Brenda Frebowitz, a longtime Women’s American ORT member who filled her home with family celebrations, organizational meetings and friends gathered over many decades, died July 18 in Bryn Mawr. She was 82.

Frebowitz had a gift for holding on to people. She remained close to childhood friends, women she met through ORT, card-playing partners, water aerobics classmates and members of Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim.

“She never let one go,” said Gerri Fish, who knew Frebowitz from elementary school and later worked with her in ORT. “She had many, many friends.”

Born Brenda Needleman on May 19, 1944, Frebowitz grew up in Philadelphia’s Wynnefield neighborhood. Her parents were Nathan “Nate” and Evelyn Needleman. Her mother died when Frebowitz was about 12, and a housekeeper helped care for her and her two brothers while her father worked as a florist at Gimbels.

Frebowitz attended Overbrook High School. Although she sometimes joked that she had not been the strongest student, her husband, Jerry Frebowitz, said she loved school and especially valued the friendships she made there. She served on her class reunion committee for decades and remained close to several childhood friends for more than 70 years.

After high school, she took a clerical job at a publishing company but did not enjoy the work. While visiting a friend employed at a store with several retail concessions, she learned that Jerry Frebowitz was hiring for his jewelry and gift shop.

She approached him for a job.

“I was looking for an employee,” Jerry Frebowitz said. “After a while, it didn’t take long. I realized I couldn’t be without her.”

They began meeting for coffee and eating together at Horn & Hardart. They married in January 1965 during a major Philadelphia snowstorm and remained together for close to 62 years.

Frebowitz had never learned to cook while growing up, but after her marriage she bought a loose-leaf Betty Crocker cookbook and taught herself. She prepared dinner nearly every night and later became known among friends and relatives for her brisket.

Frebowitz also became known in Philadelphia for her brownies. After radio personality Ken Garland met her at the family business, Frebowitz offered to bake him a batch of the light-colored brownies she regularly made. Garland called them “Brenda’s brownies” on the air. Listeners began requesting the recipe, and the station printed copies to distribute.

The couple had two sons, Edward, born in 1967, and Michael, born five years later.

In the 1970s, the Frebowitzes started a mail-order movie business at their kitchen table. They pasted together catalogs and answered requests from customers. Originally called Brenda’s Movie House, the company was renamed Movies Unlimited after their young son Edward suggested a more businesslike name.

As the company expanded, Frebowitz stepped away from its daily operations to concentrate on raising the couple’s sons. Jerry Frebowitz said she supported the business from its earliest days and was always ready to help when needed.

During the same period, she became involved with Women’s American ORT, now ORT America. She learned about the organization through women she met at Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim, where the family belonged for more than 50 years.

ORT’s commitment to education and vocational training appealed to her.

Fish said Frebowitz believed strongly in helping people gain independence and dignity through education. She was also drawn to an organization rooted in Jewish values and charitable work.

Frebowitz participated in meetings, fundraising events, art shows and a large annual flea market held in the Bala Cynwyd Shopping Center parking lot. Meetings were frequently held at the Frebowitz home.

She also worked for the ORT thrift shop and served as a chapter president for about two years during the 1980s.

Fish said Frebowitz was not someone who sought recognition.

“She was a leader in the way that she participated and gave her heart and her soul and her money,” Fish said.

Her ORT friendships endured for roughly half a century.

Frebowitz and her husband raised their sons in a Jewish home. The boys attended Hebrew school, celebrated their bar mitzvahs and confirmations and spent summers at the predominantly Jewish Camp Nock-A-Mixon. Family gatherings for Rosh Hashanah, Passover, break fast, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day were regularly held at the Frebowitz home.

Passover could draw more than 20 people, with every guest assigned a reading.

Frebowitz also played tennis, mahjong and canasta. She formed another circle of friends through water aerobics at Cabrini College.

Her family remained at the center of her life. She called her sons almost every day and stayed closely connected to her grandchildren, Arden, Camryn, Hannah and Bryce.

Jerry Frebowitz described his wife as consistently good-natured and optimistic. When he became critical or impatient, she reminded him to be kind.

“If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all,” she would tell him.

Later in life, Frebowitz faced serious health problems, including declining vision and four years of dialysis. She continued playing cards by asking friends what was on the table and remembering the plays. Fish called her “the least complaining person I ever knew.”

Jerry Frebowitz said his wife taught him to compromise, to look for the good in people and, in his words, “to be a mensch.”

“She kept me from being a sourpuss,” he said. “She was just good all the time.”

Ellen Braunstein is a freelance obituary writer. She welcomes suggestions for individuals who had meaningful ties to the Philadelphia Jewish community. Email csix@midatlanticmedia.com.