Fete Accompli

In a treasured photograph from the recent past, Mary Powell (center) is pictured at a Jewish Home event with her friend Victor Marcus (right), sporting one of his signature bowties. Patric Powell, Mary’s husband, is at left.

They are off to Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif., where they will enjoy a formal lunch in the elegant clubhouse – for many of the residents, quite possibly their first ever opportunity to enjoy such an exclusive venue – complemented by musical entertainment.

The late Victor Marcus established this delightful event 37 years ago to provide a special off-site occasion for the residents and continued sponsoring it annually until his death in 2009 at the age of 94. “Victor would focus on each detail, making sure that everything was wonderful for the residents,” says Mary Powell, a close friend of Victor’s. “It was something he anticipated with such enthusiasm every year.”

Mary (who, along with Victor, sat on the Jewish Home’s board of directors at one time) believed it was important that the tradition endure after Victor’s death, so she and her husband, Patric, determined to sponsor this annual event in his memory.

The residents derive incredible pleasure and pure joy from this occasion, Mary observes. It is so moving to see them delighting in the meal and the music, clapping along and even getting up to dance if they are able.

“The Jewish Home was as critical to Victor’s life as the air he breathed,” Mary maintains. In fact, it was Victor who brought about her own longtime involvement with the Jewish Home. “Victor asked me if I’d consider being on the Home’s board,” she relates. Fellow board member Doug Heller told her it would be the most wonderful service she would ever enjoy, and “it indeed turned out to be one of the most gratifying commitments I ever experienced.”

Over the years, Mary, who served a seven-year stint as development director for the San Francisco Opera, has utilized her varying skills in fundraising for the benefit of the Jewish Home. She also volunteers “wherever I can be supportive to the staff.”

Recently, she and Patric decided to continue another of Victor’s valued traditions – sponsoring the Home’s monthly birthday lunch celebration in April, the month of Victor’s birthday.

Jewish Home residents dine in style at Lake Merced Golf Club.
Accordion music adds to the ambience.

These luncheons are one more way to provide special festivities for the residents, while also offering caring supporters an opportunity to make a meaningful gift to the Home. With a contribution of $613, the birthday sponsor receives eight additional invitations so that the sponsor’s family and friends can attend to celebrate with the residents, enjoying the live music, usually some dancing and, of course, the singing of “Happy Birthday.”

“It’s so important to continue to engage our seniors and create meaningful experiences for them,” Mary believes. “Birthday luncheons help provide this. About 100 people came together to celebrate April birthdays.”

Mary’s relationship with Victor goes back to her childhood. Victor immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1936. As a friend of her grandparents’ and her great-uncle, Victor spent his first Thanksgiving in this country with Mary’s family. The Jewish Home was very much his family, she says, explaining that she believes his dedication to the welfare of the residents of the Jewish Home may have been prompted by the void of caring for his own aging parents as a result of their loss in the Holocaust.

The connection Mary has to the Jewish Home can also be linked to her two children, now age 40 and 34 respectively. Mary recalls they were involved with seniors at the Home through their religious school’s activities. “I was a chaperone when these visits occurred, and it was always clear that interacting with older people was a fabulous opportunity for my then young children.”

Victor Marcus’ legacy continues in multiple traditions, not least of which is through Mary and Patric Powell’s ongoing support and sponsorship of enjoyable experiences for the residents of the Jewish Home.