Mayor Ron Huldai and the Tel Aviv-Yafo Foundation staff and family mourn the loss of one of its beloved leader, board member and friend, Gert Thaler Z"L.

Gert Thaler

Gert was a long-time supporter and friend of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Foundation. She pioneered the Foundation's activities in the San Diego area and showed incomparable dedication, commitment and generosity ever since. We will remember her incredible sense of humor and sharp mind. She will be sorely missed.

Israel and Tel Aviv were very dear to Gert. You can make a donation in her memory by clicking here and we will notify her family of your condolences.

Read below excerpts of a letter from Mayor Ron Huldai and V.P. for North America Meggie Navon. More info

Gert Thaler: Love at First Sight

Last Shabbat, our dearest friend Gert Thaler (Z"L) from San Diego, California passed away.

Our first encounter with Gert Thaler was in the spring of 2002 at the San Diego airport when we - that is to say - Ron Huldai, the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Admiral (res) Abraham Ben Shoshan, then Director General of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Foundation, and Dr. Meggie Navon, the head of the Foundation's American desk, got off the plane from Tel Aviv.  After introductions were made, Gert wrapped her large arms around the three of us and doubled over in laughter said: "What is this- some kind of a joke? - A mayor who is a pilot, a director general who is an admiral and a fund-raiser who is a doctor?" Her laughter was contagious.  It is this laughter that we will always remember- this bubbling laughter that accompanied Gert wherever she went and in whatever she did.

Gert's intelligence, optimism, sense of humor, love of Israel and especially Tel Aviv knew no bounds.

Even though Gert was 82 at the time we met her, she contended that she was really only 41. This was because she only counted the right side of herself...   For this brilliant, funny, creative woman, the glass was always more than half-full. 

Gert was not someone who only "talked the talk". She also "walked the walk".  Together with her daughter Linda Nieman and one of her best friends Jaime Brener, she established a kindergarten for toddlers in the east Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat Hatayasim.  When the kindergarten needed upgrades, Gert turned to her friends Norman and Bobbie Greene, who joined forces and together created a safe heaven,  a state-of-the-art enrichment corner - complete with educational toys, books, computers and age-appropriate software. 

To be with Gert in San Diego was an extraordinary experience. She was a celebrity. People from all walks of life sought out her company, her warmth and her intelligence. There was not a soul in the entire city who did not know her name. There was not a soul in the entire city that could remain unaffected by her.

It was at first sight that we fell in love with Gert Thaler - and from that moment onwards we never stopped adoring her.

We already miss her terribly.

Ron Huldai and Meggie Navon