Linda & Dave Goldstien

I am not sure how you would describe a "dynamo", but I would define the word as Ilene Janchill Klass, my mother and my friend!

Ilene is the daughter of Hymie and Bertha Janchill nee Domowitz. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923, and gravitates toward anyone she finds with a Brooklyn accent, however faint it may be!

Mom loves her family above all else. She has a deep affection for the Domowitz clan and many wonderful memories, as a child in Brooklyn, of her relationships with aunts, uncles, and cousins. Married to the "love of her life", Hymen Leonard Klass, she left the family "fold" and eventually moved to Rochester, New York, via a short stint in Texas while "Hy" served in the Army Air Corps.

My Uncle Leon, Ilene's beloved brother, once described my daughter, Amy, as never being still - "There's one part moving at all times!" I think she inherited that trait from her Grandma "K", as mom is called! As a child, I remember walking home from school to find my mother hastily preparing lunch (after she dashed home on her own lunch hour from work) and then the quick drive back to school. I remember her rush to cook dinner for my father, who only had a hour to come home, eat, and head back to work. I remember her racing up and down stairs to do laundry, hurriedly hanging clothes out to dry, and just as quickly taking them down before the rain came.

My mother walked fast, talked fast, cleaned house fast (and thoroughly), drove fast, and typed fast! There was never enough time in the day to do everything she wanted or planned, but she definitely never wasted a minute.

Ilene was a very rapid typist. Her skills, her excellent writing and communication proficiency, as well as her integrity, resulted in increasing responsibilities in the jobs she held, particularly in her role as secretary to the Dean of Student Affairs at Monroe Community College. She alone was trusted to transcribe meetings at the college involving delicate personnel issues, financial matters and, in the 60's, issues involving the College's response to Vietnam War protests, etc. She "saved" her bosses and the school on many occasions from too hasty a response or too damning a letter, which would have been regretted later. Her colleagues considered her "awesome", although she didn't realize how much she was admired at the time. She was just conscious of moving swiftly up and down stairs, through corridors, and around corners, determined not to let anyone catch her in "slow motion" while she performed her many functions at the school!


Ilene is a great cook and always invited the family or anyone at loose ends to join us for sumptuous holiday meals. Desserts were the best part, and even now, in her 80's, her coffee cakes, chiffon cakes, brownies, and strudel have friends, family and neighbors alike just waiting for the next opportunity for a taste test!

She continues to have a soft spot for her nieces and nephews and is constantly sending little tokens of love for birthdays, bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings, and "just because". Many are the letters of reference that she typed in their youth as they applied to colleges and universities, usually with successful results!

As a longtime Rochesterian, my mother and father made many dear friends and were part of a couple's club that is still intact after more than 50 years. Although my father passed away in 1976, my mother continued to work at the College until January of 2000, when she moved to California to join her daughters, Linda and Karen Goldstien. It was very hard for her to leave her home, her son, Rick and family in New Jersey, and her friends, but the winters were brutal and her work schedule became increasingly difficult.

Mom's sense of humor is one of her best attributes! She has a quick retort at the ready (definitely a Domowitz trait, and one that her granddaughter, Stacey, has inherited), and has charmed most everyone she's met in her six short years as a California resident. To Mom's chagrin, she's known in the Santa Ynez Valley as that "cute" little lady (She hates being called "cute"). "Oh, is SHE your mother?" people ask. "She is soooooooo cute!"

Mom decided recently to apply as a contestant on the TV show, Deal or No Deal! She had to submit a video introducing herself, explaining what she would do if she won a million dollars, and describing her "supporters" who would be in the studio with her. The video, after a gazillion "takes", was hysterical. The funniest part, though, was when Mom suggested to the host that instead of 26 beautiful girls on stage as part of the show, 26 handsome young men be substituted, so they could meet her beautiful unmarried granddaughters, who made up her support team!

As an independent woman, who has dealt with the loss of many loved ones, yet retains her zest for life and her amazing energy (in spirit, if not in body), Ilene is a credit to the Domowitz Family Line. She is a loving, generous woman, who adores her children, grandchildren and family, and who represents a generation of honest, hard-working, and determined individuals who faced hardships that succeeding generations can only imagine. As the Matriarch of our Domowitz/Janchill/Klass/Goldstien family she is a "woman of valor" and very cherished.