Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home

CAMDEN - Gertrude Itkin died as gracefully as she lived Oct. 7, 2015, at Quarry Hill.
She was born in Baltimore Sept. 5, 1917, to Morris and Bessie Goldberg, who were both Russian Jewish immigrants. She was the fourth of their five daughters -- the others being Ethel, Ruth, Sylvia and Estelle. Their sixth child was a son, Stanley, who died of diphtheria at the age of 2.
Morris was an itinerant dress designer and Bessie had been a seamstress with only an elementary school education before becoming a parent. Shortly after Gertrude’s birth, the family moved back to their hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y., where Bessie introduced the girls to museums, films and the Yiddish theater.
Gertrude married the love of her life, David Itkin, in 1937. A self-described "bookworm," Gertrude graduated from Brooklyn College with a bachelor's degree in 1938. She was happy to leave her “incredibly boring” job at Brooklyn Gas & Electric Co. to care for her sons, Richard and Paul. The family moved to New City, N.Y., and in 1944 David enlisted in the Army and served in the tank corps in Europe.
Gertrude loved the freedom of living in "the country." She learned to drive a car and chop wood, literally keeping the home fires burning while David was away at war. In 1947 they bought their first house and had two more children, Stephen and Andrea. The Itkin home became the welcoming hub for Gert and Dave's large extended family and diverse group of close friends. The children often slept on army cots to make room for visiting friends and relatives.
When all her children were of school age, Gertrude returned to school and after receiving a master’s degree in education from NYU, she began her teaching career in upstate New York at Haverstraw Elementary School. Three years later, she joined the fifth-grade faculty of Sloatsburg Elementary, and soon thereafter established their library program, becoming their first full-time library teacher until her retirement in 1977. Her library was the creative center of the school, where students published a school newspaper, wrote and bound their own books, and wrote and produced movies.
After retirement, Gertrude and David explored the United States by car and traveled overseas to England, France, Italy, the former Yugoslavia and Russia. Gertrude was a lifelong learner -- she continued to travel, to take courses and to volunteer well into her 80s. When she and David moved to Easton, Md., to help care for her daughter's children, she became an active member of the Academy of the Arts and the Reader's Theater. After David passed away, Gertrude moved to Camden in 1988 to again be near her daughter's family.
She immediately found ways to contribute to her new community by volunteering for Bay Chamber Concerts, the Farnsworth Art Museum, the Rockland Library, Habitat for Humanity, and Literacy Volunteers. When Andrea worked for New Hope for Women, Gertrude offered her apartment as a safe home. When Andrea wrote a play, Gertrude designed costumes and became her publicist.
Gertrude was always there for all her children and their families -- visiting them wherever they roamed, opening her home to all, freely offering love, laughs and support with no strings attached. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were all lucky enough to have known her and to have felt her warmth and indomitable spirit.
She is survived by her sister, Estelle Dekoff, of Lake Worth, Fla.; her children and their spouses, Andrea Itkin and Ben Ellison of Camden, Richard and Hildy Itkin of Camden, Paul Itkin of Los Angeles and Stephen Itkin and Dr. Laurie Harkness of New Haven Conn.; her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Ariana and Dr. Patrick Killoran and their daughters, Paloma and Mirabel, of Camden, Curran Reynolds of Brooklyn, N.Y., Beth Weissman and her son, Jared, of Providence R.I., Douglas Itkin and Anisa Raoof and their sons, Ethan and Dylan, of Providence, R.I., Alexis Itkin of Los Angeles; and her step-granddaughter, Jesse Ellison, of Camden; as well as all her beloved nephews and nieces and their children and grandchildren.
Gertrude was one of the first residents at Quarry Hill and her family gives special thanks to all the staff members who always appreciated her humor and treated her with the kindness and respect she deserved.
The community is invited to join the family for a service at Adas Yoshuron Synagogue, 50 Willow St., Rockland, at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9. A reception will be held at the main dining hall at the Anderson Inn, Quarry Hill, at 2 p.m. All are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to http://homehelphope.org/donations/ as Gertrude believed everyone deserves a loving, stable home.