IN MEMORIAM: Alice Brandofsky, 76;
Worked In Family’s Oaksville Florist
COOPERSTOWN – Alice M. Brandofsky, who worked in Brandofsky’s Florist, Oaksville, for several years, died peacefully on May 16, 2016, at home in Baltimore, Md., surrounded by her family, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 76.
Alice Brandofsky was born on Jan. 13, 1940, in Brooklyn, to her parents, Emil Groesser and Marie Groesser née Schaeffer. At age 10, her family moved to the Cooperstown area, where she lived until March.
She graduated from both Cooperstown Central School and Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in Rhode Island with honors. Upon graduating, Alice moved to Germany where she began her secretarial career and met Manfred Brandofsky. They returned to Cooperstown and were married on Sept. 29, 1962.
She continued to work as a secretary, 10 years as a floral designer and bookkeeper for the family florist business, and then returned to secretarial work for the State of New York, retiring in 2005.
A devoted wife and mother, she enjoyed gardening, dancing and traveling and had a passion for the German language and culture taking many trips back to Germany and maintaining family connections.
Alice is survived by her two daughters, Ava Schweikert and her husband, Mark, of Baltimore, Md., and June Helmus and her husband, Peter, of New Milford, Conn., and six grandchildren, Erna and Deena Schweikert, and Danielle, Michael, Alexandra and Tyler Helmus.
She is predeceased by her husband of 53 years, Manfred, last Nov. 11, and a half-sister, Inge Kircher, of Wiesloch, Germany.
A gathering will be held at a future date. For further information, contact Ava Schweikert (zaclac@yahoo.com or 410-485-8367) In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy in the form of memorial gifts may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
