Marlene Louise Gordon passed away peacefully April 1, 2024 at the age of 73, following a courageous battle with cancer.

She was predeceased by her mother Sylvia, father Marshall, as well as her cats Mitzi and Barishnikov. She is survived by her brother Lee (Arlene), sister Lainey (Len), niece and nephews: Shira (Martin), Daniel (Jaime), Andrew (Kaylee), Mike (Jess), and Jeff (Emily), and grand nieces and nephews: Ava, Odin, Emma, Hannah, Olivia, Noah, Jacob, Alina, Jack and Jonathan, and her beloved cat Raskol.

Marlene was born in Boston on April 29, 1950 and lived in Brookline, MA until the age of 5 when the family moved to Needham, MA. After graduating Needham High School, Marlene attended the University of Rochester majoring in English. She taught English in the Rochester area primarily in the Rochester City School District. She took time to earn a master’s degree from UC Berkeley in California and spent a sabbatical year taking courses at Harvard. After retiring in 2005, Marlene taught ESL and became an active member of AAUW and more recently had become an integral part of the Temple Sinai family. Marlene was extremely bright, witty, kind and fun loving – often the life of the party. Her main interests were her family, friends, and travel. She was also a patron of the arts, enjoying all music, dance, movies and literature. She attended countless charity and political events and enjoyed the many annual festivals in Rochester. Marlene was loved by many and will be truly missed, especially by her family and many wonderful friends, and 

all who had the good fortune to have known her.

Marlene’s Funeral Service will be held on Thursday, April 4 at 10:00 am in Temple Sinai, 363 Penfield Road, Rochester. (LINK TO WATCH LIVESTREAM) Marlene’s family will be greeting friends from 9:00 to 9:45 AM at the Temple. The family will sit Shiva at Temple Sinai on Thursday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Marlene’s memory to Temple Sinai (click here)or to Human Rights Campaign (click here) or to a charity of your choice.

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