Frances Clark Eizenstat; Wife of Stuart Eizenstat
Frances Clark Eizenstat was born 68 years ago in the Boston suburb of Everett, Mass.
She was the loving wife of 45 years of Stuart Eizenstat; the mother of two surviving children, Jay Eizenstat and Brian Eizenstat; and grandmother to seven grandchildren (Menachem, Bracha, Eli Kalmon, Michal, Yitzchock, Julia and Caroline).
She was a role model for women balancing professional accomplishments and non-profit leadership and a loving friend, sister, wife, mother and grandmother. She combined a life of professional accomplishment focused on the disadvantaged in the U.S. and on Jews in distress around the world (especially in the former Soviet Union) with a deep commitment to Judaism, to the State of Israel, to her myriad friends (each of whom felt she was their best friend) and to her family.
She obtained her undergraduate degree at Brandeis University (1965), where her deep affection and ties to the State of Israel began; she spent part of her junior year there in the Hiatt program. Years later, Fran took her two children, Jay and Brian, for extended summer stays in Israel.
She obtained a masters degree in Social Work from Boston College (1967); and then, mid-career and with two teenage boys, earned a second masters degree, an MBA from George Washington, with an “A” average.
During her professional career, which spanned several decades, she worked in a variety of jobs focused on helping low-income Americans achieve the American dream. Her roles included working in the Model Cities program (1968-70) in Atlanta and the Children’s Defense Fund with Marion Wright Edelman in Washington; leading the White House Conference on Families (1979-81), where she helped shape federal programs to strengthen low-income families; and, after earning her MBA, serving as a Housing Manager in the low-income housing section at FNMA.
Even with all of these professional achievements, it was in the non-profit voluntary sector that she made an greater mark. As Vice President of the Atlanta chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Fran developed the first screening program for Tay Sachs disease (a malady particularly affecting children of Ashkenazi Jewish women) which served as a model for the nation and prevented countless tragedies. Later, as Vice Chair and President-elect of NCJW, she was recognized as one of the outstanding young leaders in Atlanta. Additionally, she was selected for the prestigious Leadership Atlanta program in 1976.
Sign online guestbook at jewishfuneralcare.com. Funeral services were held Mon., Feb. 18, 2013 at 2 p.m. at Ahavath Achim Synagogue. Interment followed at Greenwood Cemetery. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care.
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