Bertha Paglin Ferman, Washington realtor & schoolteacher

BERTHA PAGLIN FERMAN, a schoolteacher and successful realtor in the Washington, D.C. area,  passed away unexpectedly in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, January 19, 2013. A New Orleans native, she was affectionately known as “Birdie” and attended Isadore Newman School before her graduation from Sophie Newcomb College.

She was predeceased by her husband of 50 years, Professor Irving Ferman, who served as the director of the American Civil Liberties Union during the height of the McCarthyism period from 1948 to 1959. from 1947-1997. She loved to play tennis and was a patron of the arts and enjoyed spending time with her family and friends. During the four decades of her residency in Washington, D.C., she spent her summers residing at the family vacation home in Sullivan Harbor, Maine, where she explored the coastline, oftentimes capturing it on paintings. She was a longtime member of the National Council of Jewish Women in New Orleans.

Ferman is survived by daughter Susan Baldwin of Denver and son James of Wickenburg, Arizona. Graveside services officiated by Rabbi Edward Paul Cohn will take place at Hebrew Rest Mausoleum (Frenchmen at Pelopidas Streets) on Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the charity of your choice. Arrangements by Tharp-Sontheimer-Tharp Funeral Home. Online condolences may be expressed here.