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Florence Melton Dies at Age 95

Source Location: www.prnewswire.com

 

FLORENCE ZACKS MELTON, 95, CHANGED THE FACE OF ADULT JEWISH LEARNING IN NORTH AMERICA

Florence Zacks Melton, an inventor and entrepreneur whose creation of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School and the Florence Melton Communiteen Program, transformed the Jewish education scene, died February 8 in Boca Raton, Florida, one day following the conclusion of an internationally attended commemoration of her ninty-fifth year, four days of study and celebration.

Florence Melton’s work beginning when she was seventy years old paved the way for a revolution in the adult learning world and education for high school students.  Twenty-eight thousand adults have graduated from the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School since its founding in 1986.  Driven by Florence Melton’s vision, it embodied the highest quality curriculum, faculty, and administration.  It’s three way franchise partnership among the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, the North American Office and 118 North American communities, each providing the best of what it had to offer, was a formula for success.  This model of excellence in education has created opportunities for Jewish learning and Jewish growth in a pluralistic setting that is unequaled since the days of the Lehrhaus in Germany in the 19th Century.  The school has expanded to include sites in England, Australia, and South Africa and Israel.

Florence Melton knew from her own experience that adults needed a place to study that would provide them with  comprehensive knowledge of Judaism in the excellent setting they deserved.  She it knew it had to be accomplished one person at a time, “Yiddle by Yiddle,”  as she expressed it.  The building of close caring relationships beginning with that first tap on someone’s shoulder, the nuturing of creativity and individual choice, and the passion and commitment to the study of Jewish texts were what she exemplified and came to be reflected in her schools. 

More recently, Florence used the successful model for adults and translated it into another curriculum-based project, this time addressing the needs of post-bar and bat mitzvah teens.  Her cause through the last five years of her life, The Communiteen High School, became a way to set teens on a Jewish journey that could continue throughout their lives.  By the sheer force of her will, the school is now located in Columbus, OH, Pittsburgh, PA and Chicago, Illinois.

Amidst the rich legacy that Florence Zacks Melton bequeathed to the contemporary Jewish community is the message that memory of the past is not sufficient.  She acted on the belief that Jewish memory must be preserved and passed on to the next generation through commemoration, meaning active participation in Jewish learning and life.  This is also how she will be remembered.  Through participation in Jewish learning, her memory will be a blessing.

Florence Melton is survived by her son, Gordon Zacks (Carol Sue Pailet) of Columbus, Ohio, and six grandchildren.

Donations in Florence Melton’s memory may be made  to the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School, 601 Skokie Blvd., Suite 1A, Northbrook, IL 60062 or the Florence Melton Communiteen High School, c/o Agency for Jewish Learning, 2740 Beechwood, Pittsburgh, PA 15217.

 

 The following release addess Florence Melton's impact as founder of the R.G. Barry Corporation. 

PICKERINGTON, Ohio, Feb. 9 PRNewswire-FirstCall — Florence Zacks Melton, the Columbus, Ohio, housewife who invented the world's first foam cushioned slipper and co-founded R.G. Barry Corporation (Amex: DFZ), one of the world's leading developers and marketers of accessories category footwear, has died in Boca Raton, Florida. She was 95.

During the mid-1940s, Mrs. Melton developed Shoulda-Shams, removable shoulder pads for the military-style fashion look of the era. When the shoulder pads became a success, Mrs. Melton, her husband, Aaron Zacks, and businessman Harry Streim founded R.G. Barry Corporation. They named the company for their children, Richard Streim, Gordon and Barry Zacks. In 1947 while exploring the possible use of foam rubber in the Company's shoulder pads, Mrs. Melton got the idea for the world's first foam-soled, soft washable slipper. Today, R.G. Barry's Dearfoams(R) is the best-known brand name in slippers. Since the Company's founding, it has sold more than one billion pairs of slippers worldwide.

Always a prolific inventor and the holder of 19 patents, Mrs. Melton also developed numerous products in addition to shoulder pads and footwear including devices for use in exercise, dietary preparation and physical therapy. She maintained an office and remained a driving force for innovation and product development as a consultant to the Company she helped found until 2005.

"Florence Zacks Melton was a remarkable individual with an amazing lifetime of achievement, not the least of which was taking care of millions of tired feet," said Greg Tunney, President and Chief Executive Officer of R.G. Barry Corporation. "Her wisdom, keen mind, kind heart and seemingly endless vitality and creativity were an inspiration to all who knew her. She will truly be missed."

Born November 6, 1911, in Philadelphia, Mrs. Melton quit high school three months before her scheduled graduation in order to go to work and help her family pay the rent. She married Aaron Zacks on December 25, 1930, in the middle of the Great Depression.

Throughout her life, Mrs. Melton was a tireless advocate of quality Jewish education. At age 70, she pioneered a revolutionary new approach to quality pluralistic Jewish education for adults. The program, known as the Florence Melton Adult Mini School, has been franchised throughout the world and today boasts more than 25,000 graduates and 6,500 active learners at 60 sites in six countries. At age 91, she developed a revolutionary new approach to quality, affordable, pluralistic Jewish education for teenagers. The Florence Melton Communiteens Program is being tested in Columbus, Pittsburgh and Chicago. She was a founding member of the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education.

Mrs. Melton received more than 45 local, national and international honors including honorary doctorates from Hebrew University, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Gratz College. Among her other honors were: The Ohio State University Distinguished Service Award; the B'nai B'rith Woman of the Year and Outstanding Citizenship awards; the Medal for Meritorious Service to Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America; and the Columbus YWCA Women of Achievement Award. She was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.

Survivors include her son, Gordon, who is Chairman of the Board of R.G. Barry Corporation, six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Her husbands, Aaron Zacks and Samuel Melton, and her son, Barry, preceded her in death.

Funeral services are planned for Monday in Columbus. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to: The Florence Melton Adult Mini School, 601 Skokie Blvd., Suite 1A, Northbrook, IL 60062; or the Florence Melton Communiteens Program in care of The Columbus Jewish Federation, 1175 College Ave., Columbus, OH 43209.

SOURCE R.G. Barry Corporation