Esfir "Fira" Epshteyn Obituary (1934 - 2021)

Esfir Epshteyn "Fira" With great sadness we announce the death of Esfir Epshteyn "Fira", who passed away on September 22nd, 2021 at 10:35am peacefully, surrounded by family in Minneapolis, MN. Fira was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was born in Minsk, Belarus on September 23rd, 1934. Fira had a difficult upbringing that she turned into a beautiful life. As a Jewish woman, she survived WW2 by escaping Minsk at the age of six with her family in which she lost nearly everything. When she returned to Minsk years later, she studied to become a dentist which was her profession for many years. In 1954, she met her husband, Ilya, and shared a loving, beautiful marriage with him for 66 years. In 1992, they decided to leave their longstanding home of Minsk, and moved to the United States with their entire family, eventually settling in Minneapolis. Ilya and Esfir loved to travel the world, and together they visited nearly 80 countries. They share three children: Larisa, Rita, and Igor, six grandchildren: Vadim, Dmitry, Nina, Robert, Michelle, and Natalie, and six great-grandchildren: Levy, Sasha, Sophie, Mila, Isabelle, and Olivia. Having a close-knit family continues to be the legacy that Fira has left, and she will be greatly missed by each of us. A visitation will be held on Friday, September 24th from 1-2pm at Hodroff-Epstein Memorial Chapel in Minneapolis, followed by a funeral service at 2:30pm at Adath-Yeshurun Cemetery.