Ann Ruth Waldbaum, a tireless volunteer and an integral part of the HEA, passed away June 4, 2012, in Aurora. Rabbi Bruce Dollin and Cantor Martin Goldstein officiated at the June 5 service at the HEA. Interment followed at Rose Hill Cemetery. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
Interviewed by the IJN for the Very Important Women section in 1979, Mrs. Waldbaum said there was no secret to her volunteerism.
If you do, you do, she said. You cant tell a person how to become involved just do it.
Mrs. Waldbaum was born Dec. 1, 1914, in Poland, to Sam and Ida Duman. Mr. Duman left Poland to evade the draft and came to Denver without seeing his first child. They expected to join Mr. Duman as soon as he got settled, but WW I delayed their plans.
After the war broke out, Mrs. Duman cared for her infant daughter Ann, a widowed mother and younger sister. When the Cossacks invaded their village, the three women carried nine-month-old Ann under cover of night to the home of Ida Dumans uncle. They lived with him throughout WW I.
In June of 1920, the Duman family happily reunited in Denver.
Read the IJN editorial eulogy for Ann Waldbaum
A graduate of North High, Ann married Hyman I. Waldbaum on Aug. 18, 1935. Mr. Waldbaum passed away on Sept. 30, 1988.
Mrs. Waldbaum, who was involved in every aspect of the HEA, guided the growth of Mizrachi Women in Denver.
A Den Mother who later chaired numerous committees for the Boy Scouts, she became PTA president and later served on CUs Hillel Foundation.
One of the founders of Hillel Academy, Mrs. Waldbaum was active with the Allied Jewish Federation and worked tirelessly to free Soviet Jewry.
She belonged to Hadassah, participated in the Cuban Refugee Program and was a foster parent with JFS. A member of HIAS, she also founded the Ann Waldbaum Shabbos Tea Party.
Mrs. Waldbaum is survived by her children Philip (Linda) Waldbaum, Leonard (Roberta) Waldbaum, Art (Irit) Waldbaum and Gerry (Regina) Lanes; siblings Dr. Louis (Nellie Mae) Duman and Rhoda (Vernor) Friedman; sister-in-law Roz Duman; grandchildren Avara Yaron, Margie (Rick) Parietti, Charlie Waldbaum, Andrew Waldbaum, Greg (Abby) Waldbaum, Joshua Waldbaum, Ron (Efrat) Waldbaum, Dana (Adam Berger) Waldbaum, Sara, Jeffrey and Alex Lanes; and nine great-grandchildren.
Contributions may be made to Shalom Cares, the Hyman Waldbaum Fund at the HEA, or the charity of choice.
Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News
