Flora E. Kopstein

Flora Kopstein was a scrappy, smart farm girl born and raised near Indianapolis, Indiana. After graduating high school early, she went to art school, and also modeled and worked for a photographer. Upon moving to Chicago, she met and married her husband, Dr. Geza G. Kopstein. Shortly after their marriage in 1948, the couple moved to Evanston, where they lived for the next 30 years. That same year, the Kopsteins traveled to Israel and immediately bonded with Jewish life and peoplehood.

Flora enjoyed gardening and knitting, and worked as a volunteer at Evanston Hospital for over 20 years. She and Geza had one daughter, Susan.

Flora was not Jewish, but her husband was. She became a supporter of Jewish life, and the couple gave annually for many years to the JUF Annual Campaign. After Geza's death, Flora continued to support JUF individually and in her husband's memory. She was fiercely loyal to causes she believed in, but Flora also was a private person, and preferred to quietly participate with her checkbook.

Flora Kopstein passed away in 2003 at age 90. Her daughter, Susan, remembers her mother as independent, financially savvy and smart-and vows that, to honor her parents' examples, their generosity will be carried on.