Irma Levine

First off I want to thank everyone for coming to this celebration of my mom’s life. She wanted a small funeral however you cannot say goodbye to someone who lead a larger than live existence in a small way. My mom never traveled first class but today we have sent her off in a first class manner.

My mom was a wonderful strong woman who loved everyone she came in contact with. She always strived to be the best and she was the best mom in the world to me.

She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1926 the younger of 2 sisters born to Abe and Frida Shore. She was born 3 years before the great depression and said because her father was prepared she never felt the despair many American’s felt at the time. When she was 5 years old she contracted scarlet fever and the house was quarantined and my grandfather’s grocery store which they lived over. She also had her head was shaved which was the practice at the time. She saw the world go to war and being in Philadelphia she saw many young men go to war and the war production. She married my dad in 1951 and they moved to southern California in 1956. In 1957 my brother Charles was born and in 1961 I was born. In 1968 my parents divorced and my mom raised her 2 boys alone. She worked 3 jobs to support us and we helped. I am not sure how many of you remember Penny Post but I am sure all of you have heard of the Penny Saver, Penny Post was the predecessor to the Penny Saver. We would get up at 4:30 AM and fold the Penny Post advertisements and then deliver them to the areas where we were assigned to deliver them. Afterwards we would go to Sambo’s or Mc Donald’s and have breakfast and then off to school. In 1973 she married Arnold Levine and they live a long and happy life together until his passing in 2009. Now she will join him here in interment.

If you met my mom you felt the love for life she had in her heart right from the beginning. She was a friend to everyone and led a larger than life existence.

Many of you may know my mom but you may not know the following:

1.) She had no sense of direction. She often said she could get lost in her own bathroom.

2.) She donated lots of money to several charities that support children and the arts.

3.) She cursed like a sailor when she was passionate about something.

4.) She grew up Kensington which is a part of Philadelphia.

5.) She liked to argue. When she was right which was most of the time she would make you see her way.

6.) She was my best friend and advisor right up to the end.

7.) Her main motivation in life was to see her children happy and successful.

8.) She was an avid reader of all kinds of Literature.

9.) She looked at life as an adventure. She traveled the world to see what she had read about in books or saw on television. From Europe to Asia to all of America she and Arnold saw it all.

10.) She loved animals especially her Schnauzers Pudgy and Mia. She loved all of my animals too, including the birds, cats, dogs, lizards, rats and turtles. Her favorites were my dog Elwood and our cat Sassy.

11.) She helped make me the man that I am by advising me and not demanding of me. By directing me and advising me allowing me to find the right answer.

12.) Had a wonderful sense of humor and loved a good joke, especially a Yiddish joke. For those of you who don’t know Yiddish is a lingua farnca spoken which enabled jews from all over the world to understand each other.

13.) Before she married my father she worked for a real-estate agent named Mr. Harry. We think she was his secretary or book keeper and he wanted her to take the real-estate license exam. If she had done so she would have been the only female real-estate agent at the time in Philadelphia. She was always ahead of her time.

14.) At a party in 1980 she was having an argument with a man there and he finally got frustrated and said, “Fuck You Lady”. Without skipping a beat she replied with, “Buddy if you ever fucked me you would be beating down the door to Fuck me again”

15.) She extremely dedicated to family and friend.

She will be sorely missed because she could always be counted on for great advice, for bringing calm to any situation, and a great joke. And obviously being a wonderful person to be around.

Thank you all again for coming today.