Gilda Cohen Lesser
October 30, 1929 - July 31, 2024
Date and Time
Monday, August 5, 2024 at 2:00 PM
Memorial Service
Chicago Jewish Funerals
Skokie Chapel
8851 Skokie Boulevard
Skokie, Illinois 60077
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Clergy
Rabbi Cantor Nancy Landsman
Interment - Private
Shiva
Lesser Residence
1350 North Western Avenue, Unit 307
Lake Forest, Illinois 60045
847.306.4006
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Monday 4PM - 8PM
Parking available in the lot behind the building
Memorial Contributions
The Chicago Human Rhythm Project
8701 South Bennett Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60617
www.Chicagotap.org/support
OBITUARY
Gilda Rae (Cohen) Lesser, 94, of Highland Park, IL, took her final bow on July 31, 2024.
Gilda was born on October 30, 1929 to Jack and Rose Cohen in Chicago. Gilda graduated from Senn High School in 1947. In 1950, Gilda married Norton Lesser. Gilda and Nort went on to have two sons, Fredric (Rick) and James (Alex). They were married for 59 years.
Gilda and Nort moved from Chicago with their sons to Highland Park in 1960. Gilda moved five times within Highland Park. She eventually moved to The Sheridan at Green Oaks in Lake Bluff in 2018, where she lived out her final years.
Gilda found a passion for a great many activities throughout her life. Most notably she loved tap dancing with her ensemble, The Time Steppers and working as a TV host and producer at her local cable access studio. Gilda maintained many friendships formed at these activities for years. She found peace by “at least dipping her toes” into Lake Michigan every chance she got. Her other great passion was her grandchildren. Gilda tried her very best to pass along her joy of dance to her grandchildren by frequently taking them to dance lessons and shows and keeping them for sleepovers after the shows. Sadly not one of them can manage a single shuffle-ball-heel. None of her grandchildren will ever eat a waffle and not think of sleepovers with Grandma Gilda.
Gilda was predeceased by her parents, Jack and Rose Cohen, her brother Marvin (Belle) Cohen, and her beloved husband, Norton Lesser. She is survived by her two sons; Fredric (Terry) Lesser and James (Susanne) Lesser, her four grandchildren; Emelia (Chris) Klocke, Veronica (David) Kerber, Bryan (Dilara) Lesser, and Dorena (Adam) Birkenbach, and her five great-grandchildren; Griffin Klocke, Cohen and Maverick Kerber, Grant and Octavia Lesser.
Services will be held at Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd. (at Niles Center Road), Skokie, on August 5 at 2:00 PM. Interment was private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the The Chicago Human Rhythm Project (www.Chicagotap.org/support), an organization close to Gilda’s heart. To attend the funeral livestream, please visit our website. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com