1943-2012
Sue is no longer with us.
She died at 10:45pm, at the hospice at Hadassah hospital, Har haZofim (Mt Scopus), on 5 August 2012 (18 Av 5772), in the holy city of Jerusalem. Her passing was quiet and peaceful and we believe she suffered little or no pain.
Sue began life in 1943 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, as Suzanne Gans, daughter of Siegfried (Fred) and Leoni (Lee) Gans, who had escaped Nazi Germany in 1937. She had an older brother, Alfred, who survives her.
She grew up there and was educated for office work and with a work ethic that caused her to work almost all her life, until September 2011.
She led the Betar Zionist youth movement in Brisbane and studied in Israel at the Machon leMadrichai Chutz l'Aretz (the Institute for Youth Leaders from Abroad). In Betar she met Mervyn Doobov, whom she subsequently married, in 1964, and with whom she moved to Canberra, Australia's capital city. Her two children, Ilana and Arieh, were born there, in 1967 and 1969.
She and Mervyn were very involved with the small Jewish community and served in many roles therein, both eventually becoming president. Sue was mainly active in the women's side of the Community and in educational activites, for many years teaching girls for bat mitzvah and, above all, serving as a role model of a Jewish woman in a remote Jewish community. She led the ladies volunteer Chevra Kadisha for many years and was known for her interest in helping elderly members of he community as well as being a by-word in hospitality. For her contribution, she was awarded a medal in the Order of Australia, in 1998, a distinction she shared with Mervyn.
In her professional life, she ran the ACT Council on the Ageing, a body formed to organise services for that age group. In particular, she was the original impetus for the founding, in Canberra, of the University of the Third Age, a self-help initiative wherein retired people put their skills to use in educating each other in a myriad of subjects. Last September, she was a guest of honour, in Canberra, at the 25th anniversary of U3A.
On arrival in Israel in 1998 and completion of ulpan she found work and continued until infirmity overcame her, in September 2011. Her work competence was underpinned by her character and integrity.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2000 and over the years underwent six or seven operations, two or three chemotherapy cycles, and two radio-therapy cycles, all without complaint and with fortitude. She survived twice as long as the average span after diagnosis of such a tumour; the great majority of that time was good for her - a few days recovery from an operation, a week or so recuperation, and back to work.
Her lives (personal, communal, and professional) were devoted to helping others in some way. Her private life was devoted to her husband and family, of whom she was very proud and in whose company she delighted. Her struggle to leave hospital and arrive at her eldest grandson's barmitzvah celebration is remembered by many who were there. She was personally reserved but infinitely loving and caring; a devoted daughter, daughter-in-law, mother, grandmother, and, above all, wife.
She will be missed by all who were fortunate to know her and, especially, by her family.
The funeral will commence at the Bet Hahesped of the Chevra Kadisha Kehillat Yerushalayim, Har Hamenuhot, Jerusalem, at 16.00, Monday, 6 August.
The tefillot, in Jerusalem (Monday Tuesday, Wednesday) and Modi'in (Thursday, Friday, Sunday), will be at 06.45 in the morning and 19.20 in the afternoon-evening.
- Mervyn Doobov.
Sue Doobov