Helen Englander

Helen Jager Englander VIRGINIA BEACH - Helen Jager Englander, 86, passed away peacefully Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009. She was born April 17, 1923, in New York City, and was a daughter of Samuel and Pauline Rosenfeld Jager. Helen met her husband, Bert Englander, on the basketball court when he was the referee for the girls' team - from which she was rejected after a protested call - and the rest is what is considered history. They were married until his death in 1999. A graduate of Hunter College in New York, Helen and Bert married and moved to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a short stint of Army life. After a few years back in New York, Bert moved Helen to Norfolk and their life in Virginia began. Helen was an active member in the founding sisterhood of Temple Israel, a life member in the Brandeis University and Hadassah. She was a voracious reader, seamstress, and an expert pen-toting New York Times crossword solver. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband, Bert and a daughter, Ilana Roman. She is survived by a daughter, Jeri Jo Englander Halprin and husband William; son-in-law, Richard Roman; sister, Dorothy Steinbach; grandchildren, Shawn Roman and wife Karen, Cory Roman and Rosangela Farulla, Brian Halprin, Peri Halprin; and great-grandchildren, Shelby and Cole Roman. A graveside service will be held at 3 p.m. today, Dec. 14, in Forest Lawn Cemetery by Rabbi Michael Panitz. Shiva will be observed at the home of William and Jeri Jo Halprin in Norfolk until Friday at sundown. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to The Boston Foundation For Sight, 464 Hillside Ave., Suite 205, Needham, MA 02494; The Virginia Thurston Healing Garden, P.O. Box 145, Harvard, MA 01451 or Temple Israel, 7255 Granby St., Norfolk, VA 23505. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk Chapel, is handling arrangements.