Edith Lapowsky

Edith Lapowsky lived a life of precision. She was precise in the way she dressed, the way she spoke, and the way she recounted the granular details of any story without exaggeration or omission. So it’s particularly fitting that Edith lived precisely one century, dying in her home on September 29, her 100th birthday.

She and her older sister Miriam were raised in Strawberry Mansion by their parents, Isadore and Elsie Freedman, whose unlikely love story was one of Edith’s favorites: The tailor who fell helplessly for a betrothed woman back in the former Ukraine, only to find her again years later, after she had slipped away to America with her dowry. Edith ensured her parents’ fateful story and so many others lived on through the generations.

Edith went on to attend Penn State University, where one day she met Abe Lapowsky, a young man recently returned from war, who caught her attention in class when he raised his hand to share his counter cultural views on capitalism. They reconnected later that day at the Hillel Center on campus, beginning their own love story, which spanned nearly 70 years of marriage.

Together, Edith and Abe traveled the world, marched for justice in Washington, and put on a show on any dance floor. They raised three children, Bob, Ellen, and Susie at their home on Atwater Road, where they hosted their close circle of friends and gathered the family for Thanksgivings, set to the tune of the jazz greats. They took their children on cross country adventures and, later in life, when Edith became “Bubbie,” they exposed their grandchildren to their love of the arts on trips to the Barnes collection and Academy of Music. Theirs was a true partnership, based on shared passions, mutual respect, and enduring love.

Edith was passionate about politics and remained so even at the end of her life, handily acing The New York Times news quiz from bed as she recovered from injuries. She was fiercely independent and a consummate lady, who also understood well before her time that being a lady didn’t mean compromising on any of her well-considered beliefs. It would be tempting to say she forgot more history than most of us will ever know, but the truth is she never forgot a thing. It wouldn’t be unusual for any conversation with Edith to somehow wind its way to a lengthy lesson on the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Edith taught in the Philadelphia School District early on in her career, but she was herself a lifelong learner. Well into her 90s, she mastered Zoom and Google Photo albums to keep up with her children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren during the isolation of the pandemic. Sharp, resilient and headstrong, she wouldn’t be sidelined by the complexities of modern life, even as the world changed dramatically around her.

Edith considered family to be her greatest gift. She delighted in their accomplishments, and in the last days of her life repeatedly said with a smile, “I’m so fortunate to have such a wonderful family.” It is thanks to her that her family knows not only where they came from, but who they are. Edith passed down those stories with care. We hope to do the same.

Services were private.

Arr. by Joseph Levine & Sons  www.levinefuneral.com