Loretta Skoletsky, 88

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Loretta Skoletsky (nee Sumberg), 88, died on Monday, December 3, 2018, at Hughes Health and Rehabilitation in West Hartford, Conn., where she has resided for the past several years. 

For her entire married life, she lived in Pittsfield and moved to Connecticut in 2016 to be closer to her son Barry.

Loretta was born in Little Falls, New York, on August 1, 1930, a daughter of Louis and Celia (Samuels) Sumberg. She was educated in Little Falls schools and was a stay-at-home mom while her children were younger, eventually working at Jays Clothing and Eaton Paper Company.

She was a member of Knesset Israel Synagogue and its Sisterhood. She enjoyed cooking and baking and going out for dinner with her late husband Edward at their favorite eateries. She was a wonderful cook and prepared many Passover Seder meals and other High Holy Day meals for her family. For almost 60 years, she and her late mother-in-law prepared the "breaking of the fast" meal after services on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) for local and out-of-town relatives and friends. In her earlier years, she enjoyed playing mahjong.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband, Edward (September 2015), whom she married on June 15, 1952; her sister, Rose Sumberg Schecter; and her brother Lawrence Sumberg.

She leaves her two sons, Louis Mark Skoletsky of Copley, Ohio, and Barry Howard Skoletsky of Hartford, Conn.; her two granddaughters, Jennifer Sarah White of Chillicothe, Ohio, and Michelle Lynn Skoletsky of Monroe Falls, Ohio; three great-grandchildren, Brayden and Aspen White and Kennedy Lynn Skoletsky; her sister-in-law, Elaine Shindler; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews.

Loretta was a kind, loving mother who cared deeply for her children and grandchildren. She will be greatly missed.

Funeral notice: Graveside services will be held Wednesday, December 5, 2018, at 1 p.m. at Knesset Israel Cemetery, 484 Pecks Road, Pittsfield, MA 01201 with Rabbi David Weiner, Spiritual Leader of Congregation Knesset Israel officiating. Following the Burial a meal of consolation will take place at Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield. The Flynn & Dagnoli-Bencivenga Funeral Home, 5 Elm St., Pittsfield, Mass., is in charge of arrangements.