Helen Weiner Zelkowitz

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.