Cornelia Philipson's Obituary
Cornelia Philipson, Women of Impact Honoree, A leader in the insurance industry, civic leader, and a champion for Jewish programs in Miami-Dade County, Cornelia Philipson (Turk) was honored in 2020 as a Women’s History Coalition of Miami Dade Women of Impact award recipient for her work as a leader in Miami-Dade County. She passed away after a long battle with cancer on Monday. Community leadership was instilled in Philipson at an early age. She was the oldest daughter of former Miami Beach Mayor Harold Turk whose home was a center of Jewish activity in the 1940s. Her father, who served as
President of B’nai B’rith, public relations chairman of the Miami Round Table of National Conference of Christians and Jews, and was instrumental in the creation of Brandeis University would often take Philipson to civic and political events – which helped form her love for her community. In the mid 1940s members of the Haganah and Pamach were lobbying for support in the American Jewish Community for the creation of the State of Israel and in Turk they found an ally. Philipson would graduate from Miami Beach Senior High and would go on to attend Brandeis University where she received a degree in History and would take night classes at Harvard University where she studied education. She would return to Miami-Dade County to teach in a recently integrated elementary school but her interests remained in Jewish causes.
Philipson would go on to herself become a leader for Jewish organizations including as Director of Fund Raising for the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged, and assistant director of fund raising for her
beloved Brandeis University.In the early 1980s Philipson made a career shift and went to work in the
insurance industry. Her first job was at the second oldest insurance company, State Mutual. At that time, the insurance industry was dominated by men with very few women to act as mentors. She decided that had to change and became active in a national organization of Women in Insurance and Financial
Services (WIFS) and helped build the local chapter rising to President twice and served on the Board as a member and senior advisor. In 2004, Cornelia was honored as National Women of the Year by the WIFS organization.One of her colleagues Ann Travis said, “Cornelia was a ‘cheerleader’ always advocating for the purpose of the [WIFS] organization, fulfilling the mission of helping Professional women in the insurance and financial services industry. Cornelia received many honors and awards including the Angel
Award which represented her assistance, nurturing, guidance, ethics and leadership within the organization. Cornelia possessed these Angel qualities both in and out of the organization.” Cornelia also served on many community organizations including: President and Board Member of Miami Beach Senior High School Alumni Association, and former financial aid board member for the Alexander Muss
High School in Israel. She was also an active member for decades for the South Dade Branch of Great Miami Jewish Federation: The Central Agency for Jewish Education; and the Downtown Luncheon Chapter of the Business and Professional Women Club. She is survived by her three children Baron [Sherry], Alan and Robert [Stacy], six grandchildren, and countless other friends and family. Services will be on Wednesday, February 14, 2024 at 11:00 am at the Levitt-Weinstein Blasberg-Rubin-Zilbert Memorial Chapel, 18840 West Dixie Highway, North Miami Beach, Florida 33180 followed by interment at Lakeside
Memorial Park, 10301 NW 25 Street, Doral, Florida. The family requests that donations be made to the Magen David Adom, https://afmda.org charity in her memory.
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