She died surrounded by loved ones, after weeks of intense connection and intense confusion. She was the matriarch of a sprawling family but also a math teacher, volleyball player and voracious reader. She lived her life, both the moments of great difficulty and joy, with intensity and resilience, selflessness, and stubbornness.
Born the second-youngest of five children on May 20, 1933, to Israel and Rahel Dratva in Telenești, the republic of Moldova in the USSR, her early life was marked by tragedy amidst the backdrop of World War II. After near-starvation and a deportation to Central Asia, Zhenya returned to Moldova and built her life between the rural towns of Leova and Iargara, where she became a math teacher and met Aleksandr (Shaya) Trakhtenberg, who would become her husband.
Defying the historical forces tearing her world apart, Zhenya built a family with the protective and loving support of Aleksandr, whom she met while he was a bus driver. Together they raised three children, Raisa, Igor and Luba. Their childhood in Leova was punctuated by their mother’s ferocious work to keep a tightly running household and sweetened by a small but tight-knit Jewish community, regular trips to the Black Sea and Zhenya’s skill at making delicious baked goods.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, she and Aleksandr followed their three children and immigrated to the United States, bravely beginning a new life in Houston, TX. Fondly called Baba by her grandchildren, she took care of them, making after-school snacks, helping with math homework and keeping their knowledge of the Russian language alive. Among the ways she learned to navigate a new world was learning to drive at a late age. Aleksandr died on October 12, 1998, and Zhenya held him in her heart for the rest of her days.
Throughout her life, she remained a devoted caregiver, a prodigious consumer of books and movies, and a woman who taught the family she took care of to take care of each other.
Zhenya will live on in her children (Raisa Kunichoff, Igor and Ella Trakhtenberg, Luba and Felix Uklist), grandchildren (Leon and Rina Trakhtenberg, Michael Trakhtenberg and Andrea Wolfowicz, Yana Kunichoff, Dennis Kunichoff, Mitchell Kunichoff, Tatiana Uklist and Eric Uklist) and great-grandchildren (Ariel Trakhtenberg, Julia Trakhtenberg and Ada Trakhtenberg). She is also survived by her sister and brother, Fima Dratva and Eva Koifman, in Israel.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her memory to a charity of your choice.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, a private funeral was held at Emanu El Memorial Park. Please leave messages of condolence and memories for the family below.
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