THERESE DEBORAH LOWENTHAL
Saratoga Springs, NY - On Thursday, August 12, 2021, Therese Deborah Lowenthal, loving mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, and friend passed away with her family by her side after being stricken just two weeks prior.
Terry Lowenthal, nee Albach, was born on December 6, 1935 in Newark, NJ to Emma (Schreiber) and Maxwell Albach; she grew up in Montclair, NJ and attended Kimberly Academy. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Mount Holyoke College in 1956. On November 28, 1957 she married A. Arthur Lowenthal from Verona, NJ. For the next 61 years, as wife and mother, she was devoted in her support of her husband and children, moving when needed, and raising their four children with grace and love (and a perpetual seat on the school board). Terry and Arthur spent their last decades living in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Terry was preceded in death by her parents and husband. She is survived by her four children, Anne Lowenthal, Michael (and Linda) Lowenthal, Susan Axelrod (and Howard Axelrod), Laura (and Bill) Bly, her sister, Nancy Goldberg, and her 6 grandchildren, Rebecca, Sarah, Ben, Sadie, Alexandra, and Zac.
Terry spoke with some or all of her children or grandchildren every day; they, checking in and receiving her wisdom, advice, love and support in return. She also spoke or visited regularly with her many dear friends discussing politics, the latest book she was reading, her volunteer work and swapping family news about health and progeny. Terry was a tour de force in multiple book clubs and the classes she audited at Skidmore College, her absence will be felt.
Terry’s volunteer devotion was legendary; her legacy will be felt forever in her commitment to the League of Women’s Voters from which she recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award. (All of her grandchildren will miss hearing from her at election time and receiving the ubiquitous absentee ballot from Nana.) She was also a lifelong volunteer for her alma mater, Mount Holyoke College. Over decades, she actively participated on behalf of these organizations and quietly in the background trained, coached, and mentored legions of new recruits to help sustain their vital work. In the last decade of her life, she became a leader at Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs. Her last volunteer act there was to chair the Nominating Committee and complete the nominations process for the new leadership slate, meticulously staying with it to ensure a strong future for them. Her committed presence will surely be missed by future leaders who might have benefitted from her thoughtful prodding questions. Terry kept busy with additional volunteer involvement over the years at Planned Parenthood, as a docent at Yaddo, the Saratoga History Museum and at the Saratoga Library.
Among Terry’s many personal passions were being with family wherever and whenever they gathered (but especially on a screened porch), knitting-never without a project in hand-and while she ‘hated’ gardening, she realized it made her feel better to see her garden tended and that it was, indeed, a good form of exercise.
Terry’s legacy will be lived through her family and her volunteer activities, but also through the countless young people-turned-adults whose lives she touched. Many of her children’s friends have talked about her caring and steady presence and how they loved speaking with her and what a role model she was for them.
A funeral service will be held 1pm Sunday August 22, 2021 at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway (518-584-5373). Appropriate face coverings will be required. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Mount Holyoke College in memory of Therese Albach Lowenthal ’56; or in Terry’s name to the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County.
www.burkefuneralhome.com