Lucille Almeleh Spring

April 17, 1933—December 10, 2013
Lucille “Lucy” Almeleh Spring was born at the home of her parents, Pinhas David Almeleh (Pinky) and Victoria Franco Almeleh (Vicky), located in the East Cherry Street neighborhood of Seattle. A child of Sephardic Jewish immigrants from the Isle of Rhodes, she formed strong ties with her large extended family. Lucy had many lifelong friends, starting with her school years at Leschi Elementary, then Washington Junior High, Garfield High School, and the University of Washington. Lucy was an athletic tomboy with a love for music and animals — especially dogs. She was a Girl Scout, Air Scout, and Horizon Girl. She was a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority at UW, serving as an adviser to the house for many years.
In her teens, Lucy was twice president of the junior choir at Temple De Hirsch. Music director Samuel Goldfarb, an accomplished composer, recognized Lucy’s potential at the age of 15 when he asked her to join the music teaching staff. She brought great enthusiasm and dedication to her work as the director of children’s choirs and the Sisterhood ladies’ choral group from 1948 to 1977. Following the lead of her mentor Mr. G., Lucy crafted numerous plays, musicals, and cantatas for the temple events centered on Hanukkah and Purim, and she was an active performer in many of them. Many of her students have gone on to serve in religious and musical leadership for Jewish communities throughout the U.S.
Lucy met the love of her life, Rudy Abram Spring, through the temple’s singles activities. Married in 1955, Lucy enjoyed 45 years of blessed marriage with her loving husband and best friend. Rudy passed away in May of 2000. They shared many passions, including golf, bridge club, service work for their synagogues, time with life-long friends, Garfield grad reunions, and hosting gatherings in their home in the Mockingbird Hill neighborhood of Bellevue.
Golf with Rudy, family, and her many friends at Glendale Golf and Country Club brought her much enjoyment. She volunteered in many capacities for the Glendale Women’s Golf Association, serving as club captain in 1976. In 1981 she had a hole-in-one while playing with Rudy.
Family was essential to Lucy, maintaining close ties with both the Almeleh-Franco-Mossafer-Peha and Spring-Glass-Himelhoch lineages. While only able to enjoy four decades with her older brother and only sibling, David P. Almeleh, who died in 1977, she cultivated a strong bond with his survivors (Craig, Michelle, Justin and Jaime). Ahead of her time, Lucy nurtured a blended family for her two stepdaughters and two sons. She was instrumental in coordinating the annual Franco-Peha-Mossafer family picnic for 33 years; typically well over 100 gathered at Lake Sammamish State Park for the daylong festivities.
Lucy’s life of service to the Seattle Jewish community started very early in her life as she often volunteered with her mother in her pre-teen years. In 1948 she became an employee of Temple De Hirsch, leading many facets of the religious and educational aspects of the temple. In 1977, Lucy was hired as the cultural arts director for the Jewish Community Center and spent five years creating educational, art and musical programming. In 1983, Lucy began a 30-year career at the Kline Galland Home serving as director of volunteers, community relations, activities, and religious programming. She worked with great commitment to meet the diverse range of Jewish cultural and religious programming to all residents of the convalescent, assisted-living, and day-center facilities. Collaborating with the activities department team and other Kline Galland colleagues to enrich the quality of life for residents and their family gave her great satisfaction. She was honored in 2005 with the Power of One award by the Women’s Endowment Foundation for her outstanding work at The Kline Galland Center. She especially enjoyed a special concert sponsored by her Spring family nephews and the entire Kline Galland Home staff (current and retired) in honor of her 80th birthday.
Lucy is survived by four children: Perry Spring (Janet Spring Kearsley) of Port Townsend, Harley Spring (Robyn) of Portland, Ore., stepdaughters Sally Lonn (Howard) of Phoenix, Ariz., and Peggy DeLeon (Michael) of Redmond; nine grandchildren: Danielle, Mallory, Arianna, Tracey, Jennifer, Steven (Jackie), Marci (Sean), Shelly, and Solomon; four great-grandchildren: Ryan, Gabriella, Brandon, and Virginia. Many nieces, nephews, and cousins who all knew and loved Bubba Lu. Thank you Lucy for your boundless energy, love, and strength of character — you are an inspiration for all.