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“It was where they were
supposed to live the best
years of their lives,” Jonathan
Epstein, the couple’s son and
only child, said to the Bucks
County Courier Times.

Jonathan Epstein, 26, knew
in real time what had happened
to his parents.

“I texted my mom, ‘Hey,
are you guys OK?’ And then,
the message went from blue to
green; it hadn’t been received.

I’ve spent so much time in their
apartment, and I saw which
part of the building collapsed
and I knew there was no way,”
he said to 6ABC on July 7.

David Epstein was a real
estate investor. The couple,
both Northeast Philadelphia
natives, lived in Bucks County
for 15 years before moving to
New York, then Florida; they
had long summered in Ventnor,
New Jersey, where they owned
a townhouse on the beach.

“I open my front door, and
I look right at their deck at the
shore,” said Sharla Feldscher,
a public relations professional
and the Epstein’s neighbor in
Ventnor. “It’s a real sense of
loss because I really like seeing
Bonnie every year, and David.

The whole thing is a shock.”
Feldscher has been neigh-
bors with the Epsteins for
more than a decade, but their
connection spanned far longer.

Bonnie Epstein’s aunt
grew up on the same block as
Feldscher’s husband. When the
Epsteins moved next store to the
Feldschers, it felt like a reunion:
“We had a family connection;
that was very special.”
The Epsteins loved the
ocean, spending
seven months of the year in their
Florida condo; they spent a
recent wedding anniversary
snorkeling together.

To honor his parents,
following the couple’s July
12 funeral, in lieu of gifts or
flowers, Jonathan Epstein set
up a fundraiser for Saving
the Blue, a marine wildlife
conservation nonprofit that his
parents had long supported. As
of this week, family and friends
had raised almost $8,000.

“My parents were just kind
people to everyone, whether
they just met you or if they
had known you for a long time.

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They were generous and sweet;
they lived life on their terms,”
Epstein said.

Jonathan Epstein said he
was close to his parents.

“They were just the absolute
coolest,” Epstein said to The
Philadelphia Inquirer. “I feel so
grateful to be their son.”
He has been keeping loved
ones appraised on the “Friends
of Bonnie GWHS 82” Facebook
page, where the family has
received an outpouring of
support. “Thank you all so much for
the kindness over the last week
— my parents were amazing
people and would be touched
by the outpouring of love and
support we’ve received,” he
wrote. Several other family and
friends remarked on the ways
the Epstein family had touched
their lives.

Joey Feldman, Bonnie
Epstein’s cousin, said he had
some of the best moments of
his life with the Epstein family.

“Growing up, Bonnie was
the closest I had to a sister. We
were both only children. She
is directly responsible for so
many things in my life. From
my first curse word to my first
concert. She introduced me to
all the music I would still love
to this day,” Feldman wrote on
Facebook. “David was one of
the best guys around.”
Feldscher described the
Epsteins’ lives as peaceful and
quiet. “You hear people talk about
their dreams all the time,”
Feldscher said. “They really
lived their dreams. They had
such a wonderful life.”
Hoping to connect with the
families of other victims of
the collapse, Jonathan Epstein
plans to travel to Miami at the
end of the month, according to
the Courier Times.

“Victims of something as
bizarre and tragic as this need to
stick together and find comfort
in each other,” he said. l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISH EXPONENT
David and Bonnie Epstein were married for 31 years.

Courtesy of Jonathan Epstein
Bonnie Epstein died in the Champlain Towers South condo collapse on
June 24. She was 56.

From left: Jonathan, David and Bonnie Epstein
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM