Obituary
Paula Farbman (nee Steinberg), of Baltimore, MD, passed away on Monday, July 19th, 2021 at the age of 87. She is survived by her children, Jack (Heni) Farbman, Ellen de Castro Farbman Goldman (Ted Goldman), Douglas (Andrea) Farbman, and Howard (Dana) Farbman, her brother, Samuel (Sunny) Steinberg, grandchildren, Rachel Farbman, David Farbman, Sarah Farbman (fiance, Tony Easter), Alex Goldman, Eli Goldman (fiance Sara Gilgore), Joanna Goldman (Geoff Newman), Adam (Jessi) Farbman, Brian Farbman, Emily (Ross) Taylor, Julie (Greg) Gold, and Annie Rose (Matthew) Ulander, and her great-grandchildren, Levi Farbman, Aniyah Easter, Simon Taylor, Ava Taylor, Leo Gold, and Esther Gold. She was predeceased by her husband, Leondard Ira Farbman and her parents, Leon and Anita Steinberg.
Paula was born on the 13th day of the 13th month of 1933 (January 13, 1934) in Charleston, South Carolina. That was her favorite way to talk about her birthday. She was the daughter of Leon Steinberg and Anita de Sola Williams Steinberg. Big sister to Samuel. When they were young, Paula and her brother were given nicknames of Punkey and Bunkey. Not sure when Paula lost her nickname, but somehow, Samuel's nickname stuck, and Uncle Bunkey he has always been.
Growing up in Charleston, Paula had an ideal childhood surrounded by a large extended family. Her father Leon was one of 9 children and Anita's father was one of 8. You could always walk down King Street with Paula and see someone and Paula would always say they were a relative, although not always sure of the exact link, but knowing they were related somehow.
The family would spend summers on Sullivan's Island near station 23 in an apartment over a garage near other family members. In Charleston, the Steinberg family lived at 5 Rutledge Boulevard and then moved to a lovely home at 48 Parkwood Avenue on Hampton Park, just around the corner from the Citadel. Three years ago, Paula was able to go back inside the old family home and see it one last time.
Paula was a great student at Rivers High and made a life-changing decision to attend Goucher College in Baltimore. The Jewish girls were paired with a local Jewish family to act as their "college parents." Paula's college parents, Huck and Rena Plant, became like family to Paula. Their best friends were Dewey and Rena Farbman, so I guess you know how this story will end (or begin). Family lore has it that the Plant and Farbman sons flipped a coin to see who would take Paula out. Leonard liked to joke and say he lost. Meeting Leonard changed her life forever. They dated, fell in love and got married on October 31, 1954. Within five years, they became parents to Jack, Ellen, Douglas and Howard. She was a wonderful mother, involved with all aspects of four very active children. She was a volunteer nurse's aide at Sinai Hospital, a meals on wheels driver, AFS host family, mentor to a disadvantaged girl, and a volunteer in the PTA. Paula's passion was gardening -- either tending to her own gardens or weeding and re-organizing her childrens' gardens. She was a puzzle master and was still working on a new puzzle last week.
When the kids were in high school, she went back to school to get her degree, eventually graduating from Towson with a nursing degree. One week after Ellen graduated from Emory, she graduated from Towson. She went on to have a wonderful career as a nurse at Sinai hospital, then private duty nursing and finally home health care. When each of the kids married, she welcomed their spouses into the family. Ted, Dana, Andrea and now Heni became the porch-sitters. Now that the 11 grandchildren are marrying and starting their families, Paula welcomed their spouses and fiances into the family, even if she forgot their names and called them the "boyfriend" or "that girl."
Paula and Leonard had a wonderful marriage, lasting more than 50 years. After living in Ranchleigh at 6513 Deancroft Road as newlyweds and quickly building their family, they built a beautiful home on Anton Farms Road where they lived for 43 years. When they sold it, she was glad the new buyers would tear down the house since she didn't want anyone to live in her house. They moved into The Quarry on Greenspring Avenue and found a new community of friends that enriched her final years. Paula moved into independent living at North Oaks two years ago where she once again found a new circle of friends who added to her amazing collection of friends.
Paula and Leonard had a condo on St. Thomas, where everyone enjoyed visiting. Friends and family were always invited and they enjoyed many years exploring the island. Paula loved to say that the family had been part of the island since her great grandmother grew up there and married in the famous synagogue in 1852. In 2004, granddaughter Joanna Goldman became the 8th generation to worship in the synagogue when she celebrated her Bat Mitzvah. After selling the condo at The Anchorage, they bought what Paula called her play house in West Palm Beach, Florida. They had their winter home there for 12 years and made many great friends at Ibis Country Club.
Paula and Leonard traveled quite a bit around the world and made friends on trips whenever they traveled. Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Europe were not safe from Paula "finding" an artifact and bringing it home. After Leonard died, Ellen became Paula's traveling companion, going to Odessa, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg (yes, they did the Sound of Music tour and yes, they sang a lot). They traveled to visit cousins in Charleston, Atlanta (to visit her cousin/sister Marilyn and husband Mickey) and Florida. They went to Morocco with granddaughter Rachel because Paula loved the movie Casablanca. When informed that it was filmed entirely in Hollywood, she still didn't care, she wanted to go. It was an amazing trip. On the last night in Casablanca, the three ladies dined at Rick's Cafe that looked just like the cafe in the movie. As they walked in, the pianist was playing "La Mer," which was Paula and Leonard's favorite song. She thought it had been arranged just for her but it was just a wild coincidence, or was it? She took granddaughter Julie on a memorable cruise to Scandinavia and the Baltics. She took Ellen, Andrea and Dana for a Rhine River cruise from Basel to Amsterdam. She wanted to visit a "cafe", but somehow never found time to go. When her sons complained that they never get to go on a trip with Paula, she then took them (and Ellen) on a cruise from Italy to the Greek Islands in 2018. For her 80th birthday, we wanted to do something as a family. She said she wanted to go to London in 4 weeks time (in February) to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of the rescue of the Czech torahs. Paula and Leonard had donated the funds to the temple to bring a rescued torah there. Paula and the four kids (and spouses) went there with the Torah. The Torah had a great time in London. There is a photo of Paula sitting with the Torah (in a garment bag) being pushed through the airport to save time. There is also a photo of the Torah in a London taxi as we made our way back to the hotel after the celebration. And because Paula lived a charmed life, the weather in London in February that week was magnificent.
Paula loved being a Nanny to her 11 grandchildren- Rachel, David, Alex, Emily, Adam, Eli, Julie, Brian, Sarah, Joanna and Annie. She became a grandmother at age 49. How many grandmothers do headstands, ride a unicycle or windsurf wearing a shower cap to preserve her hair? And she kvelled when she became a great grandmother to Levi, Ava, Simon, Leo, Aniyah and Esther.
Even though she lived in Charleston for her first 18 years and in Baltimore for more than 50, she still retained her southern accent.
When Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston in September 1989, Paula made a speech at Temple Oheb Shalom in Baltimore during Rosh Hashanah. She described the devastation to her hometown and how it affected her beloved Synagogue Emanu-EI
(where her father was one of the founding members and her mother was the Sisterhood maven and coordinator of the gift shop and her brother President). Her amazing speech generated a significant outpouring of funds that helped to restore the cemetery where her parents are buried.
She was a pianist (loved to play Chopin's minute waltz), an artist (maybe some of you have her paintings in your homes), gardener (in spite of her allergies to poison ivy and bees), a rabbi at Friday night services for the elderly at the Weinberg Center.
She was famous for her hats she wore to synagogue.
She was so proud of her Sephardic heritage. She and Ellen went to Spain in 1992 on the 500th anniversary of the Inquisition just to show them that we were still around. The de Sola and de Castro families still survive.
Services at Sol Levinson's Chapel, 8900 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, MD 21208, on Wednesday, July 21st, 2021 at 11:00 am. Interment Oheb Shalom Memorial Park - Berrymans Lane. Please omit flowers. Contributions in her memory may be sent to the Paula Farbman Har Sinai Oheb Shalom Cemetery Fund, 7310 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21208. The family will be in mourning at 9 Highpasture Court, Owings Mills, Maryland 21117.
Arrangements by Sol Levinson. www.sollevinson.com