Evelyn L. (Lesnick) Beller

   Evelyn Lesnick Beller of Lorain died on Thursday, July 19, 2018, at the Life Care Center of Elyria in Elyria. 
     She was born on April 20, 1924 in Elyria to David and Clara (nee Lashy) Lesnick, She attended school in Elyria through the 8th grade when her family moved to Hartford Connecticut and then to Pottsville, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Pottsville High School in 1941. 
     Mrs. Beller returned to Elyria in 1942 where she worked in the family business, Sam’s Cut Rate, a retail store in downtown Elyria.
     In 1944, she married Norman J. Beller and they moved to Lorain in 1948 where Norman established a law practice.
     While living in Lorain, she was involved in many community activities. She was a member of the Agudath B’nai Israel Synagogue where she participated in the Sisterhood and Hadassah, as well as the B’nai Brith Women Anti-Defamation League Committee. She loved music, played the piano, and sang with Norman in the synagogue choir for many years. 
     She was a passionate supporter of the civil rights movement and served as the Recording Secretary for the Lorain chapter of the NAACP in the 1950's. She also served on the Mayor’s Human Relations Committee for many years, and helped to resolve a dispute over a city-owned cemetery when the city sought to have African-Americans buried in a separate part of the cemetery.
     Mrs. Beller volunteered at Neighborhood House (now the Neighborhood Alliance) in Lorain for many years, where Norman served on the Board of Directors. 
     In the 1970's she was employed as an intake worker in the federally funded Work Incentive Program (WIN) program, which was designed to transition welfare recipients into the workforce.
     In 1999, she returned to Elyria with Norman and resided at the Abbewood until 2005 when she entered the Life Care Center Nursing Home. 
     She was predeceased by Norman, who passed away in 2001. She is survived by her only son, David Beller, who is an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland, a daughter-in-law, Barbara Korenblit, and two grandsons, Daniel Beller of Merced California, and Joel Beller of Baltimore, Maryland. 
     Services will be held at the Schwartz, Spence, Boyer & Cool Home For Funerals, 1124 W 5th St, Lorain, OH 44052 on Friday, July 20, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. Burial will be in the Agudath Achim Jewish Cemetery, SR 113, Amherst Township. . 
     Please omit flowers. Donation in memory of Evelyn may be made to the Neighborhood Alliance on-line or at 457 Griswold Road, Elyria, Ohio 44035; or to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) 1100 Connecticut Ave NW # 1020, Washington, DC 20036 or on-line at https://www.adl.org
 

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