HAMILTON… Helen Fay Pomerantz, 95, of Hamilton, New Jersey, formerly of San Antonio, Texas, passed away Nov. 21, 2017.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she studied to be a professional singer and sang with local bands during WWII.  She met her husband, Mark Pomerantz, on a blind double date in 1939.

She and Mark married in 1943 and moved to Texas in 1950, where they raised their six children. Originally settling in Corpus Christi, she resided in San Antonio for more than 40 years.  There she took charge of the “Pomerantz Cousins Club,” which worked to keep all of her husband’s relatives in touch with each other before the rise of the internet.

She graduated with honors from Trinity University with degrees in journalism and art.  An avid artist, she taught Chinese brush painting at the Institute of Texan Cultures.

Although she was a master of knitting, sewing and crocheting, she was fiercely independent, doing things that most women of her generation weren’t expected to do.  She taught her daughters never to be afraid of a hammer and saw, and designed both of her family’s residences in Texas.

The beloved daughter of the late Arthur and Ida Gilbert, Helen was predeceased by her husband, Mark, in 1983.  She was also predeceased by a son, Frederic Pomerantz, and a daughter, Sandra Pomerantz-Hayward.

She is survived by her brother, Myron Gilbert (wife Gloria) of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, her son Richard Pomerantz of Corpus Christi, daughters Abby Stein, Vicki Diamond (husband Bill) and Lisa Payne (husband Steve), 12 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren, plus many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Funeral services were held on November 24, 2017 in Jenkintown, PA.