Lucy Lopata, a past president of the Jewish Federation Women’s Division and for more than 70 years one of the most generous philanthropists for both Jewish and general causes, died Friday, May 24 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.  She was 98 and just days away from her 99th birthday.  

Mrs. Lopata had been in excellent health until she fell in April, and died of complications resulting from the fall, family members said.  She had been a resident of 1 McKnight Place in University City.

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Lucy Lopata and her husband Stanley, who died in January 2000, were longtime partners in supporting numerous philanthropic, cultural and civic projects and causes, including the St. Louis Symphony, COCA, the Missouri History Museum, the New Jewish Theatre and the St. Louis Science Center, among many others.  Andrew Rehfeld, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, praised Mrs. Lopata’s leadership and generosity and called her passing a “serious loss for the Jewish community.”

Vivian W. Zwick, a past president of the St. Louis Jewish Light Board of Trustees and longtime neighbor and friend of Mrs. Lopata’s, said, “Lucy was truly amazing.  She was always ready to help others. Whenever she was told about a need, she immediately asked how she could help.  She was also always ready to go and do until her recent fall.  A group of us would enjoy going to shows and concerts together.  It was a tough week for many of us to have lost both Sunny Glassberg and Lucy Lopata.”

Roger Lopata, one of the Lopata’s four children said, “We have been overwhelmed by the incredible outpouring of condolences and words of admiration for our mom.  The entire family is deeply grateful to the entire community.”  

Another son, James Lopata, who resides in Chicago said, “Mom would always tell me about the latest plays that came to St. Louis and would encourage me to see them when they came to Chicago.  Her support for cultural activities inspired my own interest in those activities in Chicago.”

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Despite her advanced age, Mrs. Lopata was remarkably fit.  James Lopata told the Light, “Until she was hurt in that terrible fall, Mom’s routine would be to get up at 7:30 a.m. to walk on the treadmill for half an hour.  She was always physically and mentally active, which I am sure contributed to her long life.  She and Dad would go skiing together until she broke her ankle.  She continued to go with him and switched to walking long distances while Dad was skiing.”

In 1980, Lucy and Stanley Lopata were among the recipients of the annual Brotherhood-Sisterhood Award presented by the National Conference for Community and Justice (then the National Conference of Christians and Jews).  The Lopatas were honored for their “rare ability to inspire us by their contributions, their service and by their example.”  The couple were recognized as  “companions and partners who have cared about others across boundaries of class, status and race,” said NCCJ chair Anthony F. Sansone Jr.  He also praised the Lopatas for their “strong sense of moral values rooted in their Jewish upbringing and for their concern as expressed in the exemplary work both have done as volunteers.” In accepting the award, Lucy Lopata said, “we hope in our grandchildren’s time, to promote brotherhood will no longer be necessary.”  

Stanley Lopata, whom she married on Feb. 8, 1939, was a chemical engineer and the founder and longtime president and chairman of the Carboline Co., a manufacturer of paint and protective coating.  After Mr. Lopata’s death, Mrs. Lopata continued the couple’s longtime generous support of countless charities and causes in greater St. Louis.

Mrs. Lopata’s support for brotherhood and understanding was forged in her native land.  She was born Lucy Mayer on May 27, 1914 in Niederhochstadt, Germany, near Manheim in the Alsace region.  She was the daughter of Albert and Mina Westheimer Mayer.  Among Mrs. Lopata’s cousins is the famed sex therapist and author Ruth Westheimer, who would enjoy getting together with Lucy when she was a featured speaker at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival.

Before Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Mrs. Lopata attended private schools in Germany up to the equivalent of two years of college by U.S. standards.  She then attended for two years a private finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she completed a year at the university there, majoring in 18th century French literature and the history of art.

In an interview with the Jewish Light at the time of her presidency of the JFed Women’s Division, Mrs. Lopata recalled, “I arrived in St. Louis in November 1934, with no degree.  In other words, you might even call me one of the earliest college dropouts, courtesy of Mr. Hitler.  I attended night school here, taking English and American history courses.  Later, I met Stanley, and in 1939 we were married.”

Mrs. Lopata did sales and office work during her first few years in the United States.  The Lopatas moved to Newark, N.J. during World War II, where Mrs. Lopata volunteered for that community’s section of the National Council of Jewish Women.  She concentrated her volunteer work in the areas of immigration and naturalization, drawing upon her own experiences of having to leave her native land to start a new life in America.

After the war, the Lopatas moved back to St. Louis, where she did office work for her husband early in his local business career.  She also immersed herself, always with the full support of her husband, in numerous philanthropic causes, boards and organizations in the Jewish and general communities.  The partial list of her activities that she supplied in the 1970s to the Jewish Light can be described as staggering.

Among her activities, in addition to the demanding job of serving as president of the JFed Women’s Division, she was a board member of the Federation itself and chair of its Women’s Division Campaign.  She was an active member of Congregation Shaare Emeth and served on its Sisterhood board.  She was president of the American Chemical Society’s Women’s Division and secretary of the local board of the American Cancer Society.  She was very active with the United Order of True Sisters and its Miriam Lodge #17, and chaired fundraising for the Miriam School board for many years.  She served when the school expanded its mission from serving mentally challenged children to serve children with learning and behavioral issues.

She also served on the Jewish Children’s Home and Family Service Auxiliary (later merged into the Jewish Family and Children’s Service).  She was active with and helped organize the Academy of Professional Artists, in addition to fundraising for the St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis Zoo and its Zoofari event, the St. Louis Symphony’s drive to acquire and renovate what became Powell Symphony Hall, and served on the board of the old Jewish Hospital.  She was a board member of the Jewish Foundation for Retarded Children.  In 1969, she was named a Woman of Achievement for Community Betterment by the old St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

When asked what her hobbies were back in the 1970s, Mrs. Lopata replied, “Are you kidding?  I do enjoy collecting Limoges Enammelings with my husband and before I hurt my ankle enjoyed skiing.  I also enjoy reading, when there is time.”  She also was a loyal attendee of plays at the New Jewish Theatre.

Among the survivors are their four children:  Steven Lopata (Frances) of Little Rock, Ark.; James Lopata (Suzanne) of Chicago; Lusette “Andy” Lopata Smith (Edgar) of Great Falls, Va., and Roger Lopata (Cynthia) of Philadelphia; a sister Ruth Mayer Rosenberg (the late William of Godfrey, Ill.); four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Private family services were held Monday. Burial was at Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol Cemetery on Ladue Road.  In keeping with Mrs. Lopata’s wishes, there will be no public memorial service.  It was also her desire that those who wish to make contributions in her honor, should do either service work or contribute to the charity of the donor’s choice.