Jeanette Hammer

Jamaica, NY - Jeanette Hammer

            Jeanette Hammer, a longtime resident of Cuba, died peacefully at the age of 99 on Wednesday, January 2, 2019 at the Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica, Queens.  She was most recently a resident of the Atria, an assisted living facility in Kew Gardens.

            Jeanette was Born on Sept. 23, 1919 in Paterson NJ.  She was the daughter of Jacob and Pauline Schefkind Hess, both immigrants from Lithuania.  Her beloved husband, Harry, to whom she was married for 64 years, died in 2010 at the age of 92.

            Jeanette attended Public School Number 4 and Central High School in Paterson, NJ.  Her first salaried job was as a secretary in 1937 at the Pioneer Overall Company, where she worked at the then enviable salary of $8 per week.  She subsequently worked at the Reliable Paper Box Company in Passaic, NJ and for the New Process Dyeing and Finishing Company in Paterson.  She loved her bosses, and they all cherished her.

            After World War II, Harry and Jeanette lived in Paterson, NJ, Oneonta and Canton, OH.  During those years, Harry was a traveling salesman for Swartchild and Company, a Chicago-based jewelry supply wholesale.  At Jeanette's insistence, the couple settled down in 1949 after buying one of the jewelry stores in Harry's territory, Sheret's Jewelry Store in Cuba.  this store, renamed Hammer's Jewelers, was in business until 1992.  Harry also owned a jewelry store in Wellsville from 1963 to 1987.

            Jeanette was a help mate both in the jewelry business, as well as at home.  At the age of 60, she became a real estate salesperson working for Pepper & Crandall in Olean.  Five years later, when most people are already in retirement or contemplating it, Jeanette became a broker.  Until she left Pepper and Crandall well in her 80's, Jeanette though nothing of driving country roads, climbing up into attics, and down into basements.  She relinquished her driver's license at the age of 98, never having had an accident or a speeding ticket.

            Family was Jeanette's primary passion, though she also had pride in her home, antiques, her Yiddishkeit, her plants, and her commitment to being mentally engages.  She learned from her mother that it was always import to give--no matter how little.  And when things were less than rosy, she would recall her mother's wisdom that things could always be worse.  She had been active in the B'nai Israel Sisterhood and the Daughters of the Easter Star.

            She is survived by; her sons, Jeffrey (Mary) of Canton, CT and mark (David) of New York, NY; her granddaughters, Sarah (Iain) Gillespie of London, England, and Malorie of Canton, CT; by her great grandchildren Maela, Rosely, Marilena, Anylis, and Jesse; and by several nieces and nephews.  Jeanette was the last of her generation in the family.

            In addition to her husband, Jeanette was predeceased by her six siblings; Alexander, Saul, Boris (Florence), Sidney (Lee), Beatrice, and Silvia (Sam) Dreizen.

            Friends will be received at the Letro-McIntosh-Spink Funeral Home, Inc., 646 E. State Street, Olean, on Friday, January 4, 2019 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, at which time a Funeral Service will be held.  Dr. David Shulman of Olean will officiate.  Burial will be in the B'nai Israel Cemetery in Olean.

            Those wishing to make donations in Jeanette's memory are requested to do so to the Cuba Circulating Library, 39 East Main Street, Cuba, New York 14727 or to the Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 16411 Chapin Parkway, Jamaica, New York 11432.  Online condolences may be made at www.LetroMcIntoshSpinkFuneralHome.com