(JTA) — Suzy Braun, who actively worked for the Chicago Jewish community for nearly 60 years, has died
Braun died Feb. 25 in Chicago; she was 84.
Braun began her involvement in the Jewish United Fund’s Young Peoples Division in the late 1940s.
She was a board member of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago’s Women’s Division and held virtually every leadership position in the Women’s Division campaign, becoming campaign vice president in 1973 and serving as president from 1976 to 1978.
Braun initiated a Women’s Division fundraising program for Chicago’s Project Renewal community that was one of the most successful in the country. She was instrumental in persuading Chicago’s Women’s Division to become a part of the national Lion of Judah program in 1982, and has been part of the program since its inception in Chicago.
In 2006, Braun was honored by the national UJA Women’s Division with its Kipness Wilson Friedland Award.
Braun also served as director and vice president on the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago Board of Directors, having last served in 1999.
In addition, Braun was a leader in Project Renewal, which was dedicated to assisting underprivileged neighborhoods in Israel, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a campaign for the Women’s Division to sponsor a pre-school in Petach Tikvah.
“Suzy was a true daughter of Israel and the Jewish people,” said Steven Nasatir, president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. “She was passionate, strong and very giving — a true leader and a real lady.”
