obituaries
graduated from Overbook High School in
Philadelphia at 16 and attended Temple
University. She is predeceased by her hus-
band Herbert and eldest son Michael. She
is survived by her son David (Sam Phillips)
and 2 grandsons, as well as numerous rel-
atives. Phyllis traveled the world as a part-
time agent and was a bookkeeper for her
husband’s business. She lived the last 10
years of her life in West Palm Beach. She
was reading until she went to hospice - using
her remarkable intellect. She will be missed
by many. A memorial tribute will be held at a
later date.

KANTER RUTH passed away on November 8th from
natural causes surrounded by her loving
family. Ruth is preceded in death by her
husband, Morton. She is survived by her
daughters, Carol Clarke and Connie Kanter,
grandchildren, Mary Clarke (Tyler), Roger
Clarke (Sylwia), Simon Broches and Miriam
Broches, her brother, Sam Marcus, and be-
loved sister-in-law, Rhoda Kanter. Ruth was
a wonderful listener and devoted friend and
had many friends in the Philadelphia area
where she lived from her birth in 1932 until
2013 when she moved to Naples, Florida.

She made close friends in Naples, enjoy-
ing bridge and mah jong with her friends
at The Terraces. Ruth had a Bachelor’s
Degree from University of Pennsylvania and
a Master’s Degree from Villanova University.

Ruth worked as a guidance counselor in
Philadelphia where her kindness and com-
passion impacted many lives. Donations
in Ruth’s memory may be made to the
University of Pennsylvania (upenn.edu).

JOSEPH LEVINE & SONS
www.levinefuneral.com LAVET
BLOSSOM (nee Young)-November 9, 2022
of Bala Cynwyd, PA. Beloved wife of the late
Irving Lavet; loving mother of Robert Lavet
(Lorraine), Karen Scott (Lee), and Lynne
Lavet Mancuso; devoted grandmother of
Jennifer (Jamie), Samantha (Jeff), Jake
(Nina), Jessica, Allie, Jenna, and Dani; trea-
sured sister of Roslyn, Gilbert (Dianne), and
the late Herbert. In lieu of flowers, contribu-
tions in her memory may be made to a charity
of the donor’s choice.

JOSEPH LEVINE & SONS
www.levinefuneral.com in death by her husband Edmund Lovenwirth
and her daughter Karen Levy. She is survived
by her daughter Michele (Jack) Berman,
son-in-law Paul Levy, grandchildren, Eric
Berman, Melissa (James) Craig, David
Levy, and great granddaughter, Charlotte
Craig. Contributions in her memory may be
made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the
Alzheimer’s Association, or Congregation Or-
Ami of Lafayette Hill.

GOLDSTEINS’ ROSENBERG’S
RAPHAEL-SACKS www.goldsteinsfuneral.com
LIEBMAN EUGENE JULES, Veteran - Eugene Jules
Liebman was born on May 18,1940 in north-
east Philadelphia. He was the son of Louis
and Elizabeth Liebman. Gene passed away
on November 8, 2022 at the age of 82. He is
survived by his wife Phyllis who he was mar-
ried to for 42 years. Father of Michael (Amy)
Liebman, Aileen (late Richard) Sabol, Tracy
(Marc) Segal and Rachel (Andrew) Franco.

Brother of the late Dr. Robert Liebman and
Murray Liebman; also survived by 10 grand-
children and 1 great granddaughter. As a
child, Gene enjoyed spending time at the
New Jersey shore with his family. There he
could be found swimming, fishing, and walk-
ing the boardwalk. He often found his way
into the boardwalk arcades and spoke often
of his memories playing the amusements in-
cluding woodrail pinball machines from the
early 1950s. He enlisted in the army prior
to the Vietnam War and was stationed for a
period of time in Fort Dix, NJ. Gene was a
member of the 50th armored infantry division
of the US Army but was never deployed. He
often told stories of his time in the military,
and it defined who he was. Gene held nu-
merous jobs for various companies over the
years but spoke fondly of his time as a busi-
ness owner of hair salons serving customers
in the greater Philadelphia area. He always
enjoyed working on his cars and eventually
started racing as a hobby well into his seven-
ties. He owned several corvettes and other
race cars that he would take to the track at
ATCO or Maple Grove raceway. Gene had
a sweet tooth and rarely could pass up dark
chocolate, ice-cream, or a good pastry.

LOVENWIRTH MYRA (nee Cohen), of Philadelphia, PA -
Passed away peacefully on October 15,
2022, at the age of 85. She was preceded
MARKS CONNIE, for more than 35 years an ele-
mentary school teacher in Philadelphia, died
Nov. 4, 2022, at 95. She was beloved in her
neighborhood of Northeast Philly, where she
got hundreds of children off to a strong aca-
demic start and helped them become kind,
curious, and self-confident human beings.

Every school has a teacher for whom par-
ents petition the principal, begging for their
children to be in that class. Connie was that
teacher. Connie lived in Princeton, N.J., since
2005. Born July 15, 1927, in Philadelphia,
Constance Pearl Seidler was the daughter of
Morris and Rose Seidler, who owned a dry-
goods store in Minersville, Pa., a town known
for its anthracite coal. She was the middle
child, coming after brother Edwin and before
baby sister Lois. The Seidlers were among
only a few Jewish families in the community.

Connie’s high school yearbook singled her
out as “the career girl” of the class. She loved
reading, and as a high school student, she
hoped to become a librarian. Minersville’s
public library had closed in 1941, and in 1944,
Connie and three classmates came up with a
project to reopen it. With the help of a teach-
er, they cleaned all the books and helped to
get the building ready. The library reopened
in November of that year and remains open
today. After high school, Connie attended
Penn State University, commuting to a satel-
lite campus for the first two years. Her family
had lost the dry-goods store as a result of
the Great Depression, and so did not have
money to send her for a master’s degree,
which she would need to become a librarian.

She majored in education instead. For the
rest of her life, she said this was one of the
best things that ever happened to her.Connie
adored teaching, and her students adored
her. Her first teaching job was at the Landreth
School in Philadelphia. But she spent almost
her entire career – 35 years – at the school
her own children attended, Louis H. Farrell
Elementary School, just a couple of blocks
from her Northeast Philadelphia home. She
taught first and second grade – sometimes
together – and led school assemblies and
conducted the chorus. Some of her success
can be attributed to what came to be known
as the “Connie look”: She would stand silent-
ly at the front of a roomful of rambunctious
6-year-olds, and within seconds, the children
would miraculously settle into silence. In the
1970s, when Northeast Philly drew Jewish
immigrants from the Soviet Union and ref-
ugees from Vietnam, Connie advocated for
these students and gave them clothing, toys,
and equipment from her family’s closets. “If
you haven’t worn it, played with it, or used
it in a year, you don’t need it,” her daughter,
Marilyn, recalls Connie telling her. Connie
stressed that her daughter should never say
anything if she saw another child wearing
her coat or riding her bike in the schoolyard,
as this would embarrass the child. Connie’s
success and devotion to teaching were rec-
ognized by her supervisors and others. She
was nominated multiple times by district lead-
ers to be national Teacher of the Year, and
when she retired, the City Council adopted
a resolution lauding her for “tapping into the
inquisitive minds of children, and instilling
pride and confidence in her students … so
no child slips through the system unnoticed.”
A council member presented the resolution
at a surprise school assembly. She was a
strong supporter of her union, the American
Federation of Teachers. But when the union
went on strike for better working conditions
– occasionally for weeks at a time – Connie
worried that children in her class would fall
behind. Each day, after spending the morn-
ing on the picket line, Connie would spend
the afternoon tutoring children at her home.

The lessons were free, though some families
offered payment in lasagnas and cakes. The
great love of Connie’s life was Morris Marks,
whom she met when they lived across the
street from each other in Philadelphia. They
were married for 64 years, until Morris died
May Their Memory Be For a Blessing
The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent extends condolences to the families of those who have passed.

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