Audrey Steinberg passed away on January 5, 2024 at the age of 100.
She was born in Jersey City in 1923, graduated from Weequahic High School in Newark, attended Ohio State University and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from New York University with a major in English literature. Audrey, a great beauty, married the love of her life, the late Howard L. Steinberg, an engineer and home builder, while he was stationed in the Army Air Corps in California during World War II. Audrey and her future mother-on-law drove unescorted cross country during wartime so that Audrey and Howard could wed. That love endured past his death, to the day she died.
Audrey worked as a legal secretary and as a substitute teacher at Orange High School and East Orange High School before receiving a Master’s Degree in Education and Business from Montclair State College (now University) after which she taught business subjects at Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School and East Orange Catholic School. In a second career, Audrey joined her husband working as sought-after title searchers for various title companies and private clients.
Actively athletic, Audrey played doubles tennis until she was 80 and golf until she broke her hip at the age of 90. She was a member of Brandeis Women and the Organization for Rehabilitation and Training (ORT), as well as a volunteer at East Orange General Hospital.
After moving to Central New Jersey at 70, Audrey became a docent at Grounds for Sculpture.
She was an avid reader and enthralled with the arts and the news. Possessed of a wonderful sense of humor and a gentle, loving nature, she was worshiped by her husband, and was devoted to her family, who adored her. In love with life, she hauled her children to every available lesson, play, concert and museum within 50 miles. With a soft little girl’s voice, and a small stature, she was a fierce defender of her family when necessary, always full of surprises.
Some 67 years later, after her son’s teacher humiliated him, St. Cloud Elementary School still vibrates with her yelling; “You try that again and I’ll wipe the floor with you.”
Her children, Sally Steinberg-Brent and Robert J. Steinberg; her son- in-law, Daniel F. Brent; her daughter-in-law, Sura Steinberg; her five grandchildren and her six great-grandchildren, all cherished “Grandma Audrey,” and gathered in Princeton in September to celebrate her 100th birthday with her. She enriched us all.
Funeral services were held on January 7 at The Jewish Center of Princeton, followed by burial at Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Iselin, NJ. Memorial contributions may be made to ORT, Grounds For Sculpture, CARE, or The Jewish Center.
Funeral arrangements are by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel.
For condolences please visit Audrey’s obituary page at OrlandsMemorialChapel.com