There are a million ways that the loved ones of Jodie Milkman will remember her, but her husband Sam tells one story that exemplifies his late wife’s fortitude, ambition, willingness to learn and dedication to serving others.
At Jodie’s shiva, a man came up to Sam and started to talk to him. “He said, ‘You don’t know me, but my name is Jack,’” Sam said.
“I said, ‘I know who you are, you’re the ice cream man,’” Sam continued. “‘I remember you from the festival at Penn’s Landing.’”
Sam Milkman had a general understanding of his wife’s work with this man, but the details made him appreciate his wife’s memory even more than he already did.
The “ice cream man” told him this: “Twenty or so years ago, I lost a son to pediatric leukemia at the age of four. I left my work and dedicated my life to raising money for pediatric leukemia at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I had an idea for an ice cream festival, because my son loved ice cream. I went around the city looking for a partner and nobody would help me — every door was shut,” he said. “Then I met Jodie. And she said ‘No matter what, I am going to make sure this festival happens.’”
The man told Sam that despite the numerous regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles, Jodie steamrolled ahead until the festival was given the green light. The Joshua Kahan Super Scooper Ice Cream Festival was a hit, and ran for 16 years, raising millions of dollars for the Children’s Hospital. Warm or cold, rain or shine, Sam said, his wife would do anything to make sure that the ice cream festival went on.
Jodie Milkman passed away Nov. 1 of ovarian cancer after being diagnosed in October 2022. She is survived by Sam and her children: Max, Ryan and Sydney.
Professionally, she was known as executive vice president of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. She worked there for more than 32 years, spending the better part of the last decade as the executive vice president.
Personally, she was known as a warm woman who would do anything for her community, family and friends. Notably, she would do so without ever seeking praise or credit. She just did it because that’s who she was, said Val Hurwitz, the emeritus executive director of Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun, the synagogue Milkman belonged to and worked at. Hurwitz said that Milkman was an ideal employee.
“She would ask, ‘Did I do this the right way? Should I be doing it this way?’ and I would say, ‘Jodie, you’re doing it perfectly,’” she said. “She would say that she just wants to make sure she’s taking care of everyone. She never took care of herself first. She took care of everyone around her. That was Jodie.”
Hurwitz said that her friend was “pious,” and that working in a synagogue was important to her. Sydney Milkman said that the value of a Jewish life was ingrained in her by her parents, and that her mother’s example in particular has influenced where she is today.
“Going to Jewish school was something my parents started me in, but I wasn’t forced to,” Sydney Milkman said. “I chose to continue. Every Friday night, my brothers and I would fight over who got to share the parshah. We kept a kosher house, and even now after I graduated college I still keep kosher. It’s not because I was forced to growing up; it’s because I love the tradition, because that was my mom’s main thing.”
Sydney has followed in her mother’s footsteps in more ways than one. Perhaps her proudest accomplishment is that she has been able to pursue a similar professional path to her mother. Sydney Milkman serves as communications coordinator at Visit Philadelphia, which she says helps her feel connected to her mother.
“I love being able to do what she did,” Sydney said. “Our jobs are different, but the main goal is still to build the city for residents and visitors. I just love being in her world, and every day my favorite part of work was going home and telling her about it. It made her so happy to see that those [same] things also make me happy.”
Hurwitz said that the most important thing that the community of Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun — and really, Philadelphia — can do right now is support the Milkman family.
“It’s so hard to lose someone who was so young and had so much to offer not just the Jewish community and the Philadelphia community, but personally to her family and friends, too,” Hurwitz said.
Sam Milkman recalled one time when Jodie was talking to him after a long day of work. He was half listening as she told him about a program that the city has that offers free parking in Center City on Fridays in December, so people have additional incentive to do holiday shopping. He absentmindedly told her, “That sounds like a good idea.”
“She said, ‘No! The parking should be free every day in December!’,” Sam said. “She said that because some people can take off Friday to go shopping in the city, but some people can’t. She wanted to make it available to everyone.”
When Sam Milkman asked his wife why she had decided to take up this cause, the answer was simple and typical for Jodie Milkman.
“She said, ‘Because it’s good for the city,’” Sam said.
During the first year or so of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jodie and Sydney found themselves without a Shabbat staple when stores that sold challah were closed and they had no way to obtain any. So, they decided to learn how to make it. Anyone who has tried knows that this is no easy task — especially without the helping hand of an expert to guide you the first time or two.
“At first it was very hard, but my mom and I got it down to a science where she processed the dough and I would braid it, and we would go and drop it off at my grandparents house. That became our routine every single Friday,” Sydney Milkman said.
But in typical fashion for Jodie Milkman, dipping her toe in the water wasn’t enough.
“Even after COVID, we continued and I would catch her on Instagram DMing all her favorite [accounts], asking their tips and tricks,” Sydney said.
Jodie Milkman worked to perfect her recipe and even experimented with turning the challah dough into babka and more.
“She made our cousins this piñata-style hollow challah where, when you cut into it it exploded with sprinkles and candy and M&M’s,” Sydney said. “She just got such joy in sharing this tradition with everyone.”
