Evelyn Mandelowitz Left a Generous Bequest To The Animal Haven

We are deeply grateful to Evelyn Mandelowitz, a former New Haven-area resident and a life-long animal lover, who left a generous bequest to The Animal Haven. We are very honored that Evelyn chose The Animal Haven as the recipient of her legacy gift to help and support animals. Evelyn’s and her husband Jerome’s life-long love for animals is beautifully expressed by Evelyn’s niece Charlotte in the following article.

Evelyn Mandelowitz Lived a Life Devoted to Animals

By Charlotte Livob, Evelyn’s niece, also on behalf of Allan Libov and Lewis Wilder

Evelyn Mandelowitz and her husband, Jerome, were devoted to each other, and to the cause of animals, all their lives.  Evelyn’s bequest to Animal Haven may have been made solely in her name, because Jerome preceded her in death, but their decision to provide for The Animal Haven was a joint one.

             Evelyn and Jerome (or Jerry), were our aunt and uncle. They lived quiet lives in the New Haven area.  Evelyn was a homemaker, and Jerry worked for the State of  Connecticut until his retirement. They loved jazz, gardening, and, most of all, they were united in their love of animals; in fact, when Jerry was a soldier during World War II in Burma (now Myanmar), he talked about the monkey he adopted there. (I suspect that he may have used this to help woo my aunt when they were courting; I found postcards with pictures of animals that he sent her before they married).

             During their marriage, they adopted two Pekingese dogs, which may very well have come from The Animal Haven. They so loved their Pekingese’s that they could never bear to get another dog after the second one passed away, so they became foster parents to whatever dogs were in the family; at one time, I had four dogs, and they were eager dog sitters. They were also “adoptive parents” to any dogs that were living in their neighborhood, and Jerry was known to carry dog biscuits in his pockets.

             After Jerry died in 2012, Evelyn moved to Florida, and eagerly awaited my weekly visits, with my poodle, Poochie. She would sit in her armchair, facing her walker, and Poochie would sit on its seat, facing her, so they could see each other, and occasionally give her face a lick. Even in the weeks before she died, just shy of her 102nd birthday, she would light up when we arrived.

             We know that she and Jerry would be happy to know that The Animal Haven has survived the pandemic, and that their bequest will help the animal shelter they cared about so much.