Gerrie Karasik

“Let me tell you a story……………”

Gerrie Karasik passed in her sleep at the end of an intense bout of pancreatic cancer on 17 July, 2020. She was surrounded by her husband and kids who were there to say good bye.

Gerrie’s story began on 16 July, 1931 in Hazelton, PA. She was the daughter of Harry & Rose (Slutsky) Klemow and sister to younger brother, Marvin.

Gerrie was a precocious and curious child. She wanted to know about every topic and questioned everything and everyone; including her elders and local rabbis. Never intimidated, she asked “why?” if something didn’t make sense. She always demanded a truthful and detailed explanation to any question she asked. Especially troubling to her were questions about God and the role of women in the Torah.

During 7th grade, the Klemow family moved to the Bronx, New York City where Gerri caught the eye of Len at P.S. 6 elementary school.  Growing up together, Gerrie and Len often engaged in lively political discussions: she, the conservative and he, the liberal. Len provided much-needed help for Gerrie when she struggled with chemistry. Science aside, Gerrie excelled academically and graduated from Evander Child High School in 3 ½ years instead of the usual 4 years. She started Hunter College at 16 years old but didn’t graduate due to many interruption some 30 years later.

Gerrie’s first interruption happened when Len returned from Korea in 1953. They started dating and were married in 1954. She attempted to return to college many times but moving to Colorado and having Mark, Joel and Susan kept interrupting her progress. Gerrie finally graduated from Metropolitan State College in 1979.

During those 30 years, Len returned from military service and he and Gerrie were married in 1955. Together, they raised 3 kids: Mark, Joel and Susan.

At heart, Gerrie was a story teller and an educator. When Gerrie said, “let me tell you a story”, you got a vivid, Charles Dickens-like description of movies and books. If Gerrie described a story, you wouldn’t just get a synopsis of a story, she would deliver a lively back story and then a second back story as well. Gerrie held many jobs but the ones she loved let her share her passion with students as a teacher at religious school or volunteering at her children’s and grandchildren’s schools. This was her fire. She taught over the decades at various religious and elementary schools, developing curricula and authoring a children’s religious text with Rabbi Raymond Zwerin. She fought to make certain her own kids were imbued with a strong sense of Jewish identity. One battle in particular was to ensure that Hanukah was somehow included in her kid’s elementary school Christmas concerts. All the while, she was conflicted by the “male” and God concepts of traditional Jewish teachings and liturgy. Unfortunately, Gerrie was never able to resolve these conflicts. Despite this, Gerrie’s curiosity and desire to learn new things never waned. Her desire to explore and grow lasted until her last days.

Gerrie is survived by her husband and best friend from the 7th grade; Len, her kids, Mark, (Sandy), Joel, (Debbie) and Susan, (Tedd Rush); grandkids, Sam, Ben, Nate, Cooper, Sarah and Teagan, brother Marvin, (Brenda) Klemow, several nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews. Her death leaves a great hole in her family.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to either Yiddishbookcenter. Org or Lilith.org.