Editor’s Note: Longtime CBB Sisterhood and Hadassah member Pearl Boxer passed away on July 15, 2024, with her husband of 74 years, Rube Boxer, at her side. Rube was president of CBB between 1960-1. The following is a remembrance and appreciation he recently wrote for CBB Voices.

She was a natural beauty as evidenced by the large number of people who over the years would stop her in streets and in stores to tell her how beautiful she was.

Her early childhood was very stressful, her family being exceptionally poor and with an absent father. She was fortunate, however, to have a very loving mother, Roslyn, and two younger brothers, Stanley and Samuel. As the eldest child she would often care for her brothers especially at times when her mother was unable to.

This strongly affected her while growing up and while living her teenage years. She missed out on a pleasurable high school experience because she was required to work after school to help bring extra dollars to the family.

This changed after her marriage to Rube. Like her, he had come from a very poor family.  He too during high school had to take on various odd jobs. But now with similar backgrounds they reveled in raising a family of their own, together with an ever-increasing income over the years. For the first time both of them could live without financial stress.

Family came first, and she was now able to enjoy life. She was very successful in many enterprises that she happily undertook.

She had empathy for those in need, donating to charities such as Saint Jude

When living in Rome, New York, she was elected president of the Jane Cees, the women’s adjunct to the local junior chamber of commerce.

She invented an anti-snoring device and set up a business to sell it. She also came up with a simple method to hold down a picnic tablecloth under windy conditions without wasting table space.

She was a long time member of Congregation B’nai Brith’s Sisterhood and Hadassah. She became the unofficial greeter of newcomers to the congregation and was happy to learn that many joined the congregation because of her warm greetings. She also enjoyed helping at the temple rummage sales.

She, and her daughter Diana, looked  forward to the various Temple rummage sales and had a great time working together  interacting with the public and selling the products being offered by the Temple.

Pearl enjoyed fishing and took every opportunity to do so. One such location was the Santa Barbara pier. Her favorite catch was buttermouth perch, which she fried and it was delicious.  She loved the beach in her youth and spent many happy hours there with the family throughout the years.

Her cooking had a few specialties such as spaghetti and meatballs, and pineapple cheesecake. As an excellent homemaker, she provided delicious meals for the family.

Her spaghetti and meatball recipe was used by her son Ken in his Palazzio restaurant. It was a great hit and was continually ordered by customers.

She made sack lunches everyday for all her children. Made dinners for the entire family every single night. She was an exceptional housewife and mother. She always put the needs of the family before her own.

One of the things that annoyed her was to have to sort the large number of socks after doing the laundry. She complained to the family about this. As a result, Rube and Robert worked on an invention to deal with this problem. After receiving patents for it, an agreement was made with the 3M corporation who gave us royalties for  a period of 10 years.

Pearl Boxer loved to travel such as to Europe and Israel. In Europe we rented a car that I drove along the southern part, where Eastern Europe meets the West. She was an expert in blackjack, which was very useful in Monte Carlo. Her other major gambling expertise was horse racing. Her success in this caught the attention of bystanders, many of whom would come up to her asking her for racing tips.

She was a den mother to the Cub Scouts. She and her scouts were the only ones ever  invited to the local TV station to discuss their activities. She was exceptionally beautiful in her Cub Scout uniform.

One of her fondest memories had to do with ex-president Ronald Reagan. Once when we were invited to Mr. Reagan’s ranch for a picnic through a family connection, she almost soiled his shirt with a chocolate popsicle that she had in her hand, as a photo will attest. And another time we were invited to join him in his office. As soon as Reagan saw Pearl he took her by the arm and showed her around his office with all his wall pictures starting from his lifeguard days until much later. During the visit Reagan was so interested in Pearl that none of the rest of us really had a chance to interact with the president very much.

The greatest tragedy in life was the death of our son Warren who passed away at the age of 34 in 1992. She never forgot him.

Her end of life was not fortunate. She had fallen and broken her hip. This caused her to be completely  bedridden for the last six months of her life. It was painful, but she faced it as best she could with the courage that she had all her life.

Hospice and The Helping Hands organization were very helpful during this extremely difficult time.

On the last day of her life, when she was so weak that she could hardly talk and her voice was exceptionally low, her very last words were,  I love Rube.

In addition to me (her husband Rube Boxer), she leaves behind her children Diana (Rohn) Rumelhagen, Robert Boxer, and Ken Boxer; her grandchildren Shanna (Shawn) Torres, Jenna Rosenthal, and Dagny Boxer; and her great-granddaughter, Isla Torres.