Jesse Paul Farber

Jesse Paul Farber, 95, of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, passed away peacefully on May 24, 2025, at the Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. Jesse was born in New York City on May 12, 1930, to Lena Farber, née Mayefsky (1896-1980), and Isaac Farber (1889-1958). His parents emigrated to New York City in the first decade of the 20th century from Antopal and Horodetz, small towns near the border between Belarus and Ukraine. Jesse grew up on East 115th Street in Harlem and on Mapes Avenue in the Bronx. He attended school at P.S. 67 in 1939 and J.H.S. 44 in 1942. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1945 with honors in mathematics. He went to City College, earned a B.S. in Biology, and graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1949. He attended New York University College of Dentistry and became an Endodontist (D.D.S.) and received the Mosby Book Award in 1953. He met Dorothy de la Mare Ehret who was a Fine Arts student at Pratt Institute. From 1954 to 1956, Jesse served as First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Dental Corps in Hohenfels, Germany, and in the American Hospital in Paris. While stationed in Germany, he and Dorothy were married in the New Town Hall in Munich in 1954. Together, they lived in Amberg, Germany, Paris, France, and the kibbutz Hulata in Israel. Upon their return to the U.S., they raised three children in New York City and Hastings-on-Hudson. Jesse joined the dental practice of Dr. Norman Rosen and later opened his own office in the Fuller Building on Madison Avenue and 57th Street. He was a part-time teaching assistant at the NYU College of Dentistry and worked on the Endodontics staff of the former Jewish Memorial Hospital located in northern Manhattan from 1960 to 1988. From 1990 to 1995, he served on the Endodontic staff of Montefiore and North Central Bronx Hospitals. He was also a Lecturer on Endodontics for the continuing education program of the First District Dental Society from 1968 to 1998. He later moved his practice to 200 Central Park South and thereafter, joined the Yorktown Dental Group in Westchester County, New York, where he worked until 2015. In 2007, he married his second wife, Veronica Svoboda of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Jesse excelled in many outdoor activities, was a lifeguard in his youth, and loved swimming, sailing, hiking, camping, bike riding, skiing, vegetable gardening, and playing tennis and paddleball. He was a gifted musician, had an encyclopedic knowledge of Classical music, and taught his daughters how to read music at an early age. He played the cello and sang as a tenor and countertenor in numerous groups, including the New York Pro Musica Motet Choir under Noah Greenberg, the Amato Opera, the Opera Theater School of the Henry Street Settlement, the Cantata Singers, and the Collegiate Chorale. He gave recitals at St. Paul's Chapel and the Donnell Library in Manhattan, the Library and Museum Auditorium at Lincoln Center, and the Hastings-on-Hudson Public Library. He wrote poetry and played the guitar, sung folk songs, and composed his own songs about courtship, love, and life, some of which are posted on SoundCloud under the title, Thinking of You (1993). He loved to tell stories and give his opinions about contemporary events and topics in the news. He was jovial, open-minded, liberal, enthusiastic about studying history and philosophy, and generous in his support of many causes, especially the education and careers of his children and grandchildren.

Jesse is predeceased by his parents, Lena and Isaac Farber, his sisters, Florence Korbel and Bernice Farber, and his first wife, Dorothy Ehret Hines. He is survived by his second wife, Veronica Svoboda Farber, and his three daughters, Amy, Lisa, and Ariel Farber. He is survived by five grandchildren: Jesse Guterman, Anna Guterman, Michael DeVito, Paul DeVito, and David DeVito. Family members also include Anthony DeVito, Emily and Edward Sorel and their children, Nina, Mark, and Lucie Sorel, Kathryn Wentz, Elisabeth Beebe of Camillus, New York, Elisabeth's husband, David Beebe, and their children, Ann and Bill Beebe.

His ashes will be interred at the Cedar Park and Beth El Cemetery (Cedar Park section 1) in Paramus, New Jersey. There will be a private memorial gathering. Donations in his memory can be made to WNYC, WQXR, and New York Public Radio.