Esther Gurfein Miklowitz

Esther Gurfein Miklowitz Esther Gurfein Miklowitz, 94, passed Friday, April 24, 2009, at her home in Tallahassee, with family. She was born December 11, 1914, in Galicia, Poland, and arrived with her parents, Elias and Anna Gurfein, and five siblings, David, Sylvia, Jack, Lou and Lenny, at Ellis Island in New York Harbor on January 29, 1921. They first lived in a crowded apartment at 355 E. Houston St. As a teenager she worked with her older sister, Sylvia, and mother at her uncle's popular restaurant nearby, Garfein's, at 10 Avenue A. She graduated from Brooklyn's New Utrecht High School in 1933. She was babysitting her sister's son, Jay, when she met Manny Miklowitz. He was a blond baker who worked in his parents' bake shops. They married April 14, 1935, at Garfein's. Together they endured the Depression and World War 2. Esther's wish for a child was fulfilled in 1949, with Linda, who was fair like Manny. The family moved to Miami Beach in 1952, where Manny became head baker and pastry chef for Wolfie Cohen's new restaurant, the Rascal House, in 1954. Esther was hired as perhaps the first woman stock broker in Miami by Hirsch and Co. Giving financial advice to others was a strain, so she returned to being a private investor. She also served as a grand juror for Dade County for several years around 1980. Her trial-attorney daughter tried out many a jury argument on her mother to get common- sense reactions. After 57 years of marriage to Manny, Esther became a widow in 1992. In 2003, she took Linda's invitation to move to Tallahassee from Miami Beach after finding electricity and Publix here. Esther was referred to Big Bend Hospice June 1, 2005, for heart-valve stenosis with a six-month prognosis, but four little pills a day prevented excess fluid. She had kind home-care providers like Sharon and Tamika and compassionate nurses like Fran. Music therapists Natalie and Jennie enabled her to sing standards. We discovered her pitch and rhythm, even with diminshed hearing, Esther, a devoted and loving mother and wife, is survived here by daughter Linda Miklowitz and grandchildren Paul de Revere and Sara de Revere; younger brother Lenny Gurfein (Penny) of Manhattan; and many nephews and nieces. Burial will be at the family plot in Mt. Hebron Cemetery in Queens, N.Y., on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Jewish Memorial Chapel (800 617-2303) in N.Y. with Bevis Funeral Home assisting.