Lee Gelfond

1930 - 2020

November 21, 1930 - November 28, 2020 Lee (Lita Joy) Gelfond passed away after a short bout with pancreatic cancer. She was a loving wife, sister, mother, grandmother, aunt and cousin to many family members. Lee was born in 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska to Esther & Harold Brandt. Lee's parents, along with her brother Byron (Buzz) moved to Los Angles in 1941. She went to John Burroughs Jr. High and Los Angeles High School where she graduated in 1948. She then went to UCLA, where she became president of Phi Sigma Sigma sorority and graduated in 1952 with a B.A. in Education. Her first job was teaching 3rd grade at Wonderland Elementary School. She also taught at West Hollywood Elementary School. Lee's parents joined Wilshire Blvd. Temple in 1941, and Lee and Gordon married there in 1951 and ultimately became longtime Temple members as well. Lee taught religious school there every Saturday and Sunday for over 30 years and she also supervised the Confirmation class.Lee and Gordon have three sons (Brad, Mark and Larry), who were Bar Mitzvah, Confirmed and attended the Temple's camps, and three daughters-in-law (Cathy, Allison and Rhonda) and four grandchildren (Lucas, Josh, Jonathan and Jamie). They moved to Beverly Hills in the 1970s. She served as President of the Hawthorne PTA, as well as President of the Beverly Hills PTA Council.In late 1978, she began a new chapter in her life – chocolate. For her son Larry's Bar Mitzvah, Rabbi Wolf's wife taught Lee how to make mints and she learned to make chocolate from a candy maker at the Farmer's Market. For the Bar Mitzvah, she made beautiful chocolate baskets filled with the mints for every table. Afterwards, others asked her to do the same for them and the business was born.Lee started making chocolates part-time in her kitchen at home. Her part-time business grew so large, that she opened Lee Gelfond Chocolate on South Robertson Blvd in Beverly Hills. During her 25+ years, her molded chocolate masterpieces became a hit with celebrities, party planners and caterers. Newsweek Magazine called her the "Avante Garde of Chocolate in Beverly Hills." Lee is survived by her loving husband of almost 69 years, her sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, niece & nephew and cousins. There will be a family-only funeral. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Wilshire Blvd Temple Camps or a charity of your choice.