My Life
Part I: Growing Up in Brooklyn, New York
My name is Beatrice Shteir.
I was born on March 26, 1920.
I grew up in Brooklyn, New York.
I lived with my parents until I got married.
This is me.
My mother was Fanny Wolfbein.
We called her, “Mama” or “Bubby.”
Bubby was a real dynamo. She could sew dresses without having a pattern. She was very fast.
Bubby and I liked to shop for antiques. We had lots of fun together. Here is a picture of Lynn with Bubby.
Lynn Bubby
My father was Samuel Wolfbein. I called him “Papa.” Sam liked to read the newspaper and watch the news on the TV.
My
father, Sam Wolfbein
This is me at age 24.
Growing up in Brooklyn, I did lots of things.
I went to school. I was very smart and skipped lots of grades.
I was the only girl in Hebrew School. I was a whiz.
I played in the mandolin orchestra in New York City.
I was a bookkeeper for Mr. Landau.
Seymour Wolfbein
My brother was Seymour Wolfbein.
Seymour was famous.
He was the assistant secretary of labor for two presidents: John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
Seymour was married to Mayzie.
Seymour’s children are Sue and Deeva.
Every summer, all of us would go to the beach together.
When I got married, I moved away from my parents in Brooklyn.
I moved to New Jersey – to the country.
My first husband was Leon Shteir.
Leon and me
He worked in the Smithburg General Store.
I worked there too.
This is the Smithburg General Store.
Rose and Herman Shteir
Leon’s parents were Herman and Rose Shteir.
They were my father-in-law and my mother-in-law.
They were wonderful people, who were very generous to me and Leon.
Rose was killed by a car. I was there. I lay down with her on the road next to her. I said, “Grandma, grandma, it’s OK. We’ll carry you into the house, and Leon will call an ambulance. You’ll be OK.” But it wasn’t OK. She was dead.
Lynn Laurie Mark
I had three children with Leon. They were all born in New Jersey and grew up with us in New Jersey.
My first child was Mark.
My second child was Lynn.
My third child was Laurie.
Mark
This is Mark.
He lives in New Jersey.
He’s an optometrist.
He’s married to Anita.
He has one child, Eric. Eric is my grandson.
I don’t see Mark, Anita, and Eric because they live far away. Mark has allergies. So, he can’t fly to visit me in Nashville.
Lynn me
This is Lynn.
Lynn lives in Nashville and visits me every day.
Lynn is a professor at Vanderbilt University.
Lynn is married to Doug.
Lynn has one child, Matty.
Matty is my grandson. He lives in Washington, and works for Homeland Security.
Matty
me
Laurie me
This is Laurie.
Laurie works and teaches at Temple University in the Department of Computer Science.
Laurie has two cats: Daisy and Misty.
Matty Eric
I have two grandchildren: Eric and Matty.
Eric is Mark’s son. He works in a bank.
Matty is Lynn’s son. He goes to law school. I advised him to go into elder law.
Eric
Leon died when he was only 62 years old. He died of a heart attack. That was a long time ago.
After Leon died, I married Max Peps. I liked Max Peps a lot. We had good times together.
Max and I moved into Surrey Downs. We lived there together.
Max taught me to play golf. He could fix a lot of things.
Max took me to Florida every winter. Max was very generous to me while he was alive. He paid for everything. Max died a few years ago. I miss him.
Max me
Part IV: Moving to Nashville
When I got older, I
decided to move to Nashville, where I could be closer to Lynn.
I live in Barton House. The people in Barton House take good care of me.
Lynn visits me a lot. We read. We look at the picture album. We listen to the
Jewish music. We go out to dinner with Doug.
Laurie visits me a lot. We go out to dinner, and go to lots of doctor’s appointments.
Sarah visits me a lot. We read and do spelling games together.
Sarah
My mother passed away on December 1st, 2007