Evelyn Marie Stern

Birth date: Dec 12, 1922 Death date: Jan 8, 2016

Evelyn Marie Stern (nee Levy), lost her fight with pancreatic cancer after a 3 ½ year battle. She leaves behind 4 generations of children: Daughters Jackie James & Leslie (Rick) Blackson, Son David (Lisa) Stern; Grandchildren Marc Read Obituary

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CARED FOR BY

Shapiro Funeral Care

26801 Miles Road, Cleveland OH 44128

(440) 498-1993

Leslie Stern Blackson

533w ago

My mom leaves me with so many fond and funny memories and I’d like to share some of them with you.

“Mrs. Stern” was known amongst my friends as the “hip mom”. When I was a teenager, my friends loved to visit with my mom, razzing her about all kinds of things. She was quite opinionated, was always ready for a good argument and loved the attention. She knew how to have fun, too. She started the tradition of doing cartwheels with all the kids, and that has passed on through the generations in our family.

She was known for her sense of style, always dressing impeccably - even though due to her tiny size she often had to shop in the young teen department for her clothes and the children’s department for her shoes. You know the saying: “Like mother like daughter”? When we were planning for my wedding, she called to tell me about the beautiful dress she had purchased to wear to my wedding. I asked her to describe it, and low and behold - she had purchased the same dress I had chosen as my wedding dress! 3K miles away and we bought the same dress!

And Mom sure loved rock’n’roll. Her favorites included Jon Bon Jovi, John Cougar Melancamp, Billy Joel and most recently Adam Levine. She followed the gossip in People Magazine, and saved the photos of her favorite rock stars.

When my Dad passed away 5 years ago, Mom lived on her own for the first time in her life. She had a small apartment and was getting the hang of living alone, but that was cut short when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She immediately underwent chemotherapy treatment, and soon after went to live with Marcy & Phil.

My Mom and Dad weren’t big travelers and Marcy wanted to fulfill Mom’s dreams to travel. During the 3 years that she lived with Marcy & Phil, Mom got to travel to Chautauqua, Grand Rapids, Nashville, Louisville, San Pedro, Seattle, Portland, Clearwater, Sarasota. She even went camping in Mohican to watch her great grandson-in-law run a 50 mile marathon.

I’m so grateful that Marcy could take Mom on these journeys, and even more grateful that I could join in on several of them. One of my favorites was the trip to Kentucky & Tennessee, where we travelled back in time to show Mom the towns where she first lived with Dad, and where her first child (my sister Jackie) was born. We had a great time visiting Fort Knox, where my Dad had been stationed during WWII. The rules there are strict regarding access - and no photos are allowed. We caused our own version of “trouble” and had even more fun teasing Mom and letting her think we were going to be arrested and had to escape.

Mom wasn’t much of a drinker, but she did love a Kahlua and Cream cocktail. She even held her own when we went on the Bourbon Tour in Kentucky and there she found the Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream to be her favorite.

The famous Brown Hotel was a big part of Mom’s history during her first years of marriage, as was Churchill Downs - so glad we could take her back to see it all once again.

I moved to California nearly 40 years ago, and even though we managed to visit with each other regularly, I really got to know my mom these past few years, spending some of the most significant times together in December as I tried to comfort her through her final weeks. On Friday I was awakened by a bright light. I didn’t find out until morning that it was around that time that Mom had passed.

Mom, I am going to take that as a sign that you have arrived in Heaven, reunited with your Mom whom you’ve missed so deeply, and with your husband who shared 69 years with you here on earth. I’ll miss you Mom, say “Hi” to Rick for me.

Marcy Imperi

534w ago

Neither Evelyn nor Aaron wanted a funeral service, so the gathering of friends of family was for those of us who remain, and for us to share a memory, a thought, a favorite story - of the two people that were buried together on January 11, 2016.

My grandfather Aaron Stern died nearly 5 years ago, his ashes carefully stored in an urn which sat on the dresser in Evelyn’s room, under the American flag proudly displayed on the wall commemorating his service in World War II.

Aaron’s life was a demonstration of generosity, in which he gave of himself over and over again to provide for a family of 7. My brother, Mark, & I benefited from the sacrifices he was willing to make. His devotion to family and his undying work ethic were an instrumental influence in my youth. I have so many wonderful memories of times shared going to work with him, from the time I was 7 and helping out at Robert Hall - all the way to age 21 and helping to manage his store, Mr. Big’s. Gramps, as we called him, stepped into the role of being our Dad and made sure we had everything we needed to succeed. He was quick to share a limerick, a silly saying and especially a “dirty” joke. One of the most remarkable things he showed me was the way he cared for his parents, whom we visited many times per week throughout my childhood.

Evelyn was the “stay-at-home” Mom figure in my life, and was involved in everything I did. From the ballet/jazz/tap lessons several times per week for 16 years, to the modeling career at Higbee’s in my early teens, Gram always made sure that these opportunities were made available, taxiing me around to everything. And like Leslie’s childhood memories, she was the “hip” grandmom, still doing cartwheels with us kids on the front lawn when she was in her 60’s.

Phil & I had the unique experience of having Evelyn as our roommate for 3 years. During this time, we witnessed a re-birth of sorts, where she was able to “let go and live.” We not only took her to parts of the country she had never seen, I used to have her “riding shotgun” with me on my daily travels throughout Northeast Ohio. She was always amazed when I would tell her what city or county we were in, remarking on how she’d never been there before. I took to her theater plays, concerts, we would even go dancing at the local bars, listening to everything from Reggae, to Rock’n’Roll, to Big Band music. We dined out quite a bit, and she was able to enjoy some of the finest restaurants all around town. She often was part of the many “happy hour” get togethers with my friends. Evelyn was always ready for a party - right up to the end!

Although she wasn’t feeling her best, she rallied for her last birthday party on December 12th. She made it to 93 - what an accomplishment. And for most of those years, she was amazingly healthy and in fantastic shape. I guess there is something to say about a daily dose of blueberries.

I have 54 years of memories to hold on to, so as we go through the motions for the final steps in the lives of my grandparents, I know they gave me their best.

Marcy D Davitt