Suffolk —Gerline Aronoff Lerner, 84, of Suffolk, passed away July 31, 2017 following a long illness.
She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Martin Lerner, MD, her parents Isidore and Bertha Aronoff, her sisters Annette Brenner, Rebecca Green and Harriet Klavan and brother Marcus Aronoff.
Born in Newport News on August 13, 1932, she eventually located to Norfolk, where she married Martin Lerner after meeting him at Fort Eustis where she worked as a secretary. A graduate of Newport News High School, Gerline continued throughout her life to increase her knowledge and vocabulary through her voracious appetite for reading. She married Martin Lerner on June 28, 1959 and they had two daughters and a son. She was a loving mother who was always there for her family, no matter what. She always made sure there was nourishing food on the table and it was never beyond her to grill up a quick cheese and tomato sandwich in the middle of the night. She remained married for 58 years until his passing. After her son left home for college, she decided to reenter the workforce and worked for Seaboard Investment Advisors in Norfolk, as office manager where she thrived in her capacity to properly run the office and motivate staff. Gerline was a true sports fan, superb duck pin bowler, the world’s greatest undiscovered comedienne and the life of the party, not to mention she made a fantastic Jello that was one of her signature dishes. She never met a soul that she didn’t know or try to help. She was an avid supporter of the Battered Women’s Shelter in Norfolk, B’nai B’rith Women, and numerous other charities where she would tirelessly devote her time and energies.
She is survived by daughters Leslie (Michael) Koenig of Leesburg, Va., Linda (Michael) Firnstahl of Suffolk, and her son David (Sparkmaster5) and his wife Andrea (Andy) of Suffolk; her eight grandchildren Jake, Jared and Colby Koenig of Leesburg, Tucker, Preston and Owen Firnstahl of Suffolk, and Katy and Jessie Lerner of Richmond. She is also survived by her nephews Theodore (Joanne) Brenner of Richmond, Stuart (Rene) Brenner of Jacksonville, Andrew Jacobson of Warren, N.J. and Gershon (Michele) Aronoff of Norfolk, and niece Suzy (Rick) Szymanski of Virginia Beach.
A funeral service was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments handled arrangements and online condolences may be offered to the family at hdoliver.com. Donations to the charity of your choice would be something Gerline would look kindly upon. And if anyone happens to have her Jello recipe, please forward it to H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts. ASAP.