Edith (Edie) Esther Kelman Jeffrey b. October 10, 1932 d. February 1, 2025. Beloved mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, sister, aunt, and friend to many people near and far of all ages.
A remarkable woman, born in Boston, MA, daughter of immigrants (beloved Abraham and Miriam Kelman), Edith attended Brandeis University and later went back to school for her Master’s Degree in History from Princeton University. She met and married a Dorchester boy Richard C. Jeffrey, and traveled the world with him, starting a family in Palo Alto, CA, when he was an assistant professor of Philosophy at Stanford and then moving with two young children across the country to Princeton, NJ, where she lived for the rest of her life.
A political activist, Edith was blacklisted and lost an important job opportunity as a young woman based on her attendance at student political events. Community and community organizations were important to Edith. She was active in the League of Women Voters, Community Without Walls (House 2), and the Evergreen Forum and was a founding member and first president of Princeton Research Forum.
Edith was an intrepid traveler and experiencer of life, an artist, and a poet, she had a curiosity about and interest in all people, places, and things and was a lifelong learner. She was our family historian and story teller. After the untimely death of her beloved husband, our father Richard Jeffrey, she continued to live a rich, full, and active life in her community and beyond.
We are grateful to Edith’s many dear friends who enriched her life until the end, in particular for the love and companionship of Paul Benacerraf in her later years, a longtime family friend and honorary family member, who we sadly lost in January.
We were thankful to be able to carry out Edith’s wishes for end of life (her goals of care) in consultation with her doctor David Barile, to whom we are incredibly grateful. Our hearts are broken yet warmed by the love we all shared. She will live on in us forever.
Edith is survived by her son Daniel Jeffrey, daughter Pamela Jeffrey and her husband Sean O’Connor, granddaughters Sophie Jeffrey O’Connor and her husband David Lonergan and Juliet Jeffrey O’Connor and her fiancé Ben Klein, sister Bernice Kelman, nephew Dan McCormack, and grandniece Heather McCormack. Edith loved all and was loved by all.
Finally, we are so grateful to Hannah Aryeetey for the care she provided, that enabled Edith to live independently in her own home despite her physical challenges. Hannah was a bright light in Edith’s life. Thank you Hannah.
Burial was held on February 3, 2025 at 1 p.m. at Princeton Cemetery.
A celebration of Edith’s life is being planned.
Arrangements are under the direction of Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
