Aileen Osofsky
Encyclopedia
Aileen Shirley Osofsky was an American
community leader
, philanthropist
and bridge
player. She served as the chairman of the American Contract Bridge League
Goodwill Committee since 1985.
, the third of four children. Her father, Harry Bryant, was an architect
and builder
whose commission to construct military barracks
took the family around the country. With each move, Aileen skipped a grade, graduating from high school at age 15. She met her future husband, Meyer Osofsky, while in Cunningham Junior High School. They married in 1945. Meyer served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II
, and then founded "Aileen", a popular women's sportswear
line
named for his wife.
In 1969, the couple built their dream home and settled in Shelter Island
, choosing a plot overlooking Hay Beach. The architect
Norman Jaffe
designed the house. It is considered one of his most accomplished and is featured in the 2001 book Weekend Utopia: Modern Living in the Hamptons and in the "Romantic Modernist: The Life and Work of Norman Jaffe, Architect" exhibit at the Parrish Art Museum
in 2005.
Shortly after the Osofskys moved into their new home, Aileen began to participate in the community by offering the use of her home for a Shelter Island House Tour and her tennis court for local tennis tournaments. She was a steadfast supporter of the Friends of Music, the Perlman Music Program, the police and fire departments and the Red Cross ambulance corps. When Aileen won thousands of dollars as the major prize winner at the Fire Department's Chicken Barbecue, she donated it all back to the community. With her husband and daughter, Aileen donated the Manhanset Chapel
(also known as Mechanic's Hall) to the Shelter Island Historical Society.
es to facilitate play for the hard of hearing, working to include youth players, and promoting "active ethics" to improve the quality of player conduct.
Osofsky was elected to the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2009 by receiving the Blackwood Award, for individual contributions to bridge without necessarily being a great player. At the induction ceremony, her son Alan noted, "Although she isn't the best player, she has done as much for the game as anyone."
In her 25 years of service as Goodwill chair, Osofsky never stopped trying to convince ACBL members that friendly demeanor at the bridge table is good for everyone. A few days prior to her death, in a letter to the ACBL, Osofsky reflected on her long association with the organization:
. While in Phoenix, she served on the boards of many Jewish organizations, including the Women's Philanthropy Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, Jewish Community Foundation and Brandeis University
National Women's Committee.
Osofsky founded Shelter Without Walls, a Jewish Family and Children's Service program that helps transform the lives of domestic violence victims in 1998, with the help of others in the community. The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, Women's Philanthropy Division, gave Osofsky in 2006 the Gerda Weissmann Klein and Kurt Klein Award for contributing 10 or more years of service to both the Jewish and general communities.
In 1991, Aileen and Meyer co-funded an airplane transfer of Russian Jewish refugee
s to Israel
.
from leukemia
at New York University Medical Center
on June 22, 2010 at the age of 83. She is survived by her husband, Meyer "Mike" Osofsky; son Alan and daughter-in-law Deirdre; son Larry and daughter-in-law Audrey; daughter Randy and son-in-law Steve Kessler; 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
in New Orleans, ACBL President Rich DeMartino announced that the committee was renamed the Aileen Osofsky ACBL Goodwill Committee in her honor.
Shortly thereafter, during the Desert Empire Regional Tournament held in Scottsdale, Arizona
, the players of Unit 354, the Phoenix, Arizona area, designated August 11, 2010 as Aileen Osofsky Goodwill Day. $275 in donations for the ACBL Foundation for the Preservation and Advancement of Bridge were raised in her honor. "Those donations represent a token of appreciation to recognize what Aileen did to support good ethics and manners, thereby enriching the game," said Unit 354 President Janet Newman.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
community leader
Community leader
A Community Leader is a designation, often by secondary sources , for a person who is perceived to represent a community. A simple way to understand community leadership is to see it as leadership in, for and by the community...
, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
and bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
player. She served as the chairman of the American Contract Bridge League
American Contract Bridge League
The American Contract Bridge League is the largest contract bridge organization in North America. It promotes the game of bridge in the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, and Canada, and is a member of the World Bridge Federation...
Goodwill Committee since 1985.
Early life
Aileen Bryant was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, the third of four children. Her father, Harry Bryant, was an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and builder
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
whose commission to construct military barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
took the family around the country. With each move, Aileen skipped a grade, graduating from high school at age 15. She met her future husband, Meyer Osofsky, while in Cunningham Junior High School. They married in 1945. Meyer served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and then founded "Aileen", a popular women's sportswear
Sportswear
Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons....
line
Product lining
Product lining is the marketing strategy of offering for sale several related products. Unlike product bundling, where several products are combined into one, lining involves offering several related products individually. A line can comprise related products of various sizes, types, colors,...
named for his wife.
In 1969, the couple built their dream home and settled in Shelter Island
Shelter Island (town), New York
Shelter Island is a town and island at the eastern end of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It forms the tip of Suffolk County and is separated from the rest of the county by water. The population was 2,228 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, choosing a plot overlooking Hay Beach. The architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Norman Jaffe
Norman Jaffe
Norman Jaffe was an American architect, most noted for his contemporary residential architecture, and his "strikingly sculptural beach houses" on Eastern Long Island, in southeastern New York...
designed the house. It is considered one of his most accomplished and is featured in the 2001 book Weekend Utopia: Modern Living in the Hamptons and in the "Romantic Modernist: The Life and Work of Norman Jaffe, Architect" exhibit at the Parrish Art Museum
Parrish Art Museum
The Parrish Art Museum is the oldest cultural institution on the East End of Long Island, uniquely situated within one of the most concentrated creative communities in the United States...
in 2005.
Shortly after the Osofskys moved into their new home, Aileen began to participate in the community by offering the use of her home for a Shelter Island House Tour and her tennis court for local tennis tournaments. She was a steadfast supporter of the Friends of Music, the Perlman Music Program, the police and fire departments and the Red Cross ambulance corps. When Aileen won thousands of dollars as the major prize winner at the Fire Department's Chicken Barbecue, she donated it all back to the community. With her husband and daughter, Aileen donated the Manhanset Chapel
Manhanset Chapel
Manhanset Chapel, also known as Mechanics' Hall, is a historic nondenominational chapel at 24 N. Ferry Road in Shelter Island, Suffolk County, New York. It was built in 1890 and moved to its present site in 1924. It was originally located on the grounds of the Manhaset House Hotel. It is a modest,...
(also known as Mechanic's Hall) to the Shelter Island Historical Society.
American Contract Bridge League
Osofsky was asked to chair the ACBL Goodwill Committee in 1985 even though she was not a member of the committee. She had made a name for herself with the Greater New York Bridge Association and is one of only three life members of that organization. Aileen quickly took to the job and expanded the organization's goodwill efforts by extolling the use of bidding boxBidding box
A bidding box is a device used in contract bridge for bidding. Made in various configurations and sizes, it is typically a plastic, wooden, or cardboard box with two holding slots, each containing a set of bidding cards...
es to facilitate play for the hard of hearing, working to include youth players, and promoting "active ethics" to improve the quality of player conduct.
Osofsky was elected to the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2009 by receiving the Blackwood Award, for individual contributions to bridge without necessarily being a great player. At the induction ceremony, her son Alan noted, "Although she isn't the best player, she has done as much for the game as anyone."
In her 25 years of service as Goodwill chair, Osofsky never stopped trying to convince ACBL members that friendly demeanor at the bridge table is good for everyone. A few days prior to her death, in a letter to the ACBL, Osofsky reflected on her long association with the organization:
"When I got a call twenty-five years ago asking me to become the chair of the National Goodwill Committee, I had no idea how profound and positive an impact the organization and its members would have on my life.
"As I transition now to a less involved role in the activities of the ACBL, I must acknowledge the paramount part that the organization has played in filling my life with joy, passion, and meaning — and I must thank you all from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to participate in the group’s work, and for doing that work with me."
Other organizations
Osofsky split her time between New York and PhoenixPhoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. While in Phoenix, she served on the boards of many Jewish organizations, including the Women's Philanthropy Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, Jewish Community Foundation and Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
National Women's Committee.
Osofsky founded Shelter Without Walls, a Jewish Family and Children's Service program that helps transform the lives of domestic violence victims in 1998, with the help of others in the community. The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, Women's Philanthropy Division, gave Osofsky in 2006 the Gerda Weissmann Klein and Kurt Klein Award for contributing 10 or more years of service to both the Jewish and general communities.
In 1991, Aileen and Meyer co-funded an airplane transfer of Russian Jewish refugee
Population transfer in the Soviet Union
Population transfer in the Soviet Union may be classified into the following broad categories: deportations of "anti-Soviet" categories of population, often classified as "enemies of workers," deportations of entire nationalities, labor force transfer, and organized migrations in opposite...
s to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Death
Osofsky died of complicationsComplication (medicine)
Complication, in medicine, is an unfavorable evolution of a disease, a health condition or a medical treatment. The disease can become worse in its severity or show a higher number of signs, symptoms or new pathological changes, become widespread throughout the body or affect other organ systems. A...
from leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
at New York University Medical Center
New York University School of Medicine
The New York University School of Medicine is one of the graduate schools of New York University. Founded in 1841 as the University Medical College, the NYU School of Medicine is one of the foremost medical schools in the United States....
on June 22, 2010 at the age of 83. She is survived by her husband, Meyer "Mike" Osofsky; son Alan and daughter-in-law Deirdre; son Larry and daughter-in-law Audrey; daughter Randy and son-in-law Steve Kessler; 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Legacy
During the ACBL Goodwill Committee reception at the Summer 2010 North American Bridge ChampionshipsNorth American Bridge Championships
North American Bridge Championships are three annual bridge conventions sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League . The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven days. They comprise both championship and side contests of...
in New Orleans, ACBL President Rich DeMartino announced that the committee was renamed the Aileen Osofsky ACBL Goodwill Committee in her honor.
Shortly thereafter, during the Desert Empire Regional Tournament held in Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
, the players of Unit 354, the Phoenix, Arizona area, designated August 11, 2010 as Aileen Osofsky Goodwill Day. $275 in donations for the ACBL Foundation for the Preservation and Advancement of Bridge were raised in her honor. "Those donations represent a token of appreciation to recognize what Aileen did to support good ethics and manners, thereby enriching the game," said Unit 354 President Janet Newman.