Edith was born on July 19, 1932 to Suzanne and Solomon Chaftan and grew up in the Bronx. She and Herman lived in the same apartment building and knew each other as children. After graduating as valedictorian from Evander Childs High School, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa at Hunter College. Fluent in French and Spanish, she worked at the French Embassy in New York City. A devoted mother, she stayed home to raise her three children and later obtained a Masters of Library Science from Columbia University. Edith launched her second career, first as a librarian at Frisch School yeshiva in Paramus, NJ, and then as a research specialist with the American Association of Advertising Agencies. An early enthusiast of internet technology, she specialized in information management until retiring in her early 70s.
Passionate about literature, Edith read omnivorously. She and Herman were travel enthusiasts, eagerly exploring the US and countries around the world, including frequent trips to Edith’s ancestral roots in France. She enjoyed gourmet cooking, the arts, sailing, and an interesting conversation. All who knew her greatly admired Edith’s unflagging kindness and devotion to her family.
Edith will be dearly missed by her husband, her three children, Stephanie Fischer, Anne Ziffer Welsh and David Ziffer as well as by her eight grandchildren, Pam, Rory, Sam, and Tom Fischer, Zach and Jake Welsh, and Zoe and Niko Ziffer.
