Obituary of Sandra F. Berman

Sandra F. Berman, age 76, died on Thursday, March 29, 2012, from complications following bypass surgery. She was born in Morristown and moved to Plainfield when she was in high school. She was a Hartridge graduate and pursued undergraduate studies both at Hood College in Frederick, MD and at Rutgers. Sandra was treasurer of Fromm Electric Supply Corporation for many years. She was the President of the Plainfield Regional Hebrew Day School and continued to provide leadership when the school became The Hebrew Academy of Central NJ in Perth Amboy. She will be honored this spring by the Solomon Schechter Day School in East Brunswick at their Founders dinner. She was the first recipient of the Aishet Chayil Award at Rutgers Chabad for her leadership in the Jewish Community. She was a founder of the Central NJ Jewish Home For the Aged, which is now the Regency Jewish Heritage Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She was on the board of the Jewish Horizon newspaper, which is now the NJJN. Active in the Jewish Federation of Central NJ, and the JCC, she held numerous board positions and was a founding member of the Jewish Community Endowment. She was a longtime congregant of both Temple Sholom and Congregation Beth Israel in their Plainfield and Scotch Plains sites. She and her husband funded the establishment of the Kosher Halal Kitchen at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA, which won the prestigious Haber award from B'nai Brith Hillel for groundbreaking work in bringing Jewish and Muslim students together. A voracious philanthropist, both her keen sense of social justice and deep generosity opened her heart and her mailbox to a wide spectrum of charities: Jewish, Christian, Native American, educational institutions, food pantries, social service organizations, medical research funds and hospitals, museums and various other art organizations, and beyond. She is predeceased by her husband of 45 years, Daniel Berman, and by her son, Robert Berman. Surviving are her daughter, Ellen Berman of Woodbridge, and her brother, Jules Fromm of North Brunswick. She is also survived by extended family: Phyllis Berman and Arthur Waskow of Philadelphia, PA, Morissa, Jason and Yaela Wiser of Somerville, MA, Keif Fromm of Hillsborough, Keira Fromm of Chicago, IL, Fred and Katie Sher of Oradell, and Jana Scher and Shirlee Goldstein of North Brunswick. She will be greatly missed. Funeral Services will take place on Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. at Higgins Home For Funerals, 209 West Eighth Street, Plainfield. Interment will follow at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery, Iselin.