Edna Lenchner

Edna Morris Lenchner died January 28, 2011, at home in Oakland, from complications of Parkinson's Disease. She was 91. Born January 24th, 1920 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, Edna was the daughter of Polish immigrants Morris Mairowitz (Mori Morris) and Anje (Anna) Pell. Her parents divorced when she was eight, leaving Edna and her younger brother Harold in the care of their mother, Anna. It was The Depression and Anna had a butter-and-egg delivery route to make ends meet for the family. Edna was strongly influenced by both her mother and maternal grandmother. Both women, in spite of society's norms at the time, worked and were politically active progressives. After graduating high school in Brooklyn, Edna entered the Cadet Nurse Corps and received her RN degree at New York University School of Nursing, training as a psychiatric nurse at Bellevue Hospital in New York and the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. Edna graduated from nursing school in 1947 and that same year met and married George Lenchner, a war hero who was shot on D-Day and had spent over a year in hospitals recuperating from his wounds. The couple settled in East Meadow, Long Island where they raised two sons, David and Eric. George went on to become an internationally known math educator, creating the non-profit organization Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS), which flourishes to this day. When her sons were school age, Edna returned to nursing at the Riverdale Mental Health Clinic in the Bronx. Wishing to expand her career into social work, at age 40 Edna enrolled at Adelphi University, graduating magna cum laude with a BS in Social Welfare and an MSW. She worked for the Jewish Community Services of Long Island for over 30 years, as clinical social worker and director of various programs. Edna established herself as an expert in child sexual abuse, domestic violence and substance abuse, and launched pioneering therapy groups in those areas. She appeared frequently at conferences and in the media, reporting on treatment and prevention. She also created a program to help mentally ill adults attend college. A gifted educator, Edna also trained Jewish Services staff; graduate students from Columbia, Fordham, Hunter, Yeshiva and Adelphi Universities; and trained mandated reporters (via the NY State Department of Education) in the identification and treatment of child abuse. She retired at 82. She was formally honored by the Nassau Coalition on Child Abuse and Neglect for her work in the field and received several awards for Outstanding Service from Jewish Community Services. She was appointed to numerous advisory and legislative councils serving Nassau County and was a board member of the East Meadow Counseling Center and the Older Women's League. Edna and George moved to San Francisco in 2003 to be nearer to family, residing at Rhoda Goldman Plaza. Edna remained at RGP after George's death in 2006, moving in with her son Eric in Oakland last December. Edna is survived by her sons, David Lenchner of Santa Rosa and Eric Lenchner of Oakland; grandchildren Maya, Nicholas, Skyler, Buckeye and Joe; great-grandchildren Jack and Sadie; and daughters-in-law Ellen Lenchner and Marie Shell. Edna is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. "Aunt Esther" was someone in whom they could always confide; she was a constant and steady source of support. Donations in Edna's memory can be sent to the Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery AL, 36104; or the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, 1359 Broadway, Suite, 1509, New York, NY, 10018.