Obituary of Edith Rattner

My mother Edith passed away peacefully on Wednesday, January 25th, 2023. She was 96 years old.

Mom grew up in Brooklyn, New York, at 18 East 10th Street. She was the younger of two sisters, known as “The Levine Girls”, and she attended Erasmus High School. From a young age mom would entertain her family, including her parents, sister, aunts, and uncles, and she was affectionately known by them as “Good Time Charlie”.

She adored going to summer camp and rose through the ranks to become a head counselor. Mom attended New York University –NYU, and was in their drama school where she was able to hone her craft which was comedy.

She was an uninhibited performer who used her sense of humor to try to make people happy and comfortable. Mom never met a stranger and she could crack the ice in a room.

Mom was Broadway’s biggest fan and she adored lyricists. She defined them as poets and she was one as well. She composed a host of lyrics about family members and friends that were written for her favorite show tunes. Ever the performer, she would sing them to the delight of all guests at a gathering.

Mom fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming a standup comedian, this at the tender age of 82 years! Her tag line to those that were impressed by her performance was “It’s never too late to pursue your dreams.” She also said that the sound of laughter from her audience, whether that was one person or fifty, was a thrilling feeling.

You were an amazing mother Mom.

You introduced me to the world, and you introduced the world to me. Music, theater, art, fashion, food, cooking, sports, camp, travel, life; you wanted me to “live”. You made me well rounded.

You showed me by example how to behave with any people. You would say “You are just as good a human being as the next person, but you are not better than anyone.” You taught me to be kind, mannerly, tolerant, generous, humorous, creative, brave, gutsy, uninhibited. You showed me what a leader is, a protector, a visionary, a supporter, a romantic.

Most of all, you showed me what pure love is. Your love for me was constant and boundless. You never judged me; I could count on you to always be there for me, and you would give me anything I needed. You were my constant and loudest cheerleader.

I’m enormously proud of whom you were as a woman, and I’m the luckiest girl in the world to have had you as a mom.

I love you Mom-Janie

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