MIRIAM GOSHEN SCHECTER

Miriam Goshen Schecter passed away on October 25, 2006 at the Ramapo Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, Ramapo, New York, one month short of her 99th birthday. Born in New York City on November 29, 1907, she was a self taught, independent social activist an artist, who had a deep impact on those she came in contact with. In the 1940s, she became an interior decorator and was a longtime member of the American Society of Interior Designers. She was married for 47 years to Edward Schecter, who died in 1974. Miriam Schecter was a neighborhood community activist beginning as President of the PS 47 PTA in the Bronx. As a volunteer, she spent many years establishing the Bronx River Child Care Center. Deeply involved, she was the president of the Bronx River Houses Community Center, a board member of the YMHA and a board member of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. She was also a past chairman of the Jewish Board for the Aged in which she played an instrumental role in establishing summer camp programs for senior citizens. She was an accomplished artist, who worked in oil, watercolor and seaweed paintings. Her unique seaweed technique used only the natural colors of seaweed in her paintings. "Nature provides a unique shape, form and texture for my paintings", she told her children and grandchildren. When she retired as a professional interior designer at age 81, she became an active member of the 92nd Street Y, where she painted, studied Yiddish, and took piano lessons. She was a leader in her writing groups at the Y, where she produces a series of memoirs of her life in New York City. She is survived by her sister Ethel Pessah, of New York, her son Jerrold Schecter of Washington, DC and daughter Emily Kass, of Wesley Hills, New York, five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren, and loving nieces and nephews. The family will be present at the Wanamaker & Carlough to receive friends on Friday from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Funeral Service will begin at 12:30 PM, with the interment to follow in Cedar Park Cemetery in Westwood, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory should be made to: Federation of Jewish Charities, 130 59th Street, New York, NY 10022.