You could say that Elizabeth “Betsey” Rosenfeld Kahn had a genuine Jewish Baltimore pedigree. Besides being a direct descendant of the Friedenwald family who were instrumental in the founding of the Baltimore Hebrew and Chizuk Amuno congregations, she was a lifelong civic booster of Charm City and its Jewish community.
A sixth-generation Baltimorean and lifelong resident, Kathn passed away in her sleep on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at the Brightview Columbia senior living community. She was 98.
Born in the Greenlea Manor in Owings Mills, Kahn was the daughter of business and estate planning attorney Moses W. Rosenfeld. She and her family moved to Eutaw Place in 1927 and to Greenspring Manor five years later.
“Her nursemaid, Aggie, often took her on long walks in Druid Hill Park,” Kahn’s family wrote in a tribute on the Sol Levinson & Bros. website. “As a child, Betsey would ride to school on the trolley but was known to occasionally keep the five-cent fare, buying candy instead. Betsey attended the then-suburban Arlington Elementary, Garrison Junior High and Forest Park High; however, dance classes at Baltimore Hebrew were an equally defining part of her life and education.”
Her family wrote that Kahn tended to live an unconventional lifestyle as a youngster.
“A degree of propriety was expected of Betsey,” they wrote. “But full of beans, Betsey often followed the unexpected or unorthodox path. She was often caught eating peanuts during Sunday school, once spending borrowed money on a fancy dress, and driving a bit carelessly [catapulted] her sister through the windshield.”
During World War II, Kahn spent much of her time dancing with servicemen at the USO in Baltimore and working at the downtown Hutzler’s Palace department store. She also frequented the famous Owl Bar at the Belvedere Hotel.
In 1947, she married Baltimore native Philip Kahn Jr, a clothing executive and historian, and left her job to raise their family. They were married for 51 years until Philip Kahn’s death in May of 1998.
After their two daughters were grown, Betsey Kahn taught English at Pimlico Junior High School. She also taught at the School of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Grace & St. Peter’s, and the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Towson.
While teaching, Kahn attended night school to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Education.
In her spare time, Kahn enjoyed Japanese flower arranging, sewing, knitting and needlepoint.
“Her needlepoints were in beautiful Chinese blue-and-white themes that complemented the Kahns’ significant collection of Qing Dynasty monochrome porcelains,” wrote the family “Their collections were exhibited in the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts Hagerstown and Towson University. This collection was recently featured in an Alex Cooper auction.”
In addition, Kahn also enjoyed cooking and entertaining.
In retirement, Kahn helped her husband write two books, “A Stitch in Time: The Four Seasons of Baltimore’s Needle Trades” (Maryland Historical Society) and “Uncommon Threads: Threads that Wove the Fabric of Baltimore’s Jewish Life” (Pecan Publications).
She also was the administrative team member of Women in Self Help, a telephone crisis referral service. Meanwhile, Kahn volunteered at the Jewish Museum of Maryland as a docent and a front desk greeter.
Kahn is survived by her daughters, Beth Kahn Leaman (Dino Talamona) and Lina Lee Kahn Liebhold (Peter Liebhold); her granddaughter, Amelia Liebhold (Peter Kohns); her great-grandson, Philip Klaus Kohns Liebhold; her nieces Barbara R. Strauss and Cecile B. Hanft; her niece-in-law Cherrie Fleischer Strauss; and her nephews, Richard Juster and Robert Juster.
A memorial gathering for Kahn will be held in November. Contributions in her memory can be sent to the Jewish Museum of Maryland, Betsey & Philip Kahn Catalogue & Publication Fund, 15 Lloyd Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202; or the Howard County Food Bank, 9385 Gerwig Lane, Suite J, Columbia, Maryland 21046
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