Secretary of the National Council of Jewish Women, an ‘inspiration’

When she celebrated one of her many birthdays, Dorothy “Dottie” Grinberg often remarked, “I’m still around with a working brain. I’m history that walks.”

Besides a deep knowledge of Pittsburgh and its Jewish community, Mrs. Grinberg was a feisty, funny lady who dedicated more than half her life to volunteering for many local charities. She died Thursday at age 101 in her Oakland apartment in The Bristol.

The daughter of Anna and Sam Amdur, an insurance salesman, Mrs. Grinberg was the eldest of three sisters who grew up in Shadyside. She attended Shakespeare Street Elementary, Taylor Allderdice High School and the University of Pittsburgh, where she studied psychology and sociology.

In 1937, she married Bernard Grinberg, who worked in his family’s business, Meyer I. Grinberg Hardware and Housewares and the Buy Wise chain. For the first 50 years of her life, Mrs. Grinberg did not know how to drive, so her husband often sent a stock boy from the family business to be her driver, said her youngest son, Bob Grinberg of Boston.

“She was, singularly, her own person. She grew into being proud of being old and being an inspiration to the younger generation,” Mr. Grinberg said.

For 25 years, as the corresponding secretary for the National Council of Jewish Women, Mrs. Grinberg wrote notes of congratulations or condolence in her trademark peacock blue ink and perfect penmanship. She belonged to the NCJW for 75 years, and the organization honored her in 2011. She received the Anne Copeland award for her devotion to the Jewish community and Israel. She also was a tour guide in Rodef Shalom Temple’s biblical garden, president of Mount Scopus Hadassah and a founding member of Garden Clubs Limited.

After her husband died in 1966, Mrs. Grinberg learned how to drive and stayed behind the wheel well into her 90s. She regularly attended performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Public Theatre and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

Mrs. Grinberg’s pride in Pittsburgh was boundless.

“Anybody who ever said a negative word about this city had hell to pay,” Bob Grinberg recalled.

Her family celebrated her 100th birthday with a dinner at a Mount Washington restaurant on July 1, 2016. Pittsburgh City Council honored her accomplishments, declaring the centennial of her birth as Dorothy Amdur Grinberg Day in Pittsburgh.

Besides her youngest son, Mrs. Grinberg is survived by another son, Max of Rochester, N.Y.; two sisters, Miriam Hershman of Boca Raton, Fla., and Sylvia Bus is of Oakland; and four grandchildren. A third son, Richard, died in 2006.

The funeral was held Sunday. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions to Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA. 15213.

Friends and family are invited to The Bristol, 154 N. Bellefield Ave, Apartment 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday.