NAOMI MARK LASHER (1927 - 2021)

Naomi Lasher, a longtime resident of Briarcliff Manor, NY, died peacefully at home on Friday, April 2nd at the age of 93.  She will be missed by her children, Deborah, Rebecca and Mark, their spouses, her 6 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren and many friends.  Born December 27, 1927 in Riga, Latvia to Beila and Mendel Mark, she immigrated with her parents and her beloved sister, Mika, to Toronto in 1938.  The journey from Riga to Canada included a tense train stop in Berlin the day before Kristallnacht.  This was followed by a "grand tour" of western Europe, on the insistence of her mother, so she and her sister could be exposed to art and culture.  They endured a long boat ride full of seasickness that caused a lifelong hatred of vanilla ice cream.  

In 1945, after becoming British subjects, the family immigrated to New York City to join extended family members. She became a US citizen in 1950 and a life-long Yankees fan.  She graduated from Hunter College and later got her BFA from Cornell University, where she met and married Gordon Lasher on January 2, 1953 after a brief six-week courtship.  They were married until his death in 2010.  Their honeymoon cross-country journey to California included a stop at the Grand Canyon, where Gordon discovered Naomi's intense acrophobia.  California was where Naomi had her first child, and she and Mika quickly started traditions of gathering at Passover and summer beach houses, that created strong family bonds with their children and grandchildren.  

Naomi loved dancing, especially Scottish Country Dancing, and was director of the Loch Leven performing dance troupe for many years.  She was also a Yiddish teacher and translator, founder, principal, and teacher for many years of the Children's Jewish Education Group of Westchester County.  Family vacations for many years included a week at Nova Scotia Dance Camp where so many special friendships were started at the after parties in Gordon and Naomi's room.  She used her artistic skills to decorate dance halls, illustrate Haggadahs, and embroider shirts, pictures, tablecloths, baby blankets, and gifts that she gave away generously.  The Dance Hall she added to her home was the center of many dance rehearsals, seders, celebrations, and family parties.  Nothing pleased her more than filling the house with family and friends, which provided an audience for her to tell irreverent jokes, dancers for her to boss, and mouths for her to feed.  We will all remember those good times for many years to come.