Ida Estelle Engelberg

ENGELBERG, Ida Lebovitz passed away at age 78 in Sarasota, Florida, on April 11, 2025. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 13, 1947 to the late Joseph and Sara (Sally) Lebovitz. Ida is survived by her beloved spouse of 58 years, Leonard; her children Alec and Paul; her siblings, Maxine (Mike) Shepard and June “Junebug” Odegard; her nieces, Julia (Barry) Embree and Cynthia Schwartz; and her nieces’ children, Claire Embree (Ben Rodriguez), Mason Embree, and Sophie Schwartz.

After attending Snowden Elementary, East High School, and the Memphis Academy of Arts, Ida worked as a Commercial Artist at Lowenstein’s Department Store.

Cupid shot an arrow through the halls of Temple Israel’s Sunday School and brought Ida and Leonard together. The pair married in 1968 and loved going to Giovanni’s restaurant once a week.

When Leonard was stationed at the Pentagon, Ida worked at Dallas Airmotive and National Executive Search at Reagan National Airport and was a night manager of their apartment building in Alexandria, Virginia.

Eventually, they moved back to Memphis, where Leonard purchased Village Pharmacy, which served the Fox Meadows community. Ida and Leonard’s creative partnership led to expansions that included Potpourri Gift Shoppe – a well-regarded collectibles and Hallmark card shop – and Yogurt Safari, where Ida was dubbed the “Yogurt Queen.” During the Beanie Baby craze, she partnered with Make a Wish Foundation to donate a large portion of the sale of the collectibles, resulting in Village Pharmacy’s donation of two trips for St. Jude patients.

Ida and Leonard were known for hosting holiday-themed extravaganzas with costumes adorned by her employees and customers, who volunteered to join in on the fun. The costumes were provided by Theatre Memphis, for whom Ida provided Department 56 Christmas houses to circle the lobby Christmas tree for the production of “The Christmas Carol” over many years.

When Leonard sold the pharmacy to Piggly Wiggly after 27 years of operation, Ida continued to run her gift shop for another 10 years in Collierville.

But their proudest achievement was bringing their two sons, Alec and Paul, into the world. Ida encouraged her boys to never settle for what life can give you and to always aspire to greatness.

In her personal life, Ida never forgot to send a birthday, anniversary, or special holiday greeting card. She loved sending newspaper clippings to her extended family and created vacation itineraries based on magazine article subscriptions. She was the planner, and Leonard was the chauffeur.

She lived in the same house for 53 years and loved working in the garden, planting annuals to attract butterflies. She was most proud of her kitchen, which was featured in an issue of Mid South Living.

Ida was also the Program Chairman of the Memphis Hosta Society and a member of Temple Israel’s Sisterhood.

Her favorite phrase later in life was “I love you bunches.”

The funeral will be held on Wednesday, April 16, at 2 pm in the Levy-Cooper Chapel at Temple Israel Cemetery. The service will be streamed at Temple Israel’s website for those who are unable to attend. Please follow the link here: https://timemphis.org/watch-live/ The family asks that you celebrate Ida’s life with donations to St. Jude and Make a Wish Foundation.