MENDELSONS—The late Lottie Mendelson, seen here with her husband Bob, will be remembered Jan. 29 at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s annual women’s event, Impact.
Mendelson inspiration for federation women’s event
By Deborah Moon
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Lottie Mendelson always said, “You are successful if you leave the world a better place for having been here.”
By that definition, when she died July 13, 2007, she was clearly a success—as a wife, mother, grandmother, writer, nurse practitioner, public speaker, radio show host and supporter of community.
And now her family and the women of the community will recognize that success when they gather Jan. 29 for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s Women’s Philanthropy Committee annual event Impact, sponsored this year by “Bob Mendelson and family, in loving memory of Lottie Mendelson, a woman who made an Impact.”
The ballroom will be sprinkled with “Lottieisms,” favorite sayings of a woman who attended the federation’s annual women’s event for years. And women will be able to sip on the drink of the night, “Lattinis”—a blend of Bombay Sapphire Gin and Schweppes Tonic Water with lime, her favorite cocktail.
“She loved the cross-section of the community getting together—there were always so many people in the room she would only see at a federation event,” said daughter Michelle Rosenbloom, the youngest and only child of Bob and Lottie who still lives in Portland. David is a doctor in Dallas, Mark is a pilot in Phoenix and Tamara lives in Israel. Together the four have produced eight grandchildren.
Bob and Lottie met in 1954 at Temple Beth Israel’s religious school when Lottie was a high school senior and Bob was a Reed College junior teaching in the religious school.
“Her mother, Esther Murphy, was the secretary of the religious school,” said Bob. “She always said she picked me out for Lottie.”
Four and a half years later the pair wed while Bob was in his junior year of medical school and Lottie was finishing her nursing degree at the University of Portland, which would allow married students to finish the program only if they were within six months of graduation.
Lottie went on to finish that degree and later earned a degree as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner from Oregon Health and Sciences University.
Bob and Lottie went on to form a 49- year partnership that included raising a family, running a pediatric practice, and speaking and writing about parenting.
They co-authored “The Complete Book of Parenting” (“which it wasn’t,” said Bob, noting the publisher picked the title) based on Lottie’s 13 years of writing News and Clues, a parenting newsletter. They also were co-hosts of “Parenting in the ’90s,” a weekly 90-minute call-in show on KEX from 1995-97.
For many years the two spoke at schools, either to student or parent groups, about health and sex education.
“You [Bob] were the facts, she was the human interest side,” said Michelle. “She always came up with colorful stories to illustrate your facts.”
While she was teaching others to parent their children, she was busy raising her own.
“She was a caregiver in every sense of the word,” said Michelle. “She took care of everyone and everything. Nothing got neglected.”
“Certainly none of you and not me,” agreed Bob.
“She was a parent to a lot more than our children,” he said, noting the house was always full of strays—mostly people but animals too—and she took care of them all. “She always cooked enough for whoever might drop by.”
So after she passed on at age 70 after three and half years of battling leukemia, Bob said he wanted an appropriate memorial for her.
“I wanted to do something special, but I wasn’t able to do much for a long time,” he said, choking back tears. “Then Michelle told me about this (sponsoring Impact) as an opportunity that would have real meaning for her and it seemed right.”
Michelle agreed: “Supporting women, building community—this event is all about empowering women. … She always understood the importance of community support.”
So this Jan. 29, women of the community are invited to turn out, sip a “Lottini,” hear another powerful woman—former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers—speak about the Impact women can have, and support the Jewish community locally and globally through making a pledge to the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s annual campaign.