Obituary of Bess Kane

Bess Kane passed away on September 29, 2024, in a nursing home near Denver, Colorado, surrounded by her family after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Bessima Edna Bach was born on June 6, 1935, in Tel Aviv, Palestine, to Rose Smith Bach and Reuben Edward Bach. The family returned to New York City in 1937 along with their second daughter, Raoula, before relocating to Greensboro, North Carolina, where Rose Bach raised and supported her children as a divorced working parent.

Bess, as she was known to family and friends, attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she met Alan Steven Kane on a blind date, and was swept off her feet. The two were married during spring break of her senior year, 1957. Their son Nelson Jon was born the following year. The family then moved to Roanoke, Virginia, where Alan became partners with his brother-in-law Richard Latter to run the family furniture business, Kane Furniture. Their daughter Jennifer was born there in 1960. The family settled in Charlottesville, where Bess and Alan lived for nearly 60 years, most recently at the Colonnades. They especially loved their years at “Windy Ridge,” their beautiful home in Troy, Virginia, where they tended to their garden and property and enjoyed gorgeous sunset views.

Bess loved sharing her love of art and Charlottesville history as a docent at the University of Virginia art museum for over 26 years, and as a guide at Monticello and the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. She and Alan were long-time members of Congregation Beth Israel, where they sponsored a Vietnamese boat family with whom they developed a close relationship. Bess also volunteered locally at The Haven, Summit Elementary School, and helped to found Georgia’s Friends, a Charlottesville residential home for women in recovery. She always stayed busy – baking pies in the middle of the night, voraciously reading volumes of historical prose and fiction, and walking miles each day.

Bess was preceded in death by her adoring husband of 61 years, Alan, and her sister, Raoula. She is survived by her children Nelson Kane (Rochester, Minnesota, but always a Wahoo!) and Jennifer Kane (Jonathan Watkin, in Greenwood Village, Colorado), grandchildren Adam (New York, New York), Daniel (Austin, Texas), and Sarah Wiener (Washington, DC), and nephews Gordon Latter (Dori Hoffman, in Charlottesville, Virginia) and Kirby Eliot (Virginia Beach, Virginia).  She is also survived by many other family and friends, too numerous to name, whom she loved and kept up with her whole life.

A graveside funeral will be held on Wednesday, October 2nd at 12:30pm at the Hebrew Cemetery in Charlottesville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bess’s memory to the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society or the charity of your choice.