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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/18153/full/18153/gladys-blumenthal-fun-loving-backer-of-beth-el-dies/ <br /><br /> <b>Gladys Blumenthal, fun-loving backer of Beth El, dies</b> <br /> Friday, July 19, 2002 | by <p>ALEXANDRA J. WALL </p> <br /><br /><p>Old-timers at Peninsula Temple Beth El will never forget Gladys Blumenthal's rendition of "Sonny Boy."<br /><br /> It took place at the congregation's annual fund-raising dinner some years ago. Blumenthal, a homemaker who dreamed of being in show business, sat on the lap of a synagogue founder—"a rather large gentleman," said her son Frank, and sang to him. "For years after, people used to kid her about that."<br /><br /> Blumenthal, who also had a hand in founding the San Mateo Reform synagogue, died on July 8. She was 84.<br /><br /> Gladys Cohn was born in San Francisco in 1918. Her father was in the auto wrecking business and her mother was a homemaker.<br /><br /> She graduated from Lowell High School, and obtained a bachelor's degree in psychology from U.C. Berkeley.<br /><br /> In 1940, she married Hillie Blumenthal. They moved to San Mateo in 1948, because it was "a new community with open space, where the kids could grow up," said Frank Blumenthal.<br /><br /> In 1952, the Blumenthals were among a small group that broke away from San Francisco's Reform synagogues to found Peninsula Temple Beth El.<br /><br /> Blumenthal played piano, sang and danced. She loved classic movies and vaudeville. Her three children all learned to play the piano.<br /><br /> Never seen without lipstick, Blumenthal also loved to do crossword puzzles.<br /><br /> She was extremely active in the synagogue, putting most of her efforts into the annual fund-raising dinner. Every year, there was a variety show that she would write. She also made the costumes and performed in it. Often, Blumenthal took home the trophy for selling the most advertisements in the dinner journal.<br /><br /> Her fund-raising skills extended to other organizations as well. She raised money for the Jewish Home and for the Lake Merced Country Club, where she served on the board. She also volunteered at Mission Hospice.<br /><br /> Frank Blumenthal described his mother as an avid golfer, though she wasn't very good at it.<br /><br /> Melba Rosen, the wife of Beth El's rabbi emeritus Sanford Rosen, recalled seeing Blumenthal at an event about 10 years ago, and asking whether she was still playing golf.<br /><br /> "How else am I going to aggravate myself?" was her reply. Blumenthal loved jokes, but would usually insist others tell them, because she was afraid she wouldn't tell them correctly.<br /><br /> "She was one of the sweetest people my wife and I ever knew," said Sanford Rosen.<br /><br /> As a mother, she could occasionally be strict, but most of the time, "you could get away with murder to a certain extent," said Frank Blumenthal. "The main thing was she never compared the three kids to each other."<br /><br /> Blumenthal is survived by her husband of 61 years, Hillie Blumenthal of San Mateo; daughter, Sheryl of San Mateo; son Frank of Foster City; two grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Her son Stephen Blumenthal died in 1994.<br /><br /> Donations can be made to the Stephen Blumenthal Fund, the Auxiliary, UCSF-Mt. Zion Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1600 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA 94143 or your favorite charity.</p> <p> </p>

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