Helen Mandel (nee Schechter) was born in New York City on May 28, 1924 and celebrated her 101st birthday this year. She graduated from Seward Park High School in Manhattan. On January 6, 1945 she married her high school sweetheart Arthur Mandel when he returned on leave while serving as a sailor in the Pacific during World War Two. They had two children, Kenneth, a West Orange resident, and Shelley of Kalispell, Montana. Helen also had four grandsons, Barney, David, Artie and Tyler and two great grandchildren, Julian and Louis. She is survived by a brother Larry who lives in Israel and was pre-deceased by brothers Jack and Julius (Jerry).
Helen lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and later in Newark, Hillside, Springfield, and West Orange New Jersey. In Newark, Helen was the vice-president of the Henrietta Szold chapter of Hadassah. She was named a Woman of Valor for her decades long service to the organization.
She worked as a supervisor at Kresge’s Department store in downtown Newark and at Eagle Sport Togs in Union before retiring.
For nearly two decades she was a resident at the Jewish Federation housing on Northfield Ave, in West Orange where she was the librarian for the hundreds of residents.
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