The funeral of Mrs. Lena Straus, wife of Nathan Straus, world-famous philanthropist, who died Sunday morning at her home, Driftwood, at Mamaroneck, was held in the Chapel of the Temple Emanu-El yesterday. Though the family preferred the ceremony to be simple and unostentatious, it was witnessed by some 800 friends and members of the family, ranging from Mr. and Mrs. Felix M. Warburg, Arthur Brisbane, and Mrs. Rebekah Kohut to the East Side mothers and fathers who came to pay silent tribute to a generous and philanthropic soul. The unfortunate illness of Nathan Straus prevented him from attending his wife’s funeral. Lieut-Governor Herbert H. Lehman sent a floral offering.
The ceremony, though unpretentious, was significant in its simplicity. A quartet from the Temple Emanu-El Chair sang “Trust in the Lord,” arranged to Handel’s Largo, which was rendered during the processional when the coffin blanketed with sweet peas, pansies and clusters of violets, was carried to the Ark. Dr. H. G. Enelow, who officiated, read from Psalm 90, “A Prayer to Moses,” and concluded his remarks with a brief quotation from the Union Prayer book, which was in part: “She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband also, and he praiseth her, saying: Many daughters have done worthily, but thou excellest them all.” The funeral hymn, also sung by the quartet, was Drozdoff’s “Oh, Lord, We Pray That Thou Would Give Us Peace.” Chopin’s Funeral March concluded the ceremony.
The body will be interred in the family vault at the Beth El Cemetery in Brooklyn.
Lina Gutherz Straus was born in Mannheim, Germany, April 20, 1854, and came to this country in 1875, when she married Mr. Straus, who was at the time associated with his father as an importer of pottery and glassware.
Actively aiding him in his business enterprises, she readily continued his partner when financial success permitted him to turn to a number of philanthropic interests. When Mr. Straus in 1892 established the laboratory and distribution system of pasteurized milk to the poor families in New York City, he did so only with the unfailing aid of his wife, with whom it was always a major interest. Mrs. Straus accomplished a great part of the work of preparing material on pasteurization and milk for publication.
PIONEER IN ZIONIST MOVEMENT
Her interests were not confined solely to philanthropies, for she was a pioneer among women in the Zionist movement. One of the first members of Hadassah, she always retained an intense interest and an active association with the organization, of which she was honorary vice-president at the time of her death.
Hadassah’s health program in Palestine was first begun in 1913 when Mr. and Mrs. Straus went to Palestine with two American trained nurses, to establish the first health center there and to initiate district nursing. Ten years ago, when Hadassah was appealing for funds to carry on the work, Mrs. Straus donated all her jewels at the same time her husband was making substantial contributions to the treasury of the Zionist Organization.
When in 1925, the Straus’s celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at their home, Driftwood, they asked their friends not to send them the customary gifts appropriate to the occasion, but to make the gifts to charity in their name.
AIDED JEWISH HOSPITAL
Mrs. Straus was also very much interested in the Jewish Hospital, serving as president of the Women’s Auxiliary for many years.
Tributes, eulogies of her character and messages of condolence, from all parts of the world were received yesterday from individuals and organizations with which she had been connected. A resolution adopted by the Zionist Organization of America declared:
“The death of Mrs. Nathan Straus deprives America of one of the noblest women in Jewish history. Always selfeffacing and profoundly modest, she typified the Biblical virtues of the Jewess. … The Zionists of America suffer an irreparable loss in her passing for she not only gave substantial material aid to the rebuilding of Palestine, but she gave abundant moral encouragement to the pioneers in the Jewish national homeland, as well as to Zionists in every land.”
HADASSAH OFFICE CLOSED FOR FUNERAL
The national headquarters of Hadassah closed at eleven o’clock yesterday, the hour of the funeral, for a short prayer. A resolution recording “their deep sorrow and bereavement,” and expressing “their heartfelt sympathy and condolence to her loving dear ones,” was adopted by the organization which described her death as a “profound loss to American womanhood and to the forces engaged in the task of developing a Jewish homeland in Palestine.”
In addition to her husband, Nathan Straus, Mrs. Straus is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Irving Lehman, whose husband is a judge of the Court of Appeals, and two sons, Nathan Straus, jr., former state senator, and Hugh Grant Straus.
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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.
