Remembrance event to honor Simon, Owens

Community icons will be feted posthumously Tuesday in Norwich

Norwich — They barely knew each other, but Holocaust survivor Henny Simon and longtime civil rights activist Jacqueline Owens shared a legacy of battling racism, bigotry, bullying and discrimination of any kind in their fight for equality.

The two icons of their communities died in 2017, suddenly and unexpectedly despite their advanced ages: Simon, 91, in a car crash April

4 near her Colchester home, and Owens, 86, at her home in Lebanon.

Simon, a thin, athletic woman who survived Nazi concentration camps and persecution as a child, became a prominent citizen in Colchester and tireless volunteer and spiritual leader of the town’s chapter of Hadassah, the worldwide Jewish women’s organization. The petite Owens, the 30-year president of the Norwich NAACP, championed racial equality, youth achievement and education.

“Neither one of them were particularly big people, but when they walked in, they commanded a room,” said Dianne Daniels, who succeeded Owens as president of the Norwich NAACP.

The two women will be honored posthumously at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the inaugural Henny Simon Remembrance event at Three Rivers Community College all-purpose room. The event, “Parallel Lives — Bridging Communities” will feature tributes to the two women, music, entertainment, youth speakers and refreshments. Admission is free and open to the public.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Adventures in Lifelong Learning at Three Rivers will host a book discussion of the novel, “A Narrow Bridge,” a story of an Orthodox Jewish man who relocates to a predominantly African-American community in Mississippi, forging unity between the two communities.

Hadassah members Judi Deglin and Faye Ringel will lead the 1 p.m. book discussion for members of Adventures in Lifelong Learning. The book’s co-authors, Joyce Gittlin and Janet Fattal, who publish under the name JJ Gesher, will speak to the class via Skype. To attend the class, register with Adventures in Lifelong Learning at bit.ly/3RiversLifelong.

The theme of bridging gaps in communities, lives and cultures will remain prominent throughout the remembrance event that evening, organizing committee member and Hadassah member Sheila Horvitz said. She will introduce the event with a quote by prominent 19th century Rabbi Chaim Nachman of Breslov, Ukraine.

“The whole world is a very narrow bridge; the important thing is not to be afraid,” Nachman said.

Horvitz said the tribute to Simon and Owens came about through a merging of ideas, including the book discussion, Hadassah’s plans to create an annual remembrance for Simon and the loss of Owens to the Norwich community.

Several organizations are co-sponsoring the event, including Three Rivers, Hadassah, Norwich NAACP, Adventures in Lifelong Learning and the Rose and Sigmund Strochlitz Holocaust Resource Center of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut. Romana Primus of New London, president of the Jewish Federation, will talk about the Holocaust resource center during the event.

Youth speakers will tell how Simon and Owens influenced their lives, and as in the “A Narrow Bridge” book, music will help unite the two communities and cultures. Hadassah will use the annual Simon remembrance to continue her legacy of teaching peace, tolerance and justice in a troubled world, Horvitz said.

“The next one might be a lecture,” Horvitz said, “It might be a trip. Each year, we’ll brainstorm and figure out the best way we can honor Henny.”