Obituary: Michelle Kravtin Gary

\Michelle Kravtin Gary, 66, passed away surrounded by her loving family on Nov. 2, due to complications from chronic illness. She was born Oct. 12, 1955, in Columbus, Ga. to Maurice and Ruth Kravtin. She met the love of her life, Marc Gary, during her freshman year at Northwestern University. They married in 1977.

A 1980 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, Michelle gave up a promising career as a corporate lawyer to selflessly devote herself to raising her two children, Philip and Tammy. Dissatisfied with the opportunities for her children to pursue a Jewish day school education in the District of Columbia, Michelle, together with Marc, was one of the founders of the Jewish Primary Day School of DC (now the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital). One of Michelle’s first tasks upon the opening of the school was leading the school lunch program — making her the most overqualified lunch lady in Washington history. Michelle’s strong dedication to American Jewry surpassed solely starting a school: later in life she was an active board member of Ramah Darom in Clayton, Ga., the Jewish Women’s Archive of Brookline, Mass., and her local chapters of the American Jewish Committee in Atlanta, Boston, and New York. Michelle was truly a “woman of valor” (Proverbs 31:10).

Michelle is survived by her husband, Marc, her son and daughter-in-law, Philip and Amanda Resnikoff Gary, and her daughter and son-in-law, Tammy and Mark Friedman. She also leaves behind her mother, Ruth, her sisters, Patricia and Karen, and their husbands: Jon Horowitz and Dana Shadrick. Michelle lived to see — and to adore — two grandchildren: Abigail and Miles. She will be missed by her nephews, nieces and cousins, as well as friends she made during her years in Washington, Boston, New York, and Atlanta. She loved, and was loved, fiercely.

Graveside services were held on Thursday, Nov. 4 at Arlington Memorial Park, 201 Mount Vernon Highway, in Sandy Springs. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Jewish Committee at https://www.ajc.org/ and the Jewish Women’s Archive at www.jwa.org. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

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