Florence Kessler

Florence Marian Kessler was the youngest child born to Abraham and Anna Feldman Kessler. She had an older sister Esther, and would never know that her oldest sister, May Wosnitzer, was given up for adoption.

Florence was born on June 12, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. At the time of her birth, her family lived at 1382 St. Johns Place in Brooklyn (see photo below) according to her father’s application for a passport in December 2019. [1] The building was built in 1914 as a 4-story 24-family house in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.[2]

Below is what the building looks like today. [3] In the 1920’s it was considered a premier neighborhood because of its tree-lined streets, parks and cultural, social and community organizations. [4] Her father, Abe, worked in the stock exchange.

When she was a young girl, she liked to play with her doll that had a trunk full of doll clothes.  She got a baby doll carriage when she was about eight. She also had a collection of large-denomination German Weimar Deutschmarks. They were in circulation from 1921 – 1923 when a wheelbarrow full of them was needed to buy a loaf of bread in Germany.  She said that her father gave them to her. 

Growing up, she was surrounded by most of her 12 first cousins. They would congregate at her grandfather’ Morris’ house for Shabbat dinners which her Aunt Ida Rosenberg cooked. When asked about her grandfather Morris in February of 2019, she said that there were so many cousins running around, that if he lost one amid the clamor he wouldn’t have known.

Abe, Anna, Florence and Esther

During the depression, her family moved to Canarsie, across the street from her grandfather Morris. However, by 1930, they had moved to 1116 Carroll Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Their new apartment was within walking distance to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens which was founded in 1910.. Also in Crown Heights was the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the world’s first children’s museum, which opened in 1899.

At around age 16, she enjoyed horseback riding in Prospect Park.  She continued to do that until she was in college. All of her friends were very athletic. Also, they used to ice skate and roller skate together, probably also at Prospect Park.

By 1940, they had moved down the street closer to the Park to an apartment building called The Carrollton at 934 Carroll Street

Her first cousin cousin, Eddie Wissner, remembered being at the Kessler home and going to both Florence’s and Esther’s Sweet 16 parties.  As the oldest cousin, and a boy, he was invited to all of the girls’ parties.  He had a good relationship with them.

Florence graduated from Erasmus High School in Brooklyn, NY.

Florence was tall with light-brown hair and eyes and very pretty and sweet. She was the only one of her girl cousins to go to college. Unlike her sister, material things did not mean that much to her.

Florence was a trained accountant and went to NYU business school.   It was at NYU that she met her future husband.  Florence and Alvin Cronson were fixed up by Esther’s roommate who was Alvin’s sister. He was attending NYU’s medical school.

After graduating, Florence went to work in her father’s accounting office. She worked there until she got married on October 13, 1945. They got married right after Alvin graduated.

Alvin Joseph Cronson was the son of Hilliard Cronson, a dentist, and Dora.  Alvin was born on February, 25, 1921.  He had one brother, Bert, and one sister named Lillian.  

The newly married Cronsons moved to San Antonio, Texas, where Alvin worked as an intern at Ft. Sam Houston military hospital.  He was based in San Antonio after WW2, because during the war, his entire medical school class was drafted into the military; he graduated after the war ended.  He had told Florence that he was going to be a pediatrician, but then he decided on psychiatry instead. Florence never understood that field. 

Their first child, a son, was born at the Ft. Houston hospital in 1947. Florence’s father, Abe Kessler, took the train down there to see his new grandson and find someone to circumcise him.  Abe was very religious.

Alvin was a captain at the time his service was over.  He was offered the chance to extend his service in the military by going to Germany.  The birth of his first son was one of the reasons why Alvin turned down a promotion to major and a posting to Germany. The baby was too young to travel abroad. and he did not want to be separated from his family.

The family returned to New York in 1948 where Alvin got further medical training in psychiatry at NYU and NY Medical College. They lived in Stuyvesant Town in New York City.  One reason why they returned to Brooklyn, was because Alvin’s dad was ill and Alvin and his family wanted to care for him.  Otherwise, the Cronsons might have moved west to CA or stayed in TX!

Florence and Alvin’s second son was born in 1952, in New York City, and their third son was born in 1956 also in New York City.

In 1956 they moved to a new house in New Rochelle, where Alvin had a medical office.  He also had an office in midtown NY. The family would vacation in Milford, Pennsylvania, where Florence’s father had a 200-acre summer place.

Florence and her sister, Esther, were close and their families got together for the major Jewish holidays, where their father, Abe, used to read the Jewish prayers.  They also got together for holidays like Thanksgiving and for birthdays.

Florence was a good cook and the family ate very well. Florence served lamb on Passover. A tradition she got from her sister-in-law.

In 1976, Alvin moved his family to Lubbock, Texas, when he took a clinical medical position at Texas Tech Medical College.  Eventually, Florence and Alvin retired to Irving, Texas.

Florence visited California with her husband and saw her cousin, Estelle Eisler who lived in Los Angeles, and her sister, Esther, who then lived in Century City.  Her youngest son got married in Irvine, CA, which was the reason for one of the trips.

Alvin Cronson died on in May of 1996 in Irving, Dallas County, Texas. Florence was now a widow.

By 2016, when her second granddaughter got married, it was too difficult for her to make the trip to Wilmette, IL, where the wedding took place.

Unfortunately, she did not remember much about her Feldman family. The only cousin she remained in contact with was Estelle Eisler. Over the years, she lost contact with the others.  She spoke regularly to her sister’s daughter, her cousin, Estelle, and her 3 sons.

She is survived by her 3 sons, 5 grandchildren, and as of 2025, 4 great-grandchildren.

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Sources

• [1] Abe E. Kessler’s Passport Application in 1919 is from
  • DetailNational Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; Roll #: 1025; Volume #: Roll 1025 – Certificates: 154626-154999, 06 Jan 1920-06 Jan 1920Edit source
  • Source information
  • TitleU.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925AuthorAncestry.comNote<i>Selected Passports</i>. National Archives, Washington, D.C.<p><br>A full list of sources can be found <a href=”##SearchUrlPrefix##/search/dbextra.aspx?dbid=1174″ target=”_blank”>here.</a></p>PublisherAncestry.com Operations, Inc.Publisher date2007Publisher locationLehi, UT, USAEdit repository
  • Repository information
  • NameAncestry.com
• [2] Description of 1382 St. John’s Place, Brooklyn
• [3] Image of 1382 St. John’s Place, Brooklyn is from the Apartments.com website
• [4] Description of Crown Heights

To learn more about Florence, read my blog “Nature Vs. Nurture“.

Recollections from her oldest son, her two oldest grand-daughters, and her cousins, Eddie Wissner, and Estelle Eisler.