Edith Mina Breznick's Obituary
Edith Mina Breznick, 93, of Hallandale Beach, Fla., passed away peacefully in hospice care on Sept. 3, 2016, of complications from Alzheimer's disease.
Edith was born on Dec. 11, 1922 to Aaron and Bertha Fallick of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, N.Y. The oldest of three self-determined daughters, she was originally named Mina Edith before her parents changed the order because of a cousin Mina born nine months earlier. Edith graduated from New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn in January 1941 and attended Hunter College in Manhattan for nearly two years, studying biology. After leaving college, she worked in various packing, typing, bookkeeping and other office and factory jobs in Brooklyn and Manhattan during and after World War II.
Edith met Saul Leon Breznick, a suitor from the Bronx, in early 1947 on a blind date set up by her Aunt Tillie, who shopped at the South Bronx fruit and vegetable store run by Saul's father. They married on Sept. 12, 1948. In the post-war housing crunch, the young couple lived for a short time with the Fallicks in Brooklyn. After that, they moved to the Kingsbridge and then the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx, where they lived for 34 years and raised their family.
Edith and Saul had two sons, Martin Fred, born March 21, 1952, and Alan Jay, born April 12, 1957. Martin became an immigration attorney in the New York area and Alan became a business journalist and research analyst in the Toronto area.
Once Alan started first grade in the fall of 1963, Edith returned to the paid working world. She spent the next two decades working as an office clerk in the New York City Department of Welfare in various locations in the South Bronx. She retired from the city's employ in 1984.
After buying a condominium from the estate of Edith's Uncle Abe, Edith and Saul moved to Hallandale Beach in August 1984 and spent the next 32 years in the warm Florida sun. Edith began to report memory problems in her early 80s and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2009. Thanks to her husband’s diligent oversight and determination, she remained home until a month before her death.
Those who will remember Edith include: her devoted husband Saul; younger sister Frances; sons Martin and Alan; daughters-in-law Susan and Rachel; grandchildren Laura, Pamela and Aaron; nephews Ronald, Bernard, Jack, Joseph, Kenneth and Jeffrey; nieces Sharon and Roberta; caregivers Marie and Frank; and various friends and neighbors. Edith outlived her middle sister, Bernice, and brothers-in-law Erwin Witt and Clifford Friedman.
Funeral services for Edith will be held Friday, Sept. 9, at 12 noon in the chapel at Beth David Memorial Gardens/Levitt-Weinstein, located at 3201 North 72nd Ave in Hollywood, Fla. Following the service, the family will sit shiva at the Breznick home, 421 North 14th Avenue, Unit #104, in Hallandale Beach.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association in the U.S. or the Alzheimer's Society in Canada, directing them if possible for medical research.
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