BETTY AJCES

AJCES--Betty Green, age 93, died August 11, 2022 after suffering a stroke. Born in Jackson Heights, Queens on March 8, 1929, Betty was a lifelong musician and passionate supporter of the arts. Her father, Louis Green, played clarinet for the NBC Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini, and Betty grew up in a house filled with music. A graduate of New York City's High School of Music and Art, Betty played piano, double bass, and cello. After graduating high school in 1947, Betty toured with an "all-girl" jazz trio, playing throughout the country in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She continued to play in community orchestras into her eighties, serving as Chair of the Board of the Rockaway-Five Towns Orchestra for many years. Betty is pre-deceased by her beloved husband of 42 years, Leon Ajces, a Ukrainian born immigrant who fought in WWII, as a Jewish major in Stalin's Red Army. He defected to the US in 1948, and his remarkable story was chronicled in the 2003 book, "Songa's Story: How a Shtetl Jew Found the American Dream." She is survived by her niece, Natalie Green Giles (Doug), nephew, Jonathan Green (Hilary Thomas), and great-nieces and nephew Gabrielle, Alexandra, and Devon.