Bertha Shankman Lutz

Bertha Shankman Leightman Lutz passed away on May 28, 2012.

The daughter of the late Sam and Rose Shankman, she was preceded in death by her brothers, Aaron and Herzl Shankman and her beloved husband, Herman Leightman, the father of her children, and her second husband, Jacob Lutz.

She is survived by her children Daniel Leightman and his wife Evelyn of Houston, Texas, Judy Sosin and her husband Judge Ted Sosin of Indianapolis, grandchildren Michael Leightman (and his wife, Alissa), Rachel Sosin Fox (and her husband, Dan), Jeremy Sosin (and his wife Rabbi Stacy Schlein),Rebecca Leightman (and her husband, Mason Dykstra) and, 11 great-grandchildren and numerous loving nieces and nephews.

After graduating from what is now the University of Memphis at age 19, she began her career in education " a vocation and avocation that stayed with her for entire life. Widowed at age 35, she continued to live life to its fullest focusing on her children and community service. She served three separate terms as president of the Hadassah Memphis chapter reflecting both her love and the love of her father for Zionism and the State of Israel. She visited Israel on 13 separate occasions and ensured that each of her children and grandchildren accompanied her on at least one of these meaningful visits. Her generosity is memorialized on a plaque in the Hadassah hospital on Mount Scopus. As head of the women's division of the Jewish Federation, she devoted significant effort toward raising funds to promote the welfare of the State of Israel and its inhabitants.

She also worked diligently in raising funds for the American Cancer Society. At age 40 she became interested in flying, completing the course of instruction and obtaining her pilot's license. At age 64, she embarked on a yearlong effort to extend her knowledge of Hebrew and Jewish studies and celebrated her 65th birthday with a bat mitzvah in Boca Raton, Florida attended by her entire extended family.

She also inherited her father's love of the environment and devoted much of her time serving at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, Florida. Her efforts there are commemorated in a stained glass window which was installed in her honor depicting a panorama of Florida wildlife. As volunteer coordinator at the Nature Center, she developed and implemented an extensive volunteer program in which she supervised over 200 volunteers. Based on these efforts, in 1994, at age 79, she was named Volunteer of the Year by the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce. Her skills as a teacher were appreciated by many of her friends and she received great pleasure in teaching others the finer points of the game. She continued play and teach to until the last month of her life.

In lieu of the flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Hadassah or the Jewish Community Center of Indianapolis.

Funeral services will be held at the Baron Hirsch Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee at noon on Thursday, May 31, 2012. Memorial services will be held on Sunday, June 3 at the home of Daniel and Evelyn Leightman in Houston, Texas and at the home of Judy and Judge Ted Sosin in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Arrangements entrusted to Aaron Ruben Nelson Mortuary.