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Civianne Rubin Bloch, 1937-2023
זיכרונה לברכה

***May her memory bring forth blessings***

Civianne Rubin Bloch, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and great-aunt passed away on August 19, 2023. She was 86.

She was predeceased by her brother David Z. Rubin, is survived by her loving husband of 63 years, Eric, and her daughters Nadine (partner Sean Gallagher) of Takoma Park, MD and Joanne Kaffe of Jerusalem, Israel; sons Jonathan (partner Urit Chaimovitz) of Watertown, MA and Andrew of Las Vegas, NV, along with her grandchildren Binyamin, Yoel, Shoshana, Margot, Keziah, Regina, Romy, and Vieve, and her 5 great-grandchildren, Yehuda, Shira, Yishai, Rafael, and Netaniel.

Family came first to Civianne. Civianne was born to Joseph and Edith Rose (Schnitman) Rubin on New Year’s Day 1937 in New Haven, where her grandparents Ida Ester (Sigler) and Nathan Schnitman were living. She was extraordinarily proud of the fact that she lived in the Bronx for the first nine years of her life, and held a lifelong love for the Big Apple. Civianne spent her early summers with her grandparents and extended family in Milford and New Haven. In 1946 she moved to Morningside (Milford), CT with her family. She joined the teen group at the Milford Jewish Center. Eric was also a member!

Civianne was active while at Milford High School, graduating as the Salutatorian of her class with many awards. She continued on to a special program at Mount Holyoke College and the Cornell School of Nursing in New York City. It seems wherever she went she broke the mold – as all the schools she graduated from have since closed– from grade school to HS to Nursing school!! (not Mt. Holyoke, but she didn’t graduate there!)

She worked briefly as a visiting nurse in Mount Kisco and New Haven. After starting a family, she was a volunteer nurse for many area bloodrives.

Civianne’s commitment to her friends, family, and community was impressive. She put all of her intellect, compassion and energetic self to make the world a better place. She nurtured her friendships for the long haul; just before leaving CT, she met nursing school friends in NYC and had a goodbye lunch with friends from High School. She loved being outdoors, in nature and tending to plants, and was part of several walking groups. She was the quintessential worker bee, taking care of her spouse, always, and their 4 children and then their children and her great grandkids as they came along. She created space for her four wildly different children to be the unique individuals they are. At her treasured family traditions there was room for everyone. Passover Seders were full of love, chatter and delicious homemade specialties, served up on long tables extending around the corner from the dining to the living room to as many as 30 guests!

Lots of people like to talk about things, but Bubby, Civi, Civianne actually did things. She exemplified the concept of Tikkun Olam, of taking care of the world, and those around her, improving the world as best one can. She showed her commitment to the Jewish community by taking leadership roles tat many organizations: her synagogue, Temple B’nai Shalom in Milford, and then Congregation Or Shalom of Orange, The New Haven Jewish Federation, The Women's League of Conservative Judaism (Branch) and others.

She was personally touched by friends struggling with Multiple Sclerosis. For 27 years, Eric and Civianne participated in the "MS walk" and were among the top fundraisers for the National MS Society, Connecticut Chapter. She used her nursing skills volunteering at Red Cross Blood banks; engaged her children and others in visiting seniors in homes for the aged; worked tirelessly and generously on refugee resettlement; and was widely known and recognized for being the local founder of the “Afghan Grannies.” This crew of intrepid women crocheted or knitted thousands of individually tailored blankets for foster children so that they would feel comforted and valued. That work grew intoThreads of Love, whose members handmade thousands of shawls and lap blankets for individuals suffering with serious illnesses. Their mission to bring comfort, warmth and hope– to tangibly demonstrate that other people care was personally important to Civianne.

Civianne was also an avid and frequent active traveler, adventurous on expeditions world-wide with her husband. They often traveled with their close friends of over 55 years, Arthur (“Buddy”) and Roberta Litvinoff. Destinations on every continent except Antarctica and anywhere there was family or a simcha, and Israel. There is a bag already packed for their next trip to Israel. And on all her journey’s Civianne took every chance to roll up her pants to wade in the water, from Silver Sands Park in Milford to far away beaches.

Recently Civianne and Eric moved from their home of 49 years in Orange, CT, to Canton, MA. They were looking forward to being closer to her two youngest grandchildren. A heart attack may have taken Civianne from this world with us, but she will always be in our hearts and her good works will be continued on through family and friends.