Sylvia Fried, community leader, 91

Sylvia (Bass) Fried, 91, of Delray Beach, Fla., a devoted leader of many philanthropic organizations, died July 23, 2013.

Born in Newark, she resided in West Orange, Short Hills — where she and her husband, Milton “Mickey” Fried, raised their three children — and in Verona, living there and in Delray Beach before moving full-time to Florida about 10 years ago.

Among the many groups Fried was devoted to were the sisterhood of Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange and the National Woman’s League of the Children’s Asthma Research Institute and Hospital in Denver, both of which she served as president.

She was a trustee on the boards of numerous philanthropic groups, including Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, Daughters of Israel senior center in West Orange, and the Jewish Community Foundations of Greater MetroWest and South Palm Beach, Fla.

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She received awards from many organizations, including the Golda Meir Woman of Valor Award from State of Israel Bonds, Woman of Achievement Award from the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, and the Torch of Liberty Award from Friends of the Anti-Defamation League. She was a Zahav Lion of Judah who also established an LOJ Endowment and was a major donor to MetroWest UJA’s Women’s Philanthropy for many years.

A frequent visitor to Israel, she founded the Sylvia and Mickey Fried Nursery School in Mitzpe Aviv in the northern Galilee. Her philanthropy also included founding the Mickey Fried Nursery School at Oheb Shalom and the Mickey Fried Day Center for the Elderly in Cherkassy, Ukraine.

“Sylvia Fried was an extremely sociable person, dedicated to family and her wide circle of friends,” said Max Kleinman, executive vice president/CEO of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ. “She was also a leader serving on many communal boards. As a philanthropist, she was a major donor to UJA and many other causes, particularly Oheb Shalom Congregation…. I also had the pleasure of witnessing the important work done at the Mickey Fried Day Center for the Elderly in Cherkassy.

“She was a wonderful person and matriarch of a wonderful family,” said Kleinman. “Her good deeds and family will be her greatest legacies.”

Women’s Philanthropy president Maxine Murnick said, “Sylvia was a generous supporter of the MetroWest community when she lived here and when she moved to Florida. She was a warm and loving woman whose presence will be missed.”

“Sylvia was a longtime philanthropist and leader in Women’s Philanthropy and our local community,” said Women’s Philanthropy director Sarabeth Margolis Wizen. “She was extremely generous and kept abreast of Greater MetroWest activities even though she lived in Florida. Greater MetroWest has lost a dear friend and we will miss her greatly. Our hearts go out to her family.”

Fried’s daughter, Paula Saginaw, is Lester Society and Lion of Judah Endowment chair for the Greater MetroWest federation.

Predeceased by her husbands, Mickey Fried and Theodore Arnold, and her brothers, Richard Bass and Morris Bass, Fried is survived by Paula Saginaw of North Caldwell and her husband David; two sons, Steven of West Orange and his wife, Donna, and Robert of West Chester, Pa.; a sister, Melanie Jaynes of Santa Monica, Calif.; nine grandchildren, Jonathan, Lauren, Zachary, Jordon, Ilana, Matthew, Andrew, Mickey, and Sara; and two great-grandchildren, Raya and Ethan.

Services were held July 25 with arrangements by Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, Livingston. Memorial contributions may be made to the Fried-Saginaw Mission Endowment Fund of Jewish Community Foundation of Greater MetroWest NJ, the American Cancer Society, or American Heart Association.