In 1999, Marilyn Borovoy reminisced about attending High Holy Days services at Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco when she was a child in the late ’20s and early ’30s.
“We used to have a row of seats — my mother and her two sisters, her brother, my father and other assorted members of the family all sitting together,” Borovoy told the then-Jewish Bulletin of Northern California. “With the mobility of families these days, you just don’t have that anymore. Those were wonderful years.”
Borovoy, a fourth-generation San Franciscan whose family members were among the founders of Sherith Israel, died Saturday, Oct. 22 in San Francisco. She was 83.
Marilyn Barnett was born Oct. 1, 1922 in San Francisco and graduated from George Washington High and Stanford University. In 1945, she married Robert Borovoy.
She taught parliamentary law and became especially involved with women’s and children’s issues as well as those involving the juvenile justice system.
Her mother had served as president of the San Francisco chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women from 1937 to 1939, and Borovoy followed in her footsteps, serving as president from 1957 to 1959.
As NCJW president, Borovoy was invited to attend a Passover seder at San Quentin State Prison in 1959.
Borovoy told j. weekly in 2004 about the experience — that the matzo balls were the toughest she ever chewed.
“Everyone was very polite, and the dinner was just awful,” she said.
Libby Denebeim, the current NCJW president said that Borovoy was involved in anything to make the city more family- and child-friendly.
“In everything she did, she looked at ‘How do we make life for families and children better?'” said Denebeim.
Bernice Glickfeld, a longtime friend and past president of NCJW, said that Borovoy “wasn’t a one-job person. Her fingers were in every pie that brought about something good.”
In the early 1970s, Borovoy served as president of Jewish Family and Children’s Services and stayed involved for decades afterwards.
“She had a unique combination of the ability to be sensitive to the needs of people, and very sophisticated management and governance skills,” said Anita Friedman, executive director of JFCS. “We learned a lot from her, especially in regards to her expertise in good governance.”
She also served as president of Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth and the Northern California Coalition for Handgun Control, and was active with Head Start and the Democratic Women’s Forum of San Francisco.
She was appointed to various committees by five different mayors.
Borovoy is survived by her husband, Robert Borovoy of San Francisco, daughter Nancy Casqueiro of San Leandro, daughter Joanne Borovoy of Healdsburg, son Ken Borovoy of San Francisco, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Donations can be made to Coleman Advocates, 459 Vienna St., S.F., CA 94112; Congregation Sherith Israel, 2266 California St., S.F., CA 94115; or National Council of Jewish Women, 1825 Divisadero St., S.F., CA 94115.