Rose Horwitz Lewis; Community Activist

Rose Horwitz Lewis, former Glendale Jewish community activist who was one of the first women in the western United States to serve as president of a synagogue, has died at a Burbank nursing facility. She was 92.

A Burbank resident, Mrs. Lewis died Sunday of natural causes, said her son, Jim Horwitz of West Los Angeles.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, she first became active in Jewish affairs at a synagogue in her hometown. In 1945, she and her family moved to California and joined Temple Sinai of Glendale, a Reform synagogue. Mrs. Lewis served three terms as president of the Sisterhood of Temple Sinai of Glendale and during the 1950s served on the national board of directors of the Western Federation of Temple Sisterhoods and as the organization’s president.

After serving for several years on the temple’s board of directors, she was elected president of the temple in 1965, making her one of the first women in the West to hold such a title, her son said.

In addition to her son, Mrs. Lewis is survived by her daughter, Shirley Howard of North Hollywood; stepson Edward Lewis of Bel-Air; stepdaughter Doris Kirschner of Malibu; six grandchildren; six step-grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. Her first husband, Arthur Horwitz, died in 1962, and her second husband, Max Lewis, died in 1990.

A funeral was held Tuesday with burial at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Mount Sinai Mortuary handled the arrangements. Donations can be made to the Rose Lewis Memorial Chapel at Temple Sinai of Glendale.