Mrs. BERNICE GRESSMAN MEYERSON

DALLAS -- Bernice Gressman Meyerson passed away peacefully at her home Friday morning, Oct. 14, 2016. Mrs. Meyerson was 98. Service: Mrs. Meyerson will be laid to rest with other family members in the Beth-El Section of Greenwood Memorial Park following a private family service. Memorials: Memorials, in her honor, would be welcomed at institutions supporting music, music education or Jewish social service organizations. Bernice Gressman Meyerson, mother of Morton H. Meyerson of Dallas, was born on the 4th of July, in 1918, in Kansas City, Mo., to Dena Schleifstein Gressman and Harry Chanofsky Gressman. She grew up in Fort Worth, graduating from Central High School during the tenure of R. L. Paschal as principal. The school was later renamed R. L. Paschal High School in his honor. She met her future husband, Maurice Brudus Meyerson, also a Central High School graduate, when she was 16 years old and became friends with Brudus' sister Estelle. Bernice and Brudus married two years later on Oct. 24, 1936. In addition to being a beautiful and lively child, Bernice was a talented musician, whose father encouraged her to learn to play many different instruments. She began piano lessons at a very young age and performed publicly during her childhood years. She read music and could also play anything by ear. She became a much sought-after performer as a young woman. During World War II she volunteered to play music for the wounded soldiers at the VA Hospital, recalling later that there were also veterans of World War I hospitalized there. She was later a member of the Woman's Club of Fort Worth, a performing arts club, and she played piano, accordion, guitar, and the ukulele for events around Fort Worth. She was a member of Beth-El Congregation in Fort Worth and active in the varied service projects of the Temple Sisterhood, as well as the National Council of Jewish Women. She later commented that she especially enjoyed her work with the NCJW because, “working with them was a way of doing community work and staying religiously oriented.” After Brudus' retirement from his insurance business in Fort Worth, he and Bernice moved to Dallas to be closer to their son, Morton and his wife, Marlene and their children, David and Marti. Both of them volunteered many hours at the Scottish Rite Hospital until late in life. They first knew of Scottish Rite because Brudus was a Mason. Then, in the 1940s, their second son, Jonathan Sanford, was diagnosed with cancer by doctors at Scottish Rite, after doctors in Fort Worth were unable to diagnose his illness. Bernice was named "Dallas Mother of the Year in 1995," and she served as president of the SMU Conservatory Society, which provided musical training for young people in the region. Additionally, she and Brudus participated in many continuing education courses at SMU and traveled worldwide. Bernice was preceded in death by her son, Jonathan Sanford Meyerson, who died at five years of age on May 25, 1949; her grandson, David Nathan Meyerson, who died Oct. 17, 1998; and by her beloved husband, Brudus, who died Oct. 15, 2010. Survivors: She is survived by her son, Morton H. Meyerson; daughter-in-law, Marlene Meyerson; granddaughters, Marti Meyerson and Leslie Meyerson Gordon; six great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild, whom she met and held with great joy. She was known affectionately by her family as "Krink," a name given to her by Brudus during their courtship, in admiration of her krinkly, curly hair. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Mrs. BERNICE GRESSMAN MEYERSON please visit our Sympathy Store.