Jeanne Potash, a long-time resident of the Applewood Community, passed away on March 27 at the Hospice of the Fisher Home after a brief illness. She was born in St Louis, Missouri, on April 21, 1925 to John and Gertie (Meyer) Feinstein, the younger of their two daughters. Her sister, Anne, with whom she was very close, died in 2004. Jeanne grew up in a warm, loving home that encouraged her to be confident of her ability to do whatever she set her mind to do. And, indeed, she went on to live a life filled with accomplishment.
After graduating from Soldan High School in 1942, where she had been elected vice president of her class, she enrolled at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Three years later, she received her B.S. degree with Highest Honors in Mathematics, and qualified for a teaching certificate that enabled her to get her first teaching job serving as the entire math department in a small high school in a coal-mining town in southern Illinois.
On June 9, 1946, she married Robert Potash, a 1942 graduate of Harvard College, whom she had met when she was a sophomore and he was a soldier temporarily stationed at the University of Illinois. During the first two years of their marriage, while Rob was a graduate student, Jeanne supplemented their income by tutoring pupils in mathematics at the Shady Hill School and by working at the Harvard Law School Library. In 1948, she accompanied her husband on the first of many research trips to Spanish-speaking countries over the next sixty years. Over time, Jeanne’s skill for speaking Spanish enabled her to navigate daily life and develop warm friendships during these times abroad.
In 1950 their first daughter, Janet Ruth, was born in Boston, shortly before she and Rob moved to Amherst, where Rob joined the History Department of the University of Massachusetts. In 1954 their second daughter, Ellen Bess, was born in Northampton. They remained life-long residents of Amherst. Over the next six decades Jeanne played a role in a wide variety of Amherst organizations and, in doing so, demonstrated her talent for seeing through to completion any task she took on.
Jeanne was a Town Meeting Member for many years and in 2002-2003, was appointed by the Town Moderator to serve on a special committee that was given the task of recommending changes to improve the operations of Town Meeting. She also showed her love for the Town of Amherst by serving on the Citizens Advisory Committee (1968-70), and as a Relocation Specialist for the Redevelopment Authority (1973-78). She also served on the Council on Aging (1982-87) and its Health Task Force (1988). Furthermore, Jeanne gave her attention to many other organizations, including the Jewish Community of Amherst (JCA), the UMASS Faculty Women, the League of Women Voters, and Applewood at Amherst. For the JCA, she served on a variety of committees including the building design committee responsible for the new social hall and kitchen, the committee to restructure dues, and the search committee for a new rabbi. She served on the board and as corresponding secretary for the Faculty Women (1977-78). She served in many different capacities for the League of Women Voters including vice president and chair of the voter service committee. In the late 1980’s, she joined Applewood’s Board of Trustees, participating in decisions that have made it an attractive place to retire to. Indeed, in 1997 she and her husband moved to Applewood where she played a leadership role in many of its activities including as president of the Residents Council. She had a lifelong interest in children, an interest that led her to offer help to a head-start group, participate in an intergenerational program for children from disadvantaged homes, and serve for many years as an usher at the Fine Arts Center concerts for children. She was equally interested in elderly people and had a sense of comfort in their presence.
No listing of committees or organizations can convey the other important facets of her personality. Jeanne was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, sister and friend to so many. She remains a role model for decency, integrity, acceptance, generosity and loving kindness. She was as caring and sensitive as a person can be and her instinct and ability to help others was remarkable.
Jeanne was predeceased by her daughter, Ellen Potash Arrick in 2005, and by her husband of seventy years, Robert, in 2016. She is survived by her daughter Janet Potash of Alexandria, Virginia and Applewood; by son-in-law Martin Arrick and his wife, Linda Arrick of Oakland, California, and by five grandchildren: Daniel, Graham and Alexander Arrick, Emma Bernstein Ago and Remy Bernstein.
In keeping with best practices of these times, the funeral was held privately at the JCA cemetery on March 30. The family hopes to hold a memorial gathering as soon as possible.