Mrs. Louise Hamilton

Mrs. Louise Hamilton

July 8, 1929 – November 24, 2019

Mrs. Louise Hamilton was a mentor to me while living in Ridgewood, New Jersey. We remained close friends, despite the miles between us, when I moved to Hawaiʻi. She spent a humble lifetime in perfecting the Art of Giving in her religious community and in the greater community at large. I miss her and I loved her. Mrs. Hamilton was the one who told me directly, after our move to Hawaiʻi, to finish the book! So I did. I honored her in the Ridgewood News on July 14, 2001 and here is what I wrote.

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Hamilton

This letter is a birthday tribute to Mrs. Louise Hamilton. She just turned 81. Louise Hamilton spends her life doing service in our community. I have personally learned all about volunteering from Mrs. Hamilton. We don’t often have the opportunity to tell people about the impact they have had on our lives. This is why I have to tell you about her on the occasion of her 81st birthday. She is my ideal, she is a true giver and a wonderful human being. Please note that what is interesting about our relationship, is that I am 47 and she is 81, I am Caucasian and Jewish and belong to Temple Israel in Ridgewood (where we just finished a major renovation) and she is African American and Christian and belongs to Mt. Bethel Baptist Church in Ridgewood (they are just beginning their renovation).

We are both very active in our houses of worship, but she has shown me the way to the spirit of giving. We are one in the same, we are no different in our wanting or ability to give. She is who I would like to be at 81. I love her deeply for all she is and for all she represents.

For 43 years she has been extremely active in The Order of the Lamp. This is a scholarship organization that she has donated so much time and energy towards. It benefits youths in Ridgewood and Glen Rock (as well as members’ children in Bergen and Passaic Counties). The pride and lasting pleasure that she has derived from this program is only equaled by her devotion to it.

The Martin Luther King Celebration in Ridgewood includes a luncheon that is provided by Mrs. Hamilton’s church. She has been coordinating this luncheon for 40+ years. This celebration has been a significant part of the Ridgewood tradition, and I know Mrs. Hamilton’s good will and hard work has helped it to become a success. Mrs. Hamilton is in charge of distributing clothing every year for our Ridgewood Temple’s High Holiday clothing drive. The Temple members bring in clothing before the start of our most solemn Holiday, Yom Kippur, and Mrs. Hamilton is in charge of picking up all the clothes and distributing them to the needy. This is a Mitzvah for us as well as the greater community.

I have not even mentioned all the times she has collected bread and taken it to the needy. Or how she spends her holidays giving out food to the homeless in train stations. But what struck me in particular, one day she wasn’t feeling well, but I found her carrying the candle sticks from her church. She told me, they simply needed polishing. You see, after all her good deeds, nothing was beneath her doing, when it needed to get done. I learned so much from that one instance. The humility in the very act of giving itself, no one need to even recognize it, and yet she would go on forever in exactly the same manner.

Sandra Z. Armstrong

Originally published in Ridgewood News