Bernice Perlman

Her parents, Philip and Yetta, ran a tailor shop on the Jewish Lower East Side.

Bernice wrote that, “Since it was necessary for both my parents to be in the store from early morning until late at night, my two older brothers and I had to shift pretty much for ourselves. We made our own friends, fought our own battles and in general learned to depend on ourselves.”

Bernice had two brothers, Louis and Milt. She is predeceased by her late husband, Robert, and survived by her three children David, Dan and Judy, their spouses Nora and Tammy, and grandchildren Jessica Mirr, Brandon Mirr, Emily Holmes, Jeremy Perlman, Esther Binstock, and Mahalia Binstock, and her nieces and nephews.

Bernice went to Hunter College and earned her MSW from Western Reserve, working at a Jewish community center and a VA hospital with mentally ill veterans. In Cleveland, she met and would marry Bob Perlman. He was three years older, also a social worker, who had served in the Navy during World War II. They ended up in Newton when Bob attended graduate school and then joined the faculty at the Heller School at Brandeis University.

After the kids had grown, Bernice went back to work at Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston, where she was a respected senior administrator for many years.

After they retired, they continued to travel and remained active in an unnamed Jewish study group that met for more than 30 years. After Bob died, Bernice remained in her beloved home with support from a dedicated team of caregivers until moving to a nursing home in January 2020.

A celebration of Bernice's life will be held at a later date.