Ilene Laufman

On Tuesday, May 26, 2020, Ilene Princer Laufman, loving wife, sister, mother of three children and grandmother of seven grandchildren, passed away at the age of 74.  Ilene was born on June 8, 1945 in New York to Therma and Dr. Ellis Princer. She received her education degree from SUNY Cobleskill and the University of Arizona. On June 16, 1968 she married Mark David Laufman, the love of her life, and they were about to celebrate 52 years of marriage. They raised their three children in Madison, Wisconsin. Her greatest joy was being an exceptional, loving and selfless wife, mother and grandmother.  Family meant everything to her, and she was surrounded by her loving family until her last moments.

Ilene was passionate about helping others and she along with her husband Mark created two endowments in the education field; The Mark and Ilene Laufman Family Professorship of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin Madison as well as The Mark and Ilene Princer Laufman Scholarship Endowment Continuing Early Childhood Education at SUNY Cobleskill; and they gave to various other Jewish causes.  Ilene always made sure to either call or visit with her children or grandchildren daily.  She was altruistic and made sure all of her family’s needs were always met; emotionally, physically, spiritually and when it came to the grandchildren that they had plenty of candy, fun new toys or adorable outfits to wear.

Ilene had many friends who loved spending time with her; whether it was over a lunch date, a nail appointment, shopping (or even in her last days, online shopping), dinner at Nakoma Country Club or chatting over the phone.  She enjoyed attending and cheering on the University of Wisconsin Women’s Volleyball games, was an excellent bowler, loved collecting cow knick-knacks and was in several Bunco and Mahjong leagues both in Madison as well as in La Quinta, CA where she and Mark vacationed in the winter months.

Ilene will be lovingly remembered by her husband of 52 years, Mark and her children, Scott, Jonathan (Arielle), Kimberly (Andrew) and her dog Cooper aka “the favorite son”.  She will also be fondly remembered by her sister Diane as well as her seven grandchildren, Lauren, Alexandra, Isabella, Ava, Logan, Gabrielle and Reid.