All those politicians who like to talk “family values” should look to Yetta Weiner Marshall as a woman who lived them. With three sons, eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, she was a proud and loving matriarch.
Yetta Weiner Marshall died Saturday, March 24 in San Francisco. She was 93.
“She was a very devoted wife and mother — the kind of mother who inspires her children by example, by love and by encouragement,” said her son Martin Weiner, rabbi emeritus of San Francisco’s Congregation Sherith Israel.
Born to immigrants in Brooklyn in 1913, Yetta Spindel came west with her family, ultimately setting in San Francisco in 1921. Her father opened a tailor shop on Balboa Street.
In the midst of the Depression, she met her husband-to-be, Ben Weiner, at the JCC in San Francisco. They married in 1936, a union that lasted until his death 37 years later. The couple has three sons, Edward, Steven and Martin, raising them first in the Sunset and then in the Richmond District.
“My brothers and I always found it easy to bring friends to our home,” added Rabbi Martin Weiner. “Our mother loved to talk with young people. They instinctively found her to be a warm and willing listener.”
At a time when fewer women served in the workforce, Weiner Marshall enjoyed working. She was in sales at Macy’s, and later worked in the City Assessor’s office as well as serving as bookkeeper for a local physician.
Active in B’nai Brith, Weiner Marshall brought Judaism and Jewish culture into the home. “There was always a focus on family gatherings, especially Passover seders,” added the rabbi.
Some years after her husband, Ben, died, she met Philip Marshall. The two married, and though their time together was short, her son says, “we all rejoiced in the happiness they found with one another.”
Weiner Marshall’s son, Steven, was formerly executive director of Peninsula Temple Beth El and currently serves as director of sales for the cemeteries of San Francisco’s Reform Congregations. Her grandson, Daniel, is senior rabbi of Temple De-Hirsch Sinai in Seattle.
“She was truly proud of the achievements of her sons and grandchildren,” added Rabbi Martin Weiner.
Yetta Weiner Marshall is survived by sons Edward, Martin and Steven, eight grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and sister Rita Brown. Donations may be made to the Rabbi Martin S. Weiner Educational Fund at Congregation Sherith Israel, Hospice by the Bay, the Jewish Home or a charity of choice.