Reba Madeline Shaffer Sterling's Obituary
STERLING, REBA MADELINE SHAFFER, passed away on March 11, 2018 with her family at her side, just short of her 96th birthday. She was born in Reading, Pennsylvania to one of the leading philanthropic families in that community. Raised in Philadelphia, Reba followed her Mother's volunteer leadership, first as founding volunteers for Philadelphia Psychiatric Hospital and then as a Volunteer for Civilian Defense during World War Two, while her husband, Dr. Julian Alexander Sterling, who pre-deceased her, served overseas for four years, building the Army's rehabilitation program for which he won a Bronze Star. Reba liked to tell people that they were representatives of the "Greatest Generation", and she meant it. Resilience, good manners and propriety were central to her standards. She led volunteer efforts and events for the Albert Einstein Medical Center and the Philadelphia Federation of Jewish Charities until 1967, when the Sterlings retired to South Florida. Reba was a beautiful woman, always the epitome of elegance, sophistication and charm. Trained as a young actor, Reba's eloquence and diction were stunning, and her command of current events, her distain for boorishness, ill-mannered or rude or insincere people was legend. She never suffered fools gladly. Despite macular degeneration, Reba was an inveterate readerfirst using Books on Tape. More recently, Alexa was her reader. Until her final moments, Reba was glued to CNN and MSNBC with favorite shows she watched daily, as she listened with keen insight and interest to factual reporting, and with disappointment to lies from commentators and twitter accounts. Fareed, Brian and Ali have lost a dedicated viewer. Reba leaves two children who admired her greatly: Ralph Shaffer Sterling and Elsie Sterling Howard, who is married to Reba's favorite son in law, Gene. Reba adored her granddaughters, and they adored her, and both Heidi Howard Tandy and Liz Howard Brown spent a happy lifetime sharing countless events, travels, dinners and conversations with their Grammy. Reba loved her grandsons-in- law- Aaron Tandy and Murray Brown IV, whom she regarded as her grandchildren. Her happiest moments were when she was with her five great grandchildren who called her 'Ba", including Harrison Tandy, currently the Sterling family's fifth generation at the University of Pennsylvania, Jon Tandy, a ninth grader at Ransom Everglades, Catie Tandy, a seventh grader at Cushman, Sydney Brown, a seventh grader at Miami Country Day, and Murray Brown V , in 4th grade at Country Day. Reba loved them unconditionally understanding and respecting each child's uniqueness. Reba's standards were always high, and she never backed down from giving her best and from expecting the best. She also liked to say that she was right even when she was wrongthough she was rarely wrong. She will be profoundly missed, but her family promises that each of us will try always to meet the standards she set -- and those she lived by. A Celebration of Reba's life will be held at Temple Beth Sholom on Wednesday, March 14th at 2:30 pm In her memory, and in lieu of food or flowers, we note her love for medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where her beloved husband Julian studied, taught and saved lives, and which continues to have such an impact on her life and ours. http://givingpages.upenn.edu/RebaSterling
Arrangements by Blasberg-Rubin-Zilbert Memorial Chapel (305) 865-2353
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