Obituary of Adina V. Reshotko

Adina Reshotko died on Tuesday, September 15th.  She formally entered hospice the day before.  Her death was peaceful, her family was with her and she was at home.  She was herself until the end, even while being sedated to help with the discomfort of breathing.  She had a great last weekend and was very active, spending a couple of hours with a close friend, whom she hadn't seen since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, Zooming with her sister-in-law, and her granddaughter, and seeing one of her grandsons who had come to visit. She made the decision to enter hospice on Sunday night, knowing that she had wrapped up her business on this planet.

Adina was born on August 15, 1934 to David and Frieda Venit of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY.  She always identified very closely with her Williamsburg roots even though she lived most of her life in Cleveland and many years in Denver (one decade of which was shared between Denver and Portland).

She attended Brooklyn College and married her devoted husband of 67 years, Eli Reshotko, (who survives her), upon graduating, in 1953.  Together they had many adventures traveling the world and raising their three daughters, Deborah (Philip Hiester), Naomi (PB Schechter) and Miriam (Lee Gordon).  From the time their grandchildren, Sasha, Amit, Yevanit, Nadav, and Maia were born, Adina and Eli made great efforts to be involved in their lives and the entire three generation family made many memorable trips together.

While raising her family, Adina received an M.A. in Early Childhood Education and founded the Agnon Jewish Day School's preschool before returning to school for an M.S.W. and spending two decades as a clinical social worker.  In addition to her professional interests she was a passionate artist and an avid consumer of literary, performing, and visual arts. Her amazing stone sculptures and paintings exhibit her extraordinary talent and creativity.  Her daughters remain deeply influenced by their mother's activism against the Viet Nam war and for Civil Rights and Union Labor.  The Reshotkos' Jewish family life was rich partly due to Adina's pursuit of Hebrew and Judaic studies from the time she was a teenager and her pioneer spirit, which motivated the family to live in Israel during the year 1969-70.

Her entire family is happy and proud of the vibrant, joyous, kind, and compassionate way she lived her life, and that she died on her own terms.  We will miss her terribly!  

In addition to her husband and progeny, Adina was very close to her sister, Shirley Venit Anger (z"l), her brothers-in-law Jerry Anger (z"l) and Meyer Reshotko (z"l), and her sister in law Paula Reshotko, who survives her, and five nieces and nephews.  She had a loving, international circle of friends with whom she maintained close ties from childhood until her death.

There will be a private family funeral due to Covid precautions.  The family hopes to plan a more public celebration of Adina's life at some point in the future. 

A private graveside service will be held on Thursday, September 17, 2020 at 2:00 PM MDT. 

A message to the Community:

The antidote to loss is connection. Unfortunately, during this pandemic, connection is limited and is leaving grieving families isolated in the midst of mourning.

In the absence of attending the funeral or paying a Shiva and Condolence Call, please consider leaving condolences and/or memories for the family and friends of Adina by clicking on the Tribute Wall tab.

For a grieving family, sharing stories of how that person impacted you is a special way to keep those memories of their loved one alive. It also helps to pass along the values, wisdom, and even humor of these lost loved ones. This type of sharing will show your support to the family members as well as other friends as you collectively mourn the loss of this special person.