Adrienne K. Rubenstein

Adrienne Karen (Schulman) Rubenstein, long time Mercer Island resident, was born on April 15, 1943 in Chicago, IL to Bessie and Morrie Schulman; she died on January 24, 2010 surrounded by her family, after a courageous two and a half year battle with brain cancer. She graduated from Von Steuben High School in Chicago in 1961, and from the University of Illinois in 1965 with a BA in Education. After college she worked as a speech therapist and then met and married Simeon A. Rubenstein in 1967. After living in Texas, Florida, South Korea and Los Angeles, they settled in Mercer Island in 1972, where they raised their three children, Jeffrey, Jonathan, and Leslie. She was a member of the Herzl-Ner Tamid congregation where she sang in the temple choir for eighteen years, and was a board member of the Stroum Jewish Community Center. She studied horticulture, and later trained and worked as a paralegal, finishing her career as a bailiff for the King County Superior Courts.Adrienne was passionate about travel, gardening, reading, and the arts, and was known for the energy and sense of style she put into everything she did, most notably in her personal appearance and her landscaping, to which she always brought her own particular flair. Adrienne would typically be found at the gym at 6 a.m. exercising as vigorously as those half her age. She was devoted to her children and grandchildren and never let a month pass without spending time with them, no matter the distance or effort it took: she would regularly take red-eye flights in order to maximize her time with them and still keep up with her work and other activities. Adrienne’s passion for reading lives on with her grandchildren through the wonderful library she built for them. And she dearly loved the many friends who surrounded her throughout her life, and their commitment to her in her final months will always be cherished by her and her family. Adrienne is survived by her husband of 42 years, Simeon Rubenstein of Mercer Island; her brother Michael Schulman of Raleigh, NC; her daughter Leslie Rubenstein of Mercer Island; her son Jeffrey Rubenstein and his wife Karin Drew of Brooklyn, NY; and her son and daughter-in-law Jonathan and Betsy Rubenstein and grandchildren Jack and Ryan Rubenstein of Baltimore, MD. Remembrances may be made to the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island at (206) 388-1991 or at sjcc.org.