Catherine Halfon

1926 - 2022

October 14, 1926 - July 22, 2022 Catherine Halfon of Beverly Hills passed away Friday morning (July 22nd) in her home surrounded by her three children. She was 95 years old.
Cathy was born on October 14,1926, the third of four children born to Marco and Amelie Cohen. She grew up as part of an extended community of families in Los Angeles who traced their ancestry to the island of Rhodes-and to Spain before that. She attended Manual Arts High School before attending Los Angeles City College, a choice she made over UCLA to save herself $9 per term. While at LACC her love for photography became a real skill, enabling her to work for several years at Cagle Studios as a photographer.
After WWII she met Sol "Slick" Halfon, a Brooklyn native who, after serving in the Navy, followed his Rhodesli parents from New York to Los Angeles. They were married in June of 1951, and initially moved to Leimert Park, while Slick attended pharmacy school at University of Southern California. Cathy and Slick would next move to Gardena from 1955 -1963, and then to Beverly Hills in 1963, where they lived for the rest of their lives. Slick passed away in 2012 after a long illness.
Cathy's greatest joy were her kids and grandkids, but she did not limit her support to just her own offspring. She had a broad definition of family and a deep understanding of empathy that shaped her personal and social actions. For over twenty years her backyard was a neighborhood polling place, one of many examples of her involvement in community issues, politics, and civic life. She was an accomplished cook and an excellent baker, but it was the grace and hospitality of her pantry that was so remarkable and memorable. Everyone that entered her home was greeted with a bountiful cookie cupboard of homemade chocolate chip cookies, biscochos, and the much-loved ashuplados. There was always a palpable yet indescribable warmth to her home-one that welcomed everyone with open arms (and dinner, of course).
She was always eager to lend a helping hand to anyone she considered family. This ranged from shuttling a friend of friends of friends visiting Los Angeles, to doing location scouting for one of her kid's friend who had a commercial to shoot in Los Angeles. At age 70 she signed up as a second grade reading tutor for the LAUSD, a weekly vocation she took seriously for more than 10 years. Her love for technology was legendary, impressively mastering the use of her iPhone and social media in her late-80s so that she could keep up with her kids and grandkids and all their friends.
Cathy was an active member in the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Sephardic Hebrew Center and later at the Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel (STTI) in Westwood. She was proud of her Sephardic and Rhodesli heritage and took upon herself to teach her Ashkenazi daughter's-in-law the fine points of Sephardic cooking. She was also honored by STTI as Woman of the Year.
She is survived by her brother Ralph Cohen, her children Neal (Karin Joffe), Lianne, Marty (Eden Small) and grandchildren Ethan Berger, Isaac Halfon, Emma Halfon, Caitlyn Halfon, and Sam Halfon, as well as many who choose her as an honorary grandma including Felix Brenner, Joanna Bean, Erin London, Willa Dorn Lilien, Cindy Ramos, Jairo Ramos, Nicholas Bortman, and Amira Shaker. She was also survived by many adored nieces and nephews, who always knew that they could rely upon their Aunt Cathy.
Her grandchildren would often have Talmudic discussion on who was grandma's favorite. This was a perpetually unresolvable conundrum since she had no favorites, which is why each felt that they were the apple of her eye. She loved and is loved fiercely and will be deeply missed.
The family is eternally grateful for the loving and dedicated care by Manny Quizon over many wonderful years. In true Cathy fashion, he has become like a fourth child.
Funeral services were held at noon on Tuesday July 26th at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.