Obituary: Betty Gerson Minsk

Betty Gerson Minsk, beloved and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend, teacher, and Atlanta Jewish community volunteer, passed away Dec. 12, 2019. Betty was born on Jan. 19, 1941 in Morristown, Tenn. and grew up there with her sister Alice and parents, Florence and Seymour Gerson (z’’l).

In 1962, she graduated from The Ohio State University, and then moved to Atlanta and taught at Skyland Elementary School. In 1964 she married Malcolm Minsk, and together they raised three children. Betty loved teaching and working with children and continued her teaching career at the Atlanta Jewish Community Center and then the Greenfield Hebrew Academy (Atlanta Jewish Academy/AJA today), where she worked for over 20 years, first as a kindergarten teacher, and then as the early childhood director. Betty earned her master’s in education from Mercer University.

Betty’s passion was conceiving and implementing creative educational and community events such as the First Grade Shofar Project and the first ever Kosher Day at Turner Field, which brought kosher food to the ballpark and also raised funds for all Atlanta community Jewish day schools. Also, in the Atlanta community, she researched and compiled the AJA History Book, served on the boards of AJA, Torah Day School and Weinstein Hospice, and was honored by Beth Jacob Synagogue and AJA.

Betty enjoyed photography and travel, visiting all seven continents, with a special love of spending time in Israel. Her home was always open to others, and she loved entertaining family, friends and visitors as well as hosting community events.

She is survived by her loving family members: husband Malcolm; sister Alice Goldfarb; son Ronnie Minsk (Gail); daughters Elisa Hartstein (Morris) and Wendy Solon (Alan); and grandchildren Miriam, Shira, and Oren Minsk, Eliana, Dalia, Zack and Jonah Hartstein, and, Sarah, Hannah and Rebecca Solon.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Atlanta Jewish Academy or the charity of your choice. The funeral service took place Dec. 13 at Congregation Ohr HaTorah with internment following at Crestlawn Cemetery. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.