Blossom Carlton

Blossom Kleinfeld Carlton passed away peacefully on April 8 at her home in White Plains, NY. She was 97.

She is survived by her children Kenneth Carlton and Karen Carlton Wood and her stepdaughter Joyce Jaffe. She was pre-deceased by her beloved husband Richard Carlton, son Ralph Carlton and son-in-law Howard Jaffe. Her large and loving family includes her daughters-in-law Susan Kaplan Carlton and Geri Donenberg, son-in-law Allan Wood, and her grandchildren: Sara Jaffe-Cannon (Nadia Jaffe-Cannon), Mark Jaffe (Katie Arathoon), Annie Carlton (Thomas Hunold), Jane Carlton (Reed Tucker), Benjamin Carlton, Matthew Carlton, Harry Wood and Emma Wood, as well as a new generation of great grands spread across the country from Washington to Massachusetts.

Blossom was married for 64 years to Richard, a television executive, who died in 2014. They met at National Screen Service when she was just 20. She was smitten by his sophistication, intellect and sense of humor-a crush that never faded. From her childhood tenement where she shared a bed with her sisters, the family spoke Yiddish, and Zionist Union members gathered for meetings, she moved with Richard to the suburbs of New York-first to Fort Lee, New Jersey and then to Scarsdale where they raised their family. They had a small, close-knit group of friends with whom they enjoyed countless Saturday night dinner parties in iconic 1960s fashion and made a lifetime of memories. Richard's career took them around the country and the world-they traveled to England, France, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Australia, Ireland, Venezuela, China and Hong Kong, to name a few. On these journeys, Blossom met presidents, prime ministers and, to her great awe, Pope John Paul II. At industry events, she wined and dined with actors, directors and rock stars.

A long career of her own as an administrative assistant was something Blossom had not anticipated, yet her work gave her great pride and fulfillment. The executives she worked with at Playbill, the think-tank Resources for the Future, and finally Transport Mutual Services, Inc., a global maritime insurance company, were erudite men whose lives she found endlessly fascinating. She forged long friendships with them and their families that transcended their professional beginnings.

Blossom was a lover of opera, poetry, movies, television, theater, Jewish history and culture. She bowled a strike on her 90th birthday. An avid reader to the end, she scoured the New York Times Book Review for the latest memoir or biography to devour on her Kindle. When a particular book struck a chord, it would provide her endless fodder for conversation, and she would insist that everyone she knew read it.

But family was her true passion. Blossom was the last surviving sibling of the five children born to Fay Verschleiser and Herschel Kleinfeld of the Bronx, New York. Her "original

family" was precious to her. She was the glue that held the siblings together when their adult lives took them to far-flung parts of the country. She brought her mother back to New York from Minneapolis at the end of Fay's life and visited her every night at the Mary Manning Walsh home after the long bus ride uptown from work. Blossom schlepped her children on trains, planes and automobiles to visit her sisters and brother in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Pennsylvania and Queens, determined that their lives be forever intertwined. Indeed, the extended Kleinfeld family cherished their Aunt Buzz and their calls and cards and visits sustained her throughout her long life.

Blossom's children were her pride and joy. She reveled in sharing their accomplishments and worried about them to distraction. When she lost her eldest child Ralph to cancer several years ago, there was no comfort to give-it was her worst fear realized.

A true original, Blossom was generous, beautiful, refined, hilarious. At once charming and blunt, sensitive and unsparing, she saw the glass half empty and yet loved life. She wanted desperately to keep living. Her wish is fulfilled by her amazing legacy. Blossom, you are unforgettable.

The family wishes to thank Andrea Fletcher, Anna Foster and Natalie Tchkadua for their care and dedication.

Donations in Blossom's memory may be made to the Yiddish Book Center.