Irma Schiffman Irma Schiffman, daughter of Isaac Schiffman and Elizabeth (Bettie) Herstein, was born October 3, 1889, in Huntsville, Alabama, and died there April 17, 1956. She was the sister of Robert Schiffman (1888-1936), and Annie Schiffman (1886-1959) who married Lawrence Goldsmith. Irma was educated in Huntsville and later attended Ward Belmont (Peabody) College in Nashville, Tenn. In 1908, when she was 19 years old, she met Isadore G. Beecher, resident of New York City, who traveled to Huntsville approximately two times per year on business. Irma was smitten with Mr. Becher, a man approximately 35 years her senior. She corresponded with Mr. Becher, and, on a visit to friends in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1910, they arranged to meet. The two were married during that visit without Irma’s consulting her parents. A telegram from Irma to her parents said, "please forgive and congratulate me." She then took up residence with her husband in New York City. The marriage began to deteriorate after a year and in 1916, Irma returned to Huntsville, AL, and filed a petition for divorce. The divorce was granted April 22, 1916. After the divorce Irma and her widowed mother moved to New York City where they lived together until her mother died in 1932. Her father Isaac had passed away shortly after her marriage in1910. Irma was independently wealthy due to her inheritance from her parents and a modest inheritance from her great Aunt Mrs. Solomon (Bertha) Schiffman who had no children and left some funds to Irma and her siblings. Until his death in 1936 Irma's brother Robert Schiffman managed her financial affairs as trustee. After Robert's death her brother- in- law, Lawrence Goldsmith became trustee of her affairs and managed her investments and paid her expenses until her death in 1956. During 1937 following surgery for a hysterectomy Irma became depressed. She was 48 years old. During 1937 she entered John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore Maryland for treatment. In 1941 she was transferred to The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital, a division of The John Hopkins Medical Facilities, in Baltimore, where she remained, from 1941-1952. During 1952 Irma regained her emotional health and was able to move into an apartment in Baltimore and live independently. She continued to experience good health for two years. During this time, she frequently visited her sister and brother-in-law in Huntsville. During 1954, she suffered a massive heart attack. The depression returned. Her sister and brother-in-law, Annie and Lawrence Goldsmith, moved her to Huntsville to live in the Russel Erskine Hotel where they resided. Irma required a companion/attendant who remained with her round-the-clock.

She died April 17, 1956, from colon cancer. According to her Will made in 1953, other than her jewelry which she left to various family members, Irma bequeathed her estate to her brother-in-law Lawrence Goldsmith, who had taken care of her since 1936.

Irma was buried in Huntsville in Maple Hill Cemetery. Her obituary notes that she was born in Huntsville and moved when she was 18 years old and that she had lived in New York and Baltimore. Her funeral took place at the family home at the corner of Gates and Green Streets where my parents were living. Dr. Abraham Feinstein from the Mizpah Congregation of Chattanooga officiated at her funeral.