Funeral services were held today at Congregation Rodfei Zedek for Janet Epstein, the great-granddaughter of one of Chicago’s first rabbis. She died last Friday at Michael Reese Hospital after a long illness. She was 86 years old.
Her great-grandfather was Rabbi Abraham Rabinowitz, who settled in Chicago in the late 1860s and established the first congregation on the South Side, Ohav Shalom, in 1891. Mrs. Epstein was the widow of A. Epstein, the founder of A. Epstein and Sons, International, an engineering and architectural firm with headquarters in Chicago and branches throughout the world, including Israel.
Survivors include two sons, Raymond and Sidney, and a brother. Raymond Epstein is a former president of the Council of Jewish Federations, general chairman of the Jewish United Fund-Israel Emergency Fund, and president of the Jewish Welfare Fund. He is presently a vice president of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Sidney Epstein has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and several Federation agencies.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
