Edith Z. Nessen, 92, Was Island Summer Resident

Edith Z. Nessen of Brookline died Monday, July 21 at her residence, at the age of 92. She and her husband, Saul Nessen, who died in 1989 after 55 years of marriage, were longtime summer residents of Vineyard Haven.

During her 80s, Mrs. Nessen began a new career as an administrative assistant at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center in Newton. For eight years, she was involved with new membership. Although she was unpaid, she never missed a day of work.

Mrs. Nessen was known for her sense of humor -- she contended that, unlike other housewives of her generation, she was a terrible cook. She would say, "I'm proud of it. My sons will never be able to complain to their wives, ‘If you could only cook like my mother.' "

She is survived by her three sons, Richard of Lincoln, Vt., Peter of Boston and Robert of Concord; her sister, Gladys of Needham, and her brother, Richard of Lincoln, as well as nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Funeral services, under the direction of the Levine Chapel in Brookline, were held Tuesday, July 22 at Temple Israel on Longwood avenue in Boston. Rabbi Jonah Pesner and Cantor Roy B. Einhorn from Temple Israel officiated. Interment was in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton street, Newton, MA 02459.