Sad News, Pioneering Roosevelt Island Resident Jale Turcihin Passed Away October 19, 2023 At 87 Years Of Age - Condolences To Her Family, Friends And Neighbors

Long time Roosevelt Island resident Jale Turcihin passed away earlier this week. Her daughter Olya Turcihin shares the news:

It is with great sadness that I write about my mother, Jale Turcihin, who passed away on October 19, 2023. Her life was filled with love and beauty. She was 87 years young. 

Beloved grandmother to Ayla and Leyla Stern. Loving mother to Olya. Predeceased by her husband and love of her life Ilusha, her cherished daughter Lelya. Also survived by sons-in-law Al Stern, Sten Evenhouse, and Alan Lupiani, and loved by so many. Born in Istanbul in 1936, graduate of Robert College of Istanbul and Ecole Lemania, Lausanne, Switzerland. Proudly worked for decades at Mobil Oil (now ExxonMobil), at first in Istanbul, and later in midtown. Moved to New York from Istanbul in 1967 and was one of the pioneers to move to Rivercross in 1977, which reminded her of living on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. She loved living in Rivercross and the island!

An avid daily reader of The New York Times who was always fashionably dressed, often in cashmere, and full of wit, humor and abundant amounts of love. Although she moved to New York more than five decades ago, she visited Istanbul many times, including most recently in 2019 and never lost touch with her birthplace. Her fondest memories of her youth included climbing trees, eating fruit from her family garden, the lifelong friends she made at boarding school and the beautiful family she created after meeting and falling in love with her husband, Ilusha. She was an excellent Turkish Sephardic cook, spoke Turkish, and Ladino as well as English, French and Spanish.

My mother will be so very missed by us, and so many of you on Roosevelt Island. 

Graveside services to be held on Sunday, October 22, 2023, 11 a.m. at the Shearith Israel, Beth Olam Cemetery, Queens, NY. Open house shiva between 2 and 6 p.m. on Sunday, October 22 (531 Main Street, Rivercross Apt. #506).

Condolences to Jale Turcihin's family, friends and neighbors.