Beatrice (Theise) Israel, 92 years of age of Lauderhill, FL, formerly of West Hartford, died Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. She was 92. 

Born Beate Theisebach in Grossen-Linden, Germany, she was the widow of Kurt M Israel z”l and the daughter of the late Bernhard and Henriette (Simon) Theis. She experienced the horrors of Kristallnacht. 

After moving to Hartford with her family, Israel attended the Arsenal School and, later, the Henry Barnard Brown School and Hartford High School. In1943, she became an American citizen and changed her name to Beatrice. Her parents – who had changed their last name to Theise – were among a group of German Jews and Holocaust survivors who founded Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh, which years later would merge with Newington’s Congregation B’nai Sholom to become B’nai Tikvoh-Sholom. Over the years, she served as president of the congregations’ Sisterhood and later in life celebrated her bat mitzvah there.

She met her husband Kurt Israel z”l, a survivor of Auschwitz, at a Chanukah party at Tikvoh Chadoshoh. They married in 1948. Together with partners, they established Hartford Kosher Caterers, opening a banquet hall in East Windsor called Imperial Caterers. They also catered many civic events, including the Greater Hartford Open, where she had the honor of serving a prime rib dinner to President Gerald R. Ford when he visited to Hartford. O

As a Holocaust survivor, he took great pride in speaking to students and educators about her experience as a child growing up in Germany. She would end each talk by telling her audience how great it is to be an American, and sharing her philosophy that hate has no place in the world and loving one another is most important. 

She was a strong supporter of Voices of Hope, an organization that is a leader in Holocaust education. 

Bea Israel is survived by her sons, Jeffrey Israel and his wife Patricia of Bristol, and Steven Israel and his partner Sharon Snowiss of Alpharetta, Ga.; her grandchildren, Jonathan Israel of Bristol, Matthew Israel and his wife Gina of Antioch, Ill, Alana Funderburke and her husband William of Del Ray Beach, Fla, and Kyle Israel of Atlanta, Ga; her great-grandchildren, Ava and Domenic Israel of Bristol, and Scarlett Israel of Antioch, Ill.,and two nephews and their families.