Loretta Carmel

Loretta Carmel (Zalewitz), 87, of Berkeley Heights, formerly of South Orange, died Sept. 14, 2012. She was born in New York and later lived in South Orange before moving to Pennsylvania, and then Deerfield Beach and Boca Raton, Fla., before returning to New Jersey.

Mrs. Carmel was a prolific stone sculptor. She sculpted at the Riker Hill Art Park in Livingston for decades while residing in South Orange, and exhibited her stone sculpture at the Lever House in New York City and various metropolitan-area galleries. Several of her stone sculptures have been donated by the Helen and Michael Schaffer Foundation to Bloomsburg University, where they have remained on display for years, among them a six-foot-tall sculpture called Standing Tall and another called Syncopation.

She also worked as a sales consultant at the Circle Gallery, an art gallery in New Jersey, winning commendation for outstanding sales achievements. As a young woman she was a model for the fur department at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.

She and her late husband Milton were active in Essex County synagogues and the Jewish community. She was a past president of a Hadassah chapter in northeast Pennsylvania in the early 1960s. She enhanced the organization’s outreach in that region immeasurably, winning awards for her work.

Get New Jersey Jewish News's Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

Predeceased by her husband of 43 years, Milton, in 1989, she is survived by her daughter, Stacy Carmel; her son, Bruce; a sister, Pauline Wexler of Deerfield Beach, Fla.; a brother, Harry Zalewitz; and a granddaughter.

Memorial contributions may be made to Johns Hopkins Hospital, Pancreatic Cancer Research, c/o Dr. Ralph Hruban, Pathology Dept. 401 N. Broadway, Weinberg 2242, Baltimore, MD 21231.