beloved wife of Pearson Press; mother of daughter Karan (Paul) Tanenbaum and Rochell (David) Weisfogel; grandmother of Mindy (Matt) Cooper, Deena Tanenbaum, Joy Tanenbaum, Rebecca (Natan) Fink, Miriam (Dovie) Becker, Ari (Dvora) Weisfogel and Leah Weisfogel and great-grandchildren, Yitzy, Eli and Tzviki.

Thea and Pearson were among CTA’s founders and earliest supporters. They sent their daughters here, and remained constant champions of the school, personally raising funds to meet successive budgets.

They were fixtures at CTA events for more than 40 years, serving on every conceivable committee. Thea helped plan the first CTA Scholarship Dinner in 1961 and continued to be involved year after year, especially when it came to selling ads for the dinner journal — a task she managed until 2004. “We made a promise to Hashem,” she told the journal authors for the 43rd Annual Scholarship Dinner (at which she and Pearson were the honorees.) “We said we would do whatever we could for the school as long as we could.” She added: “A strong Jewish education is the most important thing. Columbus Torah Academy must remain true to the values of its founders.”

Mrs. Press immigrated to the United States in the 1940s from Germany. She attended Brooklyn College. She moved with her husband to Columbus, where he attended college and opened a pharmacy. Thea assumed many leadership roles in the Columbus Jewish Community, including as a co-president of the Ahavas Sholom Sisterhood and president of the Columbus Mikvah.

May her memory be for a blessing.