Judith Lichtenstein

Judith Lichtenstein (nee Gradnauer) died on May 1, 2011 in San Antonio, Texas. She was 90 years old.
Judith was born on February 21, 1921 in Hamelin, Germany. She was raised in both Germany and Palestine until her teenage years, when she settled in Palestine. Judith fought in the Israeli War of Independence as a member of the Palmach, the elite strike force of the Haganah (the Israeli army). After Israel became a state, she came to the United States as an emissary for Hadassah, working to raise awareness and support for the young nation. She married E. Paul Lichtenstein, and returned to Israel for several years. In 1954, she and her husband and young son moved to Madison, where she lived for the next 53 years.
A graduate of the BeZalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, Judith was an accomplished weaver. Fluent in three languages, including her adopted language of English, Judith taught weaving and Hebrew and was an active member of many organizations, including Temple Beth El and The Alzheimer's Association. She was known throughout the community as a terrific cook and entertainer (she was featured in the Wisconsin State Journal's ""Look What's Cooking"" column in September 1989), a gifted gardener, a woman talented at embroidery, sewing, knitting, and every other form of handiwork, an appreciator of all art forms, and a person who relied on her own competence to meet whatever challenges came her way - from caring for her husband during the years of his Alzheimer's Disease to delivering meals to sick friends to shoveling her own driveway well into her 80's. Most of all, she was known as a lively, gracious, youthful personality with friends of all ages.
Judith is survived by her son, Michael (Mary Flanagan) and her daughter, Susan (John Rokacz), her brothers Michael Katzenstein and Daniel Gadna'or, and her grandchildren, Sarah and Ben Lichtenstein and David and Rebecca Rokacz. Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 5 at 1:00 p.m. at Forest Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Jewish Social Services of Madison, Wisconsin, jssmadison.org.