Ethel Simon was not a woman of great wealth, but she’d often send an $18 donation to Hadassah in memory of someone who died whether she knew the person or not.
It makes me feel good,” was her explanation.
The Alameda resident, former Hadassah chapter president and first female manager of a national bank in San Francisco, died on Monday, Aug. 23, in Alameda. She was 86.
Simon was born Edith Feldman on May 5, 1918 in East Liverpool, Ohio. Her parents were immigrants from Russia and Poland, and her father was a baker. Her family moved to Pittsburgh when she was 6 months old.
In 1934, she married Abben Simon and — following on the heels of some of her family members — they moved to San Francisco in 1939.
The Simons became active members at Congregation Beth Israel, and then at Congregation Ner Tamid.
During World War II, Simon volunteered in numerous ways to help the war effort, and she participated in 1945 in the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco.
Simon quit her career in banking when the first of her two children was born. After they began school, she returned to Bank of America at her father’s urging, entered an executive training program in banking and received a certificate. “Now that you’ve done all this volunteer work, can you get a paying job?” he asked her.
She became the first woman to be made manager of a national bank in San Francisco, and continued to work until she was 75.
Even though she was a career woman, she never stopped volunteering. She participated in a women’s minyan, and served two terms as president of the Balboa chapter of Hadassah.
She was also an original member of the National Organization for Women and served as the Northern California chapter’s first president.
When the Simons moved to Alameda in 1993, she continued her volunteer work, serving on the Mayor’s Committee on Disability Issues and as a greeter at the Alameda Hospital Auxiliary.
Though Simon was battling cancer for the past 14 months, she was determined to live to celebrate her 70th wedding anniversary, which she did, several weeks before she died.
Simon is survived by her husband, Abben, of Alameda; daughter Ilene Simon of San Mateo; son Howard Simon of Marblehead, Mass.; two grandchildren; sister Ida Bettencourt of Montara; brother Leonard Feldman of Huntington Beach; and nieces and nephews.
Donations can be made to the San Francisco chapter of Hadassah, 121 Steuart St., Suite 205, S.F., CA 94105; the Alameda Hospital Auxiliary Memorial Book, 2070 Clinton St., Alameda, CA 94501; or Sutter VNA & Hospice Foundation, 1900 Powell St., Suite 300, Emeryville, CA 94608.