Funeral Details

Jean “Ginny” Gilbert age 97. Beloved wife of the late Rubin Gilbert. Loving mother of Jackie Gilbert and Jim (Pat) Gilbert. Proud grandmother of Dawn Gilbert. Dear sister of Sarah Schwartz and the late Max Serlin.

In early spring of 1928, Leah and Moishe Serlin arrived in Canada with their one-year old daughter Jean (Ginny, as those closest to her call her). They came as farmers to Hirsch in Saskatchewan. Only those members of their family that came with them survived the Holocaust. Ginny's family lived through the dust bowl years, a time of severe hardship. Despite this, Leah and Moishe made sure Ginny and her siblings had a tutor to teach them Yiddish reading and writing and Hebrew.
At 15, Ginny went to the big city of Winnipeg to live with an aunt and uncle so she could attend Yiddish school and business college. At 16, during World War Il, Ginny applied to work for the Royal Canadian Air Force. After the war, Ginny worked for JIAS, helping expedite the arrival in Canada of Jewish immigrants, many of whom were Holocaust survivors.
Ginny was a member of B'nai Brith Young Women and, at a conference in Chicago, met her future husband, Ruby, a veteran. They married in 1948 and she moved to Chicago and then to Park Forest - where she and Ruby were original members of the Conservative congregation - South Suburban Synagogue, the predecessor to Congregation Am Echad. In those early years, she was very active in the congregation and Sisterhood.
In the interim, Ginny and Ruby started their family. When the kids started school, Ginny went back to work, where she embarked on a career of "firsts." She became the first woman limo driver hired to drive to O'Hare from the South Suburbs; she sold electronics to television stations so successfully that WMAQ-TV (NBC Channel 5) convinced her to study and get a radio/telephone license. Not only did she excel, she passed the licensing exam on the first try - something few achieve. Ginny was hired by NBC to help them achieve "equal opportunity" and assigned to the video tape department - one of the elite. The timing was perfect, as she was there for the start of a new era in television news - video tape. She was sent to the room with the two machines and was instructed to "make it work." No manuals, no instructions, no guidance. And she did! Shortly thereafter, video tape became the only medium used by the station and Ginny's work resulted in her winning a Chicago Emmy, an Illinois Associated Press Broadcasting Award, a Chicago International Film Festival Certificate of Merit, and an award from the Headliner Club in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Not only that, she had the opportunity to work at presidential nominating conventions and major sports
events.
After over 20 years at NBC, Ginny retired to take care of her husband, who was suffering from heart problems. After Ruby passed in 1993, Ginny became very active again in the synagogue and sisterhood. Ginny has worn many hats, including president and treasurer of the Sisterhood and vice president of the congregation.
She had been a devoted member of Congregation Am Echad, subsequently Shir Tikvah, working tirelessly to keep this bastion of Judaism alive and available for the next generation.
Ginny had been a long time contributor to Jewish United Fund. She recognized the vital work of the JUF.

Graveside service Friday 12PM at Jewish Waldheim, 1700 S. Harlem Avenue, Forest Park, IL. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Shir Tikvah, 1424 183rd Street, Homewood, IL 60430, www.shir-tikvah-homewood.org To attend the funeral live stream, please visit our website.
Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com.