Phyliss Dror passed away after a eighteen year courageous battle with breast cancer on June 17th. Phyliss nee Grossman Dror, mother of Sharon Ann Soudakoff and Dina Michal Dror was born on March 1, 1933 in Brooklyn, N.Y. She was the daughter of Jeanette (Smolowitz) and Louis Grossman. Her older sister, Harriet Lefkowitz and she enjoyed being sisters and the only two children until they had a big surprise 13 years later when their parents gave birth to TWINS, Sandy Moring & Marvin Grossman. They lived in New York, Florida, San Diego and Los Angeles.
Phyliss worked as an Travel Agent for a long time and loved travelling all over the world especially going on cruises. She always came back with many stories of things she had seen and done.
She was the only child of the four siblings who wanted to keep kosher and did keep kosher when she married David Dror. Judaism was very important to her. Her family and friends came over for the holidays so that the traditions of the Jewish family and life would have an influence in their lives as well. She was upset that her two daughters could not attend a Jewish Day school because they were not able to accommodate their special needs, but made sure that they got a Jewish education by getting involved with Sunday school and later on with Chabad House as well as spending time in Israel with David’s family. For many years, Phyliss, David, Sharon and Dina spent Passover and Chanukah there and came to know the country well. A Jewish education was very important to her. She used to tell us how much she had wanted to attend a Jewish Day School when she was a young child.
Family was everything to her. Every time there was an family affair whether it was near or far, she would always be the first one to say count me in! She was the backbone of keeping the family together.
Her three grandchildren: Joshua Ari, Michael Adam and Rachel Shayna Soudakoff were her big source of joy these last few years and she always wanted them to be there even if they made a lot of noises or messes on her white carpet! Joshua loved to sleep with his Savta (Grandmother in Hebrew) on Friday nights and they had a special bond because of this. They all had the experience of Shabbat as we had dinner every Friday evening with her. Friday night dinners were important to her because it meant she would have the company she longed for all week. She always asked Aunt Dina to get Joshua’s favorite cake and cookies because it was important to her that he was a happy little boy on Friday night. She made special treats such as her homemade gefilite fish, kishka, potatoes, chicken, matzah ball with vegetable soup, salad and cookies which the kids always looked forward to! Michael was her little adventurous boy who likes to take things apart and loved her strawberries. She is missed by all of us in her family and her friends.
Because of her strong Jewish beliefs, JDCC has formed a Jewish Education Fund in her honor. She contributed every year to help lower the cost for people to participate in the JDCC Community Seder.
We thank the following people who have made contributions in her memory.
- Rollie & Bill Klein – Los Angeles, CA
- Patty & Tony Ivankovic – Valencia, CA
- Wendy & Dave Sladek – Valencia, CA
- Faye & Marvin Gelb – Culver City, CA
- Herman & Wallach – Los Angeles, CA
- Susan Cherry – Fremont, CA
- Rae Ganzfried – Northridge, CA
- Joyce & Bob Kohn – Los Angeles, CA
- David Rosenbaum – North Hollywood, CA
- Farmers Insurance Group of Companies – Los Angeles, CA
- Elaine & George Pearce – Sherman Oaks, CA
- Connie & Rabbi Fred Friedman – Baltimore, MD
- Leslie & Paul Levenson – Granada Hills, CA
- Alan Schwartz & Kenton Twidt – West Hollywood, CA
- Brenda Brook & Joe Feinstein – Marina Del Rey, CA
- Debbie, Bob & Gabrielle Fell – Mc Kinleyville, CA
We are still accepting contributions to JDCC in her memory.
