To Norma Warren, Temple Emanu-El was more than a house of worship — it was a true extension of her family. She grew up here, raised her family here with Rabbi Grafman, and had extremely close relationships with Rabbi Miller, Cantor Roskin and every member of the staff. As the Rabbi reminded us when we laid Norma to rest a little over a year and a half ago, “Norma loved us all. Even when she left her home on Hillsdale Road and went to Atlanta, she left behind some of her love and took with her the ability to love us yet more and more.”

Norma took great pride in her involvement with the Temple. For years, she sent the contribution cards and acknowledgments to the people who gave their donations to the Rabbi Grafman Endowment Fund for Temple Emanu-El. She felt joy in acknowledging the joys that were sent to her, and she felt too the pain of those suffering loss. And while she gave countless volunteer hours to Temple, she also felt that the Temple was always there for her.

According to her children, Carol Ann, Debbie, and David, Norma felt it was a great honor to help build the Grafman Fund to ensure the long-term survival of the congregation she had called home for a lifetime. Not only through her years volunteering, but also through her thoughtfulness in remembering to include Temple Emanu-El in her will, Norma’s giving spirit is able to keep on giving to this institution that meant so much to her — for years into the future.