Juanita Egherman, 90, was born on Nov. 27, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York, to Emil and Marie Rosen and passed away Oct. 11, 2016, in Overland Park, Kansas. Funeral services and burial were held Oct 14 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Rosen family moved to Cincinnati in 1932 when her father became the cantor for Feinberg Synagogue and later Adath Israel. Juanita lived in Cincinnati for 79 years before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2011. In 2016 she moved to Overland Park.
Juanita graduated from Walnut Hills High School in 1942 and went to business school to become a bookkeeper. She worked until she met Harvey Egherman, the love of her life, in 1945. They were married on Jan. 5, 1947, and stayed together for 59 wonderful years until he passed away in 2006. The couple had three children, Rini, Leslee and William.
She was active in the Labor Zionist movement and the Na’Amat organization for many years and was honored by Na’Amat in 2011. She worked at Harvey’s Loveland furniture store as a bookkeeper for 15 years. She and Harvey had season tickets to the Cincinnati symphony, the Cincinnati ballet and Playhouse in the Park. One of Harvey’s favorite things was to go fishing. Juanita accompanied him on numerous trips just to spend time with him, and eventually came to love it also. They were active members of Bnai Tzedek Synagogue and in 1995, at age 70, she had a Bat Mitzvah.
Juanita was an enthusiastic bridge player and was in three different bridge groups. She was an avid reader, and preferred non-fiction books. She also loved to cook, have lavish dinner parties and entertain often. Her Passover seders were legendary! (She even made her own gefilte fish!!)
Harvey and Juanita were big jazz fans and often met jazz artists who performed at the Viking Lounge in Cincinnati. She charmed Mr. Oscar Peterson, and he was a frequent dinner guest whenever he was in town. At age 50, she started taking jazz piano lessons. At age 60, she took up tap dancing and joined the High Stepping Grammas. They performed around Cincinnati. She remained in the group for 12 years.
Another of Juanita’s passions was the League for Animal Welfare. She contributed her time and money to the cause and often fostered cats. In fact, she fed many stray neighborhood cats.
But she was best known for her quick wit, hilarious sense of humor and her love of a good time. Her real joy was her family. She was a devoted wife, sister, aunt and daughter and was the mom everyone loved. She always welcomed the friends of her children and her house was filled with kids. Her house was always open.
Besides her beloved husband Harvey, she outlived her dear sister, Marcella Segal, and her son, William, who died in 2010. She missed them dearly and spoke of them often.
She is survived by her daughters Rini Gonsher (Allan) of Overland Park, Kansas, and Leslee Meltzer (Leonard) of Ann Arbor, Michigan; her grandchildren Joshua (Eva) of Baltimore, Maryland; Ben (Aviva) of Boca Raton, Florida; and Zack (Liat) Gonsher of Kfar Eldad Israel; and Emily (Ari) Kahan of Washington, D.C.; and Marie Meltzer of Atlanta, Georgia; and her 14 great-grandchildren who she adored. She was also a devoted aunt to her many nieces and nephews. Whenever they came to town, they always stayed at the Egherman house and Juanita loved having them.
The family suggests donations in Juanita’s memory to Congregation BIAV or the Humane Society of Huron Valley (www.HSHV.org/donate).