Gertrude ‘Gigs’ Bergman
Gertrude “Gigs” Bergman, mother of Ron (Lynne) and Sam (Amanda) Bergman. Member of Congregation B’nai Tzedek. Online memorial contributions may be made to Congregation B’nai Tzedek at bnaitzedek.org/secure/make-donation.
Harriet M. Kriesberg
On Aug. 15, Harriet M. Kriesberg, 92, of Bethesda.
An active member of Washington Hebrew Congregation for over 50 years, she served on the board of directors for many years and was the first woman elected first vice president. She participated in Torah and Bible study groups for decades, and was particularly known for her courteous but probing questions. She had a wide-ranging intellectual curiosity and was a member of a number of book clubs, including one sponsored by the National Press Club. She participated for decades in a Catholic-Jewish dialogue with members of Our Lady of Victory Church. She served on the Board of Directors of the American Jewish Committee’s Washington Regional Office for many years. For years she served on the Mid-Atlantic Council of the Union for Reform Judaism.
She led a WHC project in the 1960s to work with children at Junior Village, a District of Columbia home for orphaned poor children. Under the auspices of AJC, she volunteered to tutor children at the Abram Simon Elementary School in the District in math and reading. She was active in the United Nations Association, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Woman’s National Democratic Club.
Kriesberg graduated with a B.A. from Brooklyn College and M.A. from Radcliffe College, Harvard University. She worked briefly at the University of Michigan Survey Research Center, after receiving her graduate degree. She moved to Washington in the late 1940s and worked in the Bureau of Labor Statistics for several years. In the early 1950s she left the labor force to raise her five children. She resumed her professional career at the economics consulting firm of Robert R. Nathan Associates, from which she retired in 1983 after 17 years as one of the firm’s most senior female economists. She mentored many younger professional women during her time there.
She lived abroad three times with her husband Martin and their children: for nine months in 1956 in Israel; for 18 months in 1962-63 in Colombia; and for six months in 1983 in Italy.
She is survived by her five children: Simeon M. (Martha L. Kahn) Kriesberg, Maida K. (Barry A.) Lerman, Ellis M. (Stephanie M.) Kriesberg, Caleb M. Kriesberg, and Joshua D. (Jane M. Lichty) Kriesberg. Her eight grandchildren: Sarah Lerman, David Kriesberg, Lea Kriesberg, Max Kriesberg, Benjamin Kriesberg, Talia Kriesberg, Micah Kriesberg, Shoshanah Kriesberg. Her two sisters, Rhoda Davidson and Helene Sokal. Her parents are the late Sarah and Max Munchick. Her husband of 60 years, Martin Kriesberg, died in 2005.
Selma Leah Neustempel Rothenberg
On July 21, Selma Leah Neustempel Rothenberg, 88, of Silver Spring. Rothenberg was a former executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Washington. A graduate of Hunter College in New York City, she participated in many organizations, including Na’amat, League of Women Voters, New Friends, Brookside Gardens, Jewish Residents of Leisure World, Women’s League of Conservative Judaism at Congregation Shaare Tefila Olney, Hadassah, ElderHostel and Friends of the Wheaton Library. Her parents are the late Dora and Jack Neustempel and late husband Jerome H. Rothenberg, PE, z”l. Rothenberg is survived by children: Rona Rothenberg (Yehuda Ben-Israel) of Alameda, Calif.; Susan (Scott) Shay, New York; and Rob (Lori) Rothenberg, Morgan Hill, Calif. Grandchildren: Sarah and David (Jamie Rosen) Ben-Israel; Benjamin, Ariel, Alison and Abigail Shay; and Elizabeth and Alyssa Rothenberg. Cherished friends Charlotte and Maurice Potosky, Silver Spring; Dr. Herbert and Alvina Manz, Simi Valley, Calif.; Barbara and Jack Weiss, Valhalla, NY; Charlotte and Al Stein, BlueBell, Pa. and many, many others.
