Isabell S. Notkin 1917-2003

Isabell Notkin, Debbie's mother, died in her sleep this morning at approximately 6:15 AM, at University of Washington Medical Center, in the company of her family.

Debbie got a call from her brother, David, last Tuesday evening, saying that Isabell was not feeling well and had been checked into the hospital. On Wednesday David suggested that Debbie come up over the weekend, and by Thursday he was asking her to fly up the next day. On Friday, Debbie and I flew together to Seattle. We've been here since, helping David, his wife – Cathy Tuttle – and their children – Emma and Akiva – deal with Isabell's final crisis and its aftermath.

Her funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon at Bikur Cholim Cemetary, in Seattle. Those who knew Isabell may wish to make a donation in her memory to the Fremont Public Association, a community service group on whose board of directors Isabell served.

As Debbie put it, with Isabell's passing, the world is now a less generous place. But her generosity lives on in the hearts of everyone she had reached in her life, to say nothing of her children and grandchildren, who continue to embody the values and joy in life that they learned and inherited from Isabell.