Cevia Rosol 18-Apr-1936 to 28-Dec-2022

 My mom, Cevia Highstein Rosol passed peacefully on December 28th.

Her obituary can be found here:
Cevia Rosol - Obituary

Following is my Eulogy for my Mom:

Eulogy - Cevia Rosol

I miss my Mom already. My name is Michael Snyder; Mikey to her. I thought that bringing her from Maine to Maryland would allow me and other family members to have a renewed and extended opportunity to spend quality time, share experiences, and create bonding memories. Sadly that did not happen.

My Mom wanted to live her life on her own terms. She loved her husband George more than anyone else on Earth. Now she has joined him for eternity and hopefully they are at peace.

Mom was creative, artistic, well organized, and a bit stubborn. She was a good mom to me. I was the oldest and she instilled in me the traits of honesty, love and empathy for others, and independence. Unfortunately, I missed out on the musical and organizational skills.

After Mom and George moved to Maine, I loved visiting them at their home du Jour. they found a way of settling in interesting towns with lots of fun places to explore and shop for antiques and keepsakes. I hope I can speak for Phyllis and Aaron when I say we looked forward to our annual pilgrimages to Maine.

My brothers and sisters: Carol, Shep, Jon, Rachel and Dorene; I’m sure had a different relationship with mom. I’ll let them explore and explain.

I also, agreed with Mom that it was a good thing to welcome George's four children Joe, Lynn, Martin, Paul, Richard, Enrico, and Susan into the brood.

In the interest of being inclusive in my remarks I’m glad that her grandchildren Aaron, Gus, Ben, Colleen, Carl, Dani, Andy, GV, Kevin, Valeria, Lauren, Lea, Spencer, Aki, Meredith, and Rebecca; and great-grandchildren, Hannah, Riley, and Griffin could all be here in person or in spirit.

Mom followed my study of our genealogy, as she’d reach out to me for explanations of the latest additions. So, I have to delve in a bit deeper.

Cevia Highstein Rosol was born April 18, 1936 to Charles Highstein and Jeanne Gouline Highstein in Baltimore. Her father emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 8 from Birzai (Lithuania) in the Russian Empire with his family. Her grandparents, Max and Celia, started a Tavern in Baltimore that became a Confectionery during prohibition. Her father, Charles, was a Dentist who served in WW-1 and as an Air Warden during WW-2. Sadly he died of cancer from exposure to X-rays when Cevia was 8 years old.

Her mother, Jeanne, emigrated to the U.S. when she was 2 years old from Lutzk (Ukraine) in the Russian Empire with her Mother, Rachel, joining her Father who came earlier. Jeanne’s father, Jacob, was a Merchant, Salesman, and eventually founded a Building Supply company that ultimately allowed the family to be well off.

Jeanne worked for the Social Security Administration and as a Census Taker. Cevia’s family were Orthodox Jews that kept kosher and were active in their synagogues. Both her grandfathers and father served as temple presidents at one time in their lives. Her mother was active in Hadassah and Brandeis woman’s clubs. I’ll spare you most of the details on the 2430 members of her family tree, going back over 10 generations on some branches, but I will touch on just a few more.

After George, Cevia’s second love was music. She shared this love with George, as they met through music; sought opportunities to create music; and made friends with fellow musicians. Growing up she was inspired by music and found it gave her a creative outlet and much joy.

As I mentioned, my mom lost her father when she was 8 years old. Her brother and sister (Norman & Harriet) were 10 and 9 years older than she was. In adulthood she loved them dearly as well as thier many children. Thankfully she was accepted into the Glass family by Aunt Ida and Uncle Benny and she became a quasi-sister to Sheppie, Marty, and Phillip; all 4 being within 13 months of age. Uncle Benny ran a record store and she loved sharing their love for music. She fondly shared that she was Philip Glass’ first accompanist, well before he became famous. She loved Philip dearly and tracked his career until she passed.

When I think back on time I spent with mom, I’m reminded of travel around the countryside with or without the Sarubin’s; looking for antiques or eating at Peter Pan, Cozy Inn, Plain & Fancy, and any restaurant that served clams, oysters, crab cakes and lobsters. In the backyard we had crab feasts. In our kitchen we were treated to gourmet cooking as my mom had an expansive repertoire of recipes. I remember frequent attendances at Town Drama and trips to museums, art galleries, and cousins-club gatherings. Of course Scrabble, jigsaw puzzles and other board games were a big part of our life together.

I end as I began, As I said, I loved visiting Mom in Maine annually, or sometimes a bit more. I thought that bringing Mom from Maine to Maryland would allow us an opportunity to spend quality time, together as we did for her 80th birthday party. Sadly that did not happen.

I pray you are at peace.