 at age 91. Born in San Francisco to Stanley and Edith Solomons Green, Don attended Lowell High School and Reed College. He received an MA in Economics from the University of Chicago without having a BA, but completed a thesis at age 85, becoming Reed’s oldest graduate.
In Washington he met his match in Joan Friedman. They started married life in 1959 in La Paz, Bolivia, where Don worked for the US Agency for International Development and their first son Mark was born.
Don traveled the world promoting economic growth. Joan accompanied him when possible, including to Africa and the Far East. They spent two years in Mexico where Don headed the office of SRI International, and they made numerous trips to the Soviet Union engaging in citizen diplomacy. He was proud to serve in the Bureau of the Budget during Lyndon Johnson’s administration in Washington, D.C., where their second son Eric (Aryeh) was born.
He leaves a legacy of public service and commitment to the common good. Don’s love of nature is also an enduring legacy, beginning with guarding salmon in Alaska, alone by a stream for three months after college, followed by a lifetime of outdoor activities with family and friends, including the Milford Trek in New Zealand, Tahiti, Stinson Beach, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite.
After SRI, he advocated to limit development in Yosemite as Executive Director of the Yosemite Restoration Trust. He also served as an arbitrator for FINRA, helping to find relief for people with financial grievances. He took pleasure in an article which called him an “arbitrator with a heart.”
As a volunteer, he spearheaded efforts to oppose new construction in the Presidio. When walking on the Tunnel Tops, you can thank Don Green for helping to preserve Crissy Field’s natural habitat. Don followed in the footsteps of his great-uncle Theodore Solomons, who mapped the Sierras, leading to the creation of the John Muir trail.
He traced his ancestry to the “Patriot Rabbi,” Gershom Mendes Seixas, of New York’s Shearith Israel, one of 14 clergy participating in George Washington’s inauguration. Don and Joan commissioned a beautiful family tree depicting other notable Jewish Americans in the family, including Haym Salomon, Uriah Phillips Levy and Emma Lazarus. His great-grandfather, Gershom Mendes Seixas Solomons, was a founder of Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco where Don attended Boy Scouts, became Bar Mitzvah, and maintained a membership with his family for 45 years.
Don enjoyed telling stories about his Army service in France. He is remembered as a gregarious person, a “schmoozer” with a playful nature and biting wit, bantering with friends and family as well as strangers. His family fondly remembers waking up on holidays to the aroma of French pancakes, a dish he learned from his mother, a cooking teacher who hosted “Edie Green’s Kitchen” on TV in the ’50s. Three generations of family have adopted Don’s birthday tradition of parading with gifts into the bedroom, chanting “buddi bum, buddi bum.” Don was a caring father to his two sons, learning how to support Mark in his recovery from mental illness and adapting to Aryeh’s decision to become observant and move to Israel.
In July 2022, at age 90, after traveling back and forth for 40 years, Don and Joan made Aliya and moved to Israel.
Don is survived by his wife of 64 years, Joan Green, sister Virginia Sloss, sons Mark (Green) Solomons and Aryeh Green, daughter-in-law Miriam, grandchildren Yonatan Green (Shira), Michal Ozeri (Harel), Moriyah Sterman (Tani) and Leigh Solomons. He was fortunate enough to get to know his great-grandchildren Noga, Adam, Alma, Ben, Aviv, Erel, Ivri and Amiaz.
The family welcomes donations in Don’s honor to the Presidio (parksconservancy.org) or to San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El (emanuelsf.org/donate).
Norma Perlstein
April 25,1919–April 19, 2024
Norma (Golden) Perlstein passed away at home in Berkeley surrounded by her family on April 19, 2024, just six days short of her 105th birthday.
Norma was born April 25, 1919, in New Milford, Connecticut. Her parents, Harry and Ida Golden, had both immigrated from Poland before settling in the small New England town where her father had a dry goods store. Norma helped out at the store from the time she was in elementary school. When her father died in 1934, she took over the store’s management while continuing to attend high school. When Norma graduated in 1936, she was honored as New Milford High School’s outstanding student. While a teenager, Norma got to know a number of New Milford’s famous residents. She worked as private secretary to renowned conductor Leopold Stokowski and studied women’s history with historian Mary Beard.
In 1942, Norma began 75 years of volunteering for the Red Cross. A year later, she moved to Hartford where she became a Red Cross nurse’s aide at Hartford Hospital. In 1944, when the catastrophic Ringling Brothers fire left some 900 spectators wounded or dead, Norma cared for young burn victims in Hartford Hospital’s pediatric wards. This harrowing experience left her with a lifelong sense of commitment to the Red Cross and to others less fortunate than herself.
A colleague at Hartford Hospital introduced Norma to her future husband, Norman Perlstein. Norman and Norma shared a passionate interest in the arts, and a deep commitment to civil rights and equality for all people. Norma volunteered at the World Affairs Council and participated in the 1963 March on Washington. When the family moved to Stamford, CT, she was a PTA and American Field Service chapter president, and served for five years on the Board of the Stamford YMCA.
As Executive Director of Temple Sholom in Greenwich, CT, for 27 years, Norma became a respected and beloved leader in the Jewish community. She helped steer the growth of the congregation, of local Jewish institutions and charities, and of interfaith relations with other religious groups. “I have been particularly blessed in having a remarkable, wonderful extended family of hundreds of people,” she reflected. “I have been privileged to share so much with them – the simchas and the sad times.” Norma took special pride in seeing the development of the congregation’s children into adults, “nachas, from the second and even the third generations.”
Norma served as Treasurer of Greenwich Hadassah and was on the Board of Directors of Jewish Family Services in Greenwich for 11 years. She was a leader at UJA/Federation of Greenwich. Norma also served for six years on the Red Cross Greenwich chapter Board of Directors, was a literacy tutor, and was a cancer care volunteer and a spiritual counselor at Greenwich Hospital. Norma was often honored for her service to the families of Temple Sholom and to those in need in Greenwich and throughout the world. Her unstinting work on behalf of others was recognized by her community, by the State of Connecticut, by Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, and by the International Red Cross and several other organizations.
Norma spent the last 15 years of her life in Berkeley. She was an avid reader and greatly enjoyed discussing contemporary fiction with Berkeley friends. Already in her 90s, Norma continued to volunteer with the Red Cross, and she devoted herself to knitting countless beanies and blankets for children hospitalized with cancer. Appalled by the existence of hunger in America and the obstacles refugees faced in participating in American life, Norma greatly admired, and supported, the work of the organizations Mazon and Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay.
Norma was predeceased by her husband, Norman, and her siblings Anne, Alfred, and Sybil. She is survived by her children Jane, David, Daniel and Joshua, her grandchildren Anna, Alex, Arlo, Reuben, Li Ming, Maisie and Elijah, and her great-grandchildren Ezra, Isaac, Sacha, Toby and Xavier.
Norma was widely admired for her confident leadership, incisive intelligence, love for others and joyous appreciation of life. We will cherish her memory.
Memorial contributions may be made to Mazon (mazon.org), the American Red Cross (redcross.org), or Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay (jfcs-eastbay.org).
Aileen Wolkin
Aileen Wolkin died at home on May 20, 2024, at the age of 95 after a long and courageous battle with cancer, surviving her husband, Josh, who died in 2008, and her younger brother, Ivan Grossman, who passed earlier this month.
Aileen was a loving mother to her daughter, Betsy, and son, Brandt. She is also survived by her son-in-law, Michael Gaines, daughter-in-law, Susie Korn, grandchildren, Matthew, Liz, Maxwell, and Will, and great-grandchildren, Josh and Audrey.
Aileen was born in Philadelphia where she met and married Joshua, her husband of 58 years. Josh and Aileen moved to San Francisco from Philadelphia in the late 1970s, beginning the West Coast chapter of their life. Shortly after moving to San Francisco, Aileen began a wonderful and creative interior design partnership with her dear friend, Gayle Blum. Aileen embraced life in San Francisco where both her children had moved and took delight in being a “hands-on” Grandma.
Aileen was known for her beauty, sharp wit, intelligence, style and charm. Josh believed she was the belle of every ball they attended. She was unabashedly loyal to those she loved. She will be deeply missed.
Services were held at Congregation Sherith Israel on May 23.
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