Words of the Week: About Madeline P. Dreifus
Madeline Dreifus passed away peacefully at the age of 80, from heart failure, on the evening of June 16, 2026, in New York. She was born in Brooklyn in 1946 to Rose T. and Frank Park, who divorced soon thereafter; Rose raised Madeline and older brother Joel with the steadfast support of her own sisters and father. After graduating from Erasmus Hall High School, Madeline entered Brooklyn College. In her sophomore year, she was introduced — by Joel’s then-girlfriend, Alexis — to Alexis’s classmate Charles Dreifus at what is now Baruch College. Madeline and Charlie married after earning bachelor’s degrees in 1966, and Madeline began teaching elementary school in Brooklyn while Charlie started full-time graduate studies. By 1969 Madeline had left teaching to become a stay-at-home mother to daughter Erika; daughter Joanna arrived in 1972. In 1978 the young family moved from Sheepshead Bay to Short Hills, New Jersey, where Madeline became a “professional volunteer,” attending to not only her own household and aging relatives but also myriad organizations that mattered to her deeply, including her daughters’ schools; The Arc of Essex County/Stepping Stones, which also motivated her return to graduate studies at Kean College (now University), where she earned a master’s degree in special education; EIES of New Jersey; Grotta Center for Senior Care; National Council of Jewish Women; and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now Union for Reform Judaism). Her most profound and long-lasting community commitment was to Temple B’nai Jeshurun of Short Hills, where she chaired too many committees, held too many titles, and rendered too many quiet services to enumerate. In later years, she relished becoming a grandmother and helped raise Joanna’s children in Manhattan. In addition to her devoted husband of 60 years Charlie Dreifus, daughters Erika Dreifus and Joanna Dreifus (Ira Rosenfeld) and grandchildren Rachel Weisburst and Samuel Weisburst, she is survived by the children and grandchildren of her brother and sister-in-law Joel and Alexis Park — both of whom predeceased her — and many loving cousins. Both in her family of birth and the one she married into, she was everyone’s favorite relative. She was a cherished friend, advisor, and champion for many others who will miss her deeply and the exceptional soul who routinely brightened strangers’ days with a warm smile and kind word. Generous to the end, she requested those wishing to honor her memory to support the Educational Alliance, the Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges (NJ), Temple B’nai Jeshurun of Short Hills, or the Wiener Family Palliative Care Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital.
I am sorry for your loss, Erika.
so sorry. Your mom and I had a lot in common. Brooklyn, of the same era.
My deepest condolences on your loss.
So very sorry for your loss, Erika.
So sorry. She sounds like a wonderful mother and woman.
Erika, my own agnostic mother created a religion she called “Hoverism” that proclaimed the dead hovered nearby until we could go on without them. Later I found out that this was a common belief in Judaism. I hope that Madeline hovers ever so close, and that when you can let her go, her memory continually blesses you.
Erica, so sorry for your loss.
I am so sorry for your loss, Erika. What a blessing to have had her for a mom. May you continue to feel her accompaniment. יהי זכרה ברוך
Dear Erica, May you be comforted by your memories of your mother and find infinite inspiration.
Oh, Erika, my deep condolences. I’m so sorry for your loss.
Dear Erika, May memories of your mother bring you moments of peace and joy as you grieve her loss. Please accept my sincere condolences.
May her memory be for a blessing and may your memories of her comfort you.
May her memory be for a blessing. I just lost my Mom in March. It is very hard.
I’m very sorry for your loss, Erika. Sending heartfelt condolences.
Thank you for sharing. Thinking of you and your family at this time.
Deepest condolences, Erika, on losing such a wonderful mother, with a beautiful soul. May she hover, always within reach when you need her.
Catherine Gonick
Baruch Dayan Ha’emet. May you be comforted asking all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem
Everyone, please forgive the delayed and collective acknowledgment here. I am very, very grateful for all of the kind words and wishes.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Erika. Clearly, her memory will be (and is) a blessing.
So sorry to hear this Erika. I promise you that your mother will live on in your heart and mind and in the stories that you tell.