The Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies mourns the loss and celebrates the life of Frances Lipton Weinstein, distinguished benefactor of the Center and lifetime member of the CJS Board of Visitors. She passed away on March 6, 2025, at the age of 101.
Fran was born in Burlington, Wisconsin to Ida Liebowitz Lipton of Milwaukee and Isaac Lipton, who had come to the U.S. from Poland in 1903. Upon settling in Burlington, they established a successful scrap iron business and went on to raise seven children.
Like her siblings, Fran attended public school in Burlington. At Burlington High School, she learned to play violin, excelled in academics, and graduated as a valedictorian in 1941. Two years later, as a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she met her future husband, Laurence Weinstein, at a Hillel mixer. In 1945, Fran received a bachelor’s degree in Social Work. Following graduation, she served for a time as a social worker for the Dane County Department of Public Welfare.
Together with Laurence, Fran became deeply involved in Madison’s Jewish community. Over the decades she served in various leadership roles with the Madison Jewish Federation, Temple Beth El, and Hadassah, among other organizations. (For more on the role that Fran and other Madison community members played in Hadassah, see “Honoring CJS Pioneers,” in the Spring 2021 issue of the CJS newsletter, p. 11.)
In 1991, the Weinsteins’ commitment to Jewish causes dovetailed with their loyalty to their alma mater when they provided an endowment that laid the foundation for the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies. Laurence, who had served as president of the UW System’s Board of Regents, explained what he and Fran were hoping to achieve through the Center’s creation:
Fran and I have had a long-standing commitment to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It is not only our alma mater but that of our children and siblings. We understand, fully, how significant a role it has played in our lives. In addition, we are committed to the spiritual as well as the physical survival of the Jewish people. We believe that our ancient heritage has a good deal to say to the world today, regarding tolerance, poverty, war and peace, and government corruption. The world’s great public institutions of learning, such as the UW-Madison, should be among the most important research, teaching, and outreach centers for Jewish studies. Helping establish the Center for Jewish Studies on the Madison campus permits us to pay back a small amount of what we have gained through our education on this campus.
The generosity of Fran and her family is reflected in the names of numerous gifts to the Center for Jewish Studies, beginning with the chaired professorship that served as the Center’s cornerstone: the Frances and Laurence Weinstein Chair in Modern European Jewish History. Other gifts include the Max and Frieda Weinstein-Bascom Professor of Jewish Studies, the Lipton Professor of Jewish Studies, the Laurence Weinstein Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, the Ida and Isaac Lipton Scholarships, and the Weinstein-Minkoff Lecture Series in Israel Studies.
Members of the Center’s Board of Visitors remember Fran for her generosity, kindness, and spirit. She was “a pre-eminent Madison foremother who helped shape Madison’s Jewish community and who contributed significantly to the growth and development of the UW’s Center for Jewish Studies,” says Judy Sidran. “She leaves a lasting legacy and will be sorely missed.” Fellow board member Richard Roberts describes Fran as “a vibrant, lovely, very bright person.” As Ben Sidran recalls, “Fran was always there when you needed her, always down to earth, always thinking of how she could leave our world a better place. May her memory be for a blessing.”
Fran is survived by her sister, Esther Lange, her children Daniel Weinstein (Joanne) and Miriam Weinstein, grandchildren Sasha Kerlow (Eric), Dov Weinstein (Razelle), Vita Murrow (Ethan), and Rhea Weinstein, as well as her many great-grandchildren. A full obituary for Fran can be found here.