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Mother, daughter cut from the same cloth Every Wednesday morning at 5:30, Lyndhurst resident Betty Rosskamm, 83, dons her yoga clothes and drives to Starbucks for a tall brew. By 6:30 she is seated in the Lotus position at her daughter Jackie Rothstein’s Moreland Hills home for a private yoga session. “That’s my mom,” said Rothstein with a laugh. “She is the most vibrant, with-it, active, intelligent woman I know.” National Council of Jewish Women, Cleveland Section will honor the two women at its “Celebration of Generations” luncheon on Sun., June 12, at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven in Mayfield Heights. “

I admire Jackie’s strong leadership, and I am thrilled that Jackie and her mother Betty Rosskamm are being honored as consummate NCJW volunteers and as a model mother-daughter team,” said Judy Eigenfeld, NCJW president. Rosskamm, whose parents Hilda and Berthold Reich founded Jo-Ann Fabrics in 1943, worked for 63 years in the family business alongside her late husband Martin. For the past four years, she has devoted that same energy and enthusiasm to volunteer work. * In addition to NCJW’s Thriftique Showroom, Rosskamm volunteers as a buyer for The Children’s Museum gift shop, runs the vendor sales at University Hospitals, and volunteers at Court Community Service Program. She also tutors at Bolton School and at The Intergenerational School. It’s no wonder that Rothstein, who has been active in NCJW for 30 years, calls her mother “my biggest hero and best friend.” “Once my mom retired, despite her busy schedule, we have had more time than ever to enjoy each other’s company,” said Rothstein. “The first call either of us makes in the morning is to each other.” Rothstein, who is vice president of Thriftique, enjoys having her mother join her in the Warrensville Heights showroom. “I’m just following Jackie’s lead,” said Rosskamm of her daughter. “I’ve learned a lot from her. I’m fairly bashful, and I admire how easily Jackie can communicate with people. Her warmth and friendliness come through in her volunteer work.” Volunteering has become second nature to Rothstein. “I have learned from the community and our employees to be grateful for what I have and to be compassionate and understanding,” she said. She also follows the advice she has taped to her bedroom mirror: It is better to be silent and deemed a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. “Those words have come in handy on more than one occasion.” Both Rosskamm and Rothstein credit their mothers for teaching them life lessons. “My mother taught me to trust my instincts,” said Rosskamm. “In 1938, she followed her instincts and despite my father’s protests, she insisted the family leave Germany for America. That move saved our family from Hitler.”

tiffany necklace white goldRothstein said her work ethic comes from her mother and her grandmother. “My grandmother worked in the Jo-Ann Fabrics store at Severance Center until five days before she died at age 87,” she said. “And my mother has always been a very hard worker.”

cheap tiffanyEven though the women see each other during the day, Rothstein, whose husband Fred is president and CEO of University Hospitals, often spends her evenings with her mother because of her husband’s long work days. “I know I’ll always have a dinner date,” she said. When Rothstein broke her foot several months ago, she moved into her mother’s condo for six weeks. “My mom kept a close eye on me but let me out to see my husband on weekends,” Rothstein quipped. “I’m one of the luckiest girls in the world for a million reasons, and having a mother willing and able to sacrifice her time to take care of me is one of them.”

tiffany pendantsDespite the fact that Rothstein’s daughter Michele works for Camp Sunshine in Atlanta, the two remain close. “We miss out on lots of mother-daughter fun stuff, but I’m big on happy, and right now Michele is very happy planning programming for young children with cancer.” Family is very important to both Rothstein and Rosskamm, and they work hard to keep their extended families together. “As I’ve gotten older, I realize the most important thing is peace in the family, and if there is a problem, you do everything you can to make it good one way or another,” Rosskamm said. The only disagreement the two women ever have is about Rosskamm’s driving. “My daughter is a back-seat driver,” she said. “Other than that I have no complaints.” tiffany cufflinks