Bryna Gilgor

Bryna Haberman Gilgor, 86, of Decatur, Georgia passed away on Friday, May 30, 2025. She was born on July 12, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York to the late H. Harvey and Sylvia Haberman.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her loving husband of 64 years, Robert Samuel Gilgor, M.D., and her grandson Gabriel Gilgor Strathern.

Mrs. Gilgor began her working career by teaching history at Ball High School in Galveston, Texas in 1962. Upon completion of medical school, her husband was commissioned an officer in the United States Public Health Service and was assigned to the Galveston Marine Hospital. She experienced true culture shock when she moved from the Northeastern US to the Lone Star State. She found her students’ accents fascinating, and they found her Brooklyn accent to be equally amusing.

She then moved to Durham, NC where she taught American History at North Carolina Central University. Then she retired from teaching to start her second career of raising her children. In her third career, she was a realtor in Chapel Hill.

She was one of the founding members of Judea Reform Congregation and was active in temple activities for decades.

Mrs. Gilgor took great joy in many things, especially reading, tennis and learning about other people, history, and politics. This sometimes involved beginning long conversations with complete strangers and she would learn everything about their lives. She also had a wonderful singing voice and a love of music. She loved to dance and, on most occasions, certainly all involving the family, she and her husband were the last to leave the dance floor.

But her truest love was her family. She had been raised in a loving household, and she recreated the same for her own children and later for her grandchildren. Her relationship with her mother was very special. They spoke every day. She took great pleasure in traveling to New York, New Jersey and Florida to stay in close touch with her family. She was always interested in family developments, particularly those involving the youngest members of the family. During her husband’s struggle with dementia, Bryna was a relentless advocate and loving caretaker for him.

Bryna is survived by her two children, Edward Mark Gilgor (Dawn Rivera) and Devon Sylis Gilgor (Angela Oas); two brothers: Fredric Haberman, M.D., (Sheila) and Michael Allen Haberman, M.D., (Tricia); five grandchildren: Evann Smith Strathern (Ashley), Nathan Louis Gilgor (Zoë Marrich-Simon), Brandon Gilgor Strathern, Nicholas Everett Strathern (Nicole Pfuhl), Sylvia Michelle Gilgor; four nieces: Renee Haberman, Elisa Robyn Haberman, Alison Haberman Smith and Erica Haberman Smith; and great grandchildren: Hayden Riley King and Isaiah Crisp Strathern.

Finally, she is survived by her beloved standard poodle Sugar, who was always happy to see her and brought a smile to the face of many on her visits to the Memory Care Unit at Holbrook Decatur. Sugar also always enjoyed hearing Bryna sing songs that she composed about Sugar.

A Graveside Service will be held at 12 noon on Wednesday, June 4th at Judea Reform Congregation Cemetery, 2560 Jones Ferry Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27516.