Leah Berger of Franklin Square: A life lived long and well
For 45 years, Leah Berger was the general manager of Weight Watchers of Suffolk County, a franchise owned by her sister, Rhoda Rubin of Commack. Credit: Charles Berger
A line near the end of the funeral notice for Leah Berger said it perfectly: “It is a blessing to live that long and that well.”
The many people who came to know Berger during her 92-year life would agree that she epitomized that sentiment.
“I think of her optimism, her capacity to love, her capacity to learn,” said Charles Berger, the oldest of her three sons and a St. Louis resident. “One thing that was striking about her: My mother maintained friendships over 70, 75 years. I don’t know if people do that anymore. But these were friends that lasted forever. It’s fantastic when you think about that.”
Berger died on April 27 of complications from COVID-19, according to her family.
Berger lived her first 29 years in Brooklyn before moving to Laurelton, Queens. After 13 years there, she and her family moved to Franklin Square, where she lived for nearly 50 years before moving into assisted living in Commack.
She was a fixture of each community, participating in many women’s organizations centering around book clubs and Jewish life. Berger’s husband of 40 years, Al, died in 1996.
“She loved the book clubs,” said her youngest son David Berger, of Port Jefferson Station. “Even when she first went into the assisted living place, she organized a book club there. The biggest thing about her was she lived for her family. Her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren. Nothing was more important to her than that.”
Said her middle son Warren Berger, a Commack resident: “I always think back — I was once in the house on the phone and she was sitting on the couch reading and I was talking to someone and complaining about David. I hung up the phone and she came over and she goes, ‘Don’t ever talk about one of your brothers in that way to someone else.’ It really stuck with me, all these years. But that was her.”
For 45 years, Berger was the general manager of Weight Watchers of Suffolk County, a franchise owned by her sister, Rhoda Rubin of Commack.
In addition to her sons and sister, Berger is survived by eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Her brother, Sonny Jablowitz, a member of the Army Air Corps, was killed in World War II. Her sister, Joyce Boris of Boynton Beach, Florida, died in 2013.
A Zoom funeral was held soon after Berger’s death. The family plans to hold a memorial service in the future to celebrate her life. A life lived long and well.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
