Helen Weiner Zelkowitz
November 07, 1911 ‒ December 15, 2006
Mount Vernon, Ohio
ZELKOWITZ
Helen Weiner Zelkowitz, 95, of Mt. Vernon, passed away on Friday, December
15, 2006. She is preceded in death by her parents, Sarah and Samuel Weiner,
husband, Charles, son, Stephen, sisters, Tilly Ziskind, Ruth Kanter, and
Eleanore Yenkin, brothers, Abe, Bernard, Carl, and Elliott Weiner. She is
survived by her daughter-in-law, Donna Zelkowitz; granddaughter, Juliet
(Luke) McCarthy III; great-granddaughter, Helen McCarthy, all of Las Vegas,
NV, grandson Jonathan Zelkowitz of California. She is also survived by her devoted nieces and nephews, Bernard Yenkin,
Bernard Kanter, Sam Weiner, Leah Salis, Susan Portman, Sharon Keiffer,
Sandra Levine, and Linda Yenkin; and many cousins and friends. Helen was
ot only a pioneer for women as professionals in the communications
industry, but more importantly an exemplar of dedication to community and
others. She will be greatly missed. In 1951, she helped launch the local
FM station and two years later the AM station and in 1970, Mt. Vernon
Cablevision. In 1956, she was a charter member of the Columbus Buckeye
Chapter of the American Women in Radio and Television where she served as a
life member and former board member. In 1979, she was honored by the Ohio
Broadcasters Association as the first “Woman Broadcaster of the Year”. She
was among the first inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame when it was
established in 1978 and in May, 1992, was named to the Senior Citizen’s
Hall of Fame. In 1956, Mrs. Zelkowitz was a charter member and first
president of the local Soroptimist International. She was the first woman
to serve as the Campaign Chairman for the United Way of Knox County and
later was the organization’s chairman of the board. She has also been the
board chair of the Knox County Chapter of the American Red Cross. She has
been a dedicated supporter of Kenyon College, including its Hillel
organization. Just this past April, Kenyon bestowed upon Helen an honorary
Ph.D. She was a life member of Hadassah and a Ruby Lion of Judah of the
United Jewish Federation. Her grandfather, Kalman London, was the first
rabbi at Agudas Achim Synagogue in Columbus and she was a life member of the
synagogue’s sisterhood. She was also a member of the Columbus Jewish
Historical Society, World Jewish Congress, B’nai Brith, and ORT. Taking
food baskets to the poor with her mother and sisters was routine, setting
the example for her own philanthropic lifestyle. To Helen, giving was a
privilege. Among the many beneficiaries are: Israel Red Cross, Columbus
Jewish Foundation, Columbus Jewish Federation, American Red Cross (Mt.
Vernon), Kenyon College Hillel, OSU Hillel Foundation, Knox County United
Way, Mt. Vernon Community Trust, Mt. Vernon “Food for the Hungry” drive,
Jewish Family Services, Jewish Community Center, Knox County Community
Hospital, Agudas Achim Synagogue, Columbus Torah Academy, Columbus Jewish
Day School, Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus, Hadassah, Mt.
Vernon YMCA, Mt. Vernon Development Center, Wexner Heritage Village,
Schottenstein Chabad House, Shalom House, Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the
US Holocaust Memorial Center, as well as many charities in Israel.
Funeral service 3PM Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at THE EPSTEIN MEMORIAL CHAPEL, 3232 E. Main St., Columbus.
Prior to the funeral, the family will receive friends from 9AM – 12PM at FLOWERS-SNYDER FUNERAL HOME, 619 E. High Street, Mt. Vernon.
Shiva will be observed at the residence of Bernard and Susie Kanter. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Charles, Helen, and Stephen Zelkowitz Foundation, 1175 College Ave. Columbus, OH 43209,
Agudas Achim Synagogue, 2767 E. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43209, Kenyon College Hillel, 103 College Drive, Gambier, OH 43022, or the American Red Cross of Knox County, 300 N. Mulberry St. Mt. Vernon, OH 43050.