A guiding force at Denver’s Jewish Family Service for over 38 years, Yana Vishnitsky passed away on June 8, 2022. She was 75. A service was held on June 10 at Temple Emanuel, officiated by Rabbi Steven Foster. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
Mrs. Vishnitsky’s story is one of persistence and the will to help others. She emigrated from Odessa in the Soviet Union to Denver in 1978. Upon arriving in Colorado, she immediately became an immigration client at JFS. Her next stop was to attend services at Temple Emanuel, where she met Joyce Foster, wife of Rabbi Steven Foster.
Befriending Joyce Foster changed Vishnitsky’s life immediately. Foster’s, too.
“She starts speaking to me in impeccable English,” said Mrs. Foster, then an employment counselor with JFS, who at the time had been looking for a translator who spoke both Russian and Yiddish.
“I said to her, ‘We’ve got to get you a job.’”
JFS had a strict policy of not hiring clients, but Foster pushed hard to hire Vishnitsky. When Vishnitsky completed her green card process, Foster convinced JFS leadership to hire Vishnitsky, who in her homeland was a patent attorney and mechanical engineer.
So began an association for the ages. Mrs. Vishnitsky became a case manager for Russian immigrants to Denver. She rose through the ranks of JFS to become director of resettlement, while at the same time earning a BA in social work at CSU and later, a masters from Smith College.
In 1999, Mrs. Vishnitsky was named assistant executive director. One year later she was promoted to president of JFS.
“She was a survivor, and she was determined,” said Foster. “There was no BS with Yana, and nothing was too much for her. She was a no-nonsense person, and she figured you out quickly.”
The two became lifelong friends. One of Yana’s few Russian words that she intertwined during Englsh conversations was pronounced “magazine” in Russian. That translated to “shop” in English.
“She loved to shop,” Foster added.
When Mrs. Vishnitsky became president, JFS’ budget was $4.8 million. By 2015, the budget exploded to $14.4 million, with a client roster of 25,000 served each year.
In 2006, Mrs. Vishnitsky began a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease. She continued her JFS duties until her retirement in December, 2016.
“If I gained nothing else in the US,” Mrs. Vishnitsky told the IJN in 2016, “I always said, ‘Give me the opportunity to learn who I am.’ This is the greatest gift you can give a human being.”
In her 2020 book Yana, Mrs. Vishnitsky wrote: “JFS gave me an identity. It was a place that became home – a place where I belonged. For 38 years, I became synonymous with JFS. It was my life’s work, my passion, and my identity.”
Mrs. Vishnitsky married Jim Wolfe 30 years ago. Survivors include Mr. Wolfe; son Vitaly Vishnitsky; brother Alan (Svetlana) Reyf; and two grandchildren.
Contributions may be made to Jewish Family Service.
Copyright © 2022 by the Intermountain Jewish News
