Amy Beth Keyser

Amy Beth Keyser (Hannah Brakha, Hebrew name) died January 21, 2024 of metastatic non-small cell adenocarcinoma of the lungs. Amy was a jewelry designer, research librarian and writer, the daughter of Maxine Ethel (Krakovitz) Keyser and Robert Charles Scherlis, adopted daughter of Arthur Seymour Keyser, sister of Kathy Rachel Keyser and Gary David Scherlis, and aunt of Hannah Brooke Kleeman. She attended the Friends Select School in Philadelphia and was a graduate of The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr. Amy also attended the Philadelphia College of Art (studying metalwork and jewelry design with the renowned designer Olaf Skoogfors), and was a graduate of Temple University (B.A., English) and Drexel University (MS, Information/Library Sciences) in Philadelphia. She modelled for Seventeen Magazine when she was a teenager. Amy worked as a jewelry designer independently throughout her life and on Jeweler's Row in Philadelphia, at Independence Blue Cross and the Bureau of the Census in Information Management, and she was a federal research librarian for the White House and the United States Department of Commerce. She was a lifelong athlete, playing tennis and training in parkour. Amy was intelligent, curious and cultured - a passionate gourmand, voracious reader, and a lover of short stories and novels by classic authors. She was a proud and consummate Philadelphian, relishing in Philadelphia history, old and contemporary Philadelphia architecture, and classic Philadelphia storefronts. She enjoyed renovating and restoring her historic homes, classic cars, travelling abroad, Motown, R & B, light jazz, Frank Sinatra and music of all genres and generations. She was devoted to and cherished by the many cats of her lifetime, and is survived by her elderly Russian Blue cat, Marvin, lovingly adopted by one of her nurses, Shelley.

Donations in Amy's honor can be made to:

- Jewish Family and Children's Services

https://www.jfcs.org/

- Female Hebrew Benevolent Society of Philadelphia's Dignified Burial Fund.

https://www.fhbs.org/donate. Please indicate that your donation is for the Dignified Burial Fund.

"It's the journey, not the MacGuffin, that ultimately counts." - ABK