JULIA KARTEN

Mrs. Julia Karten of Spring Valley and New York died on October 5th at Mt .Sinai Hospital. She was surrounded by her beloved children and grandchildren. Only 16 at the onset of WWII, Julia, who met her husband Isidore in the Polish Underground, fought by his side in the Jewish Resistance. Coming to America with only a borrowed blouse on her back, Julia managed to rebuild her life. Landing at Pier 56 in NY Harbor at 20 years old with a newborn child, no close relatives and not a word of English, Julia became the nurturing lifeforce at the center of her family. She was a woman of valor, a noble woman. Equally adept at running a business as she was at running a home, she brought her intelligence, sensitivity, artistic talent and concern for people to everything she did, whether it was volunteering to be a Girl Scout leader or managing a successful textile business and a high-rise apartment building in the heart of Manhattan. But Julia's biggest sense of achievement, aside from her family, came from her and Izzy's active involvment in a multitude of philanthropies, including education in the form of scholarships, benefactor of the International Society of Yad Vashem, both in America and Israel, as well as the endless donations to hospitals, schools and synogogues around the world. Julia is survived by her loving children: Berne and Jim Bookhamer, Marcia and Jacob Toledano and Harry and Danielle Karten, as well as her eight dedicated grandchildren. She was a strong, courageous woman who fought until the end. Funeral Services will be held on Monday, October 7th at 12:30 PM at Park East Synagogue, 163 East 67th Street, New York, NY. Donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation, the Scholarship Fund at Park East Day School and the American Diabetes Foundation.