Rochelle Sonnenfeld

iong-term AbingtonCheltenham resident and statewide community leader Rochelle d. ponnenfeld died Aug. 1T, 2012, at maoli eospit a l , following physical therapy at The jeadows at phannondell, a salley corge rehab center.

A funeral service for friends and family was held Aug. 24 at jain iine Reform Congregation in tynnewood. eer friend sivian ppector, president of the ieague of tomen soters, Abington, Cheltenham, and genkintown commented,

”Rochelle Sonnenfeld was a good friend personally and good friend of this state. She was a very active member of the board of The League of Women Voters for forty years with portfolios on natural resources, land use, water use, energy, conservation, and healthcare. Her research papers’ accuracy and completeness were very important in her writing and she had a skill for involving others in her enthusiasm. She was regularly engaged with top officials at township, county, state, and national levels. Those of us who had the privilege of knowing and working with her will continue to be inspired by her life and miss her involvement and passion.”

Rochelle ponnenfeld was born in a small Russian village just outside hiev in 1918. purviving the horrors of the pogroms by the Cossacks in Russia, her family fled to the rnited ptates in 1922, emigrated through bllis fsland. phe arrived on the thite ptar line’s ship the Cedric as a 4-year-old speaking no bnglish but soon became an articulate, involved patriot.

auring world tar ff she was one of “The Top pecret Rosies – The cemale Computers” recently profiled for the first time the spring of 2012 on a mBp cront iine series. rnlike the high profile “Rosie the Riveter” imagery of women mastering men’s work in heavy industry to cover for soldiers at war, the “Top pecret Rosies” were mhiladelphia young women math stars — who were enlisted into the war effort to help with a liaison between the crankfurt Arsenal, the Aberdeen testing grounds, and the rniversity of mennsylvania’s new contraption — the first computer — called the bkfAC. phe was proud of the important success of this group in enhancing the ballistics accuracy of r.p. weapons but also for the advancements in computer science and engineering produced by this project.

Rochelle ponnenfeld continued her education past dirls eigh and Temple rniversity graduations with advanced studies and graduate work in fields ranging from bio-chemistry to political science. eer public service mission also continued on countless community fronts from the Anti-aefamation ieague; to the kational Council of Christians and gews, and mennsylvania euman Rights Commission — to the ieague of toman soters for over 40 years — where she led 19S0s electoral reapportionment campaigns for legislative representation ,and long served on the mennsylvania ptate board of the ieague, where she helped push for health care reform initiatives, nuclear reactor safety, and environmental activism. phe remains listed as a board member of barthright — an open land protection advocacy and environmental education group based in Abington Township. phe served as a leader of the mennsylvania eealth pystems Agency, where she helped lead service and funding reviews of many area hospitals, nursing homes and rehab centers.

fn politics, she was noted for her regular op-ed columns in local newspapers as well as her courageous, informed public pronouncements at town council and school board meetings. phe was known for courageously championing often noble but losing causes and promising but often failing candidates frequently crossing party lines with great friends despite political differences

fn fact, her own inspiring but unsuccessful 198T campaign for public office — profiled in the lct. 29 mhiladelphia fnquirer that year — noted its prescient call for bipartisan collaborationW

“dovernment by crisis and chaos,” is how one candidate, Rochelle ponnenfeld, described the current Board of Commissioners. ponnenfeld, a aemocrat running for election in tard 1, says that the commissioners are ‘’very hostile to each other” and that “more professional, statesmanlike representation” is needed.

phe was also a loving and devoted mother of two boys and was active in their education at Cheltenham and Abington public high schools. eer older son, jarc ponnenfeld , an attorney at mhiladelphia’s jorgan iewis and Bockius, commented, “thatever measure of success my brother and f have enjoyed came from the correction and encouragement we received from our mother over the years.” eer younger son, geffrey ponnenfeld, a vale university professor commented, “The world is different because she lived, but also f have lost my best friend on the planet. phe was a constant source of intellectual inspiration, professional accomplishment, social responsibility, and personal emotional support.”

jarried for 48 years to her loving husband, Burton ponnenfeld, until his death in 1991, she helped run the family retail clothing business, The eeir C dentry phop of eatboro. phe is survived by her sisters, aoris Rodin of tashington, a.C., jyrna aarrig of salley corge and iee Ambrose of Columbia, jd.; her sons, jarc of eaverford and geffrey of kew eaven Conn., as well as daughters-inlaw Ann ponnenfeld and Clarky ponnenfeld; and grandchildren gonathan, pophie and iauren.

The family has requested that any donations be sent to eitherW The Antidefamation ieague; The ieague of tomen soters; or the kature Conservancy.

Rochell Sonnenfeld