Lucille Spring papers, 1912-2010

Lucille (Lucy) Spring Almeleh Spring was born in the East Cherry Street neighborhood of Seattle on April 17, 1933. Her parents, Pinhas (Pinky) Almeleh and Victoria (Vicky) Franco Almeleh, immigrated to Seattle from the Isle of Rhodes. She attended Leschi Elementary School, Washington Junior High, Garfield High School, and the University of Washington in Seattle. She was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority, where she served as an adviser for many years.

Spring was an active member of the Temple De Hirsch. She joined the Councilettes youth group in the 1940s and became involved with the junior choir as a teenager. She worked closely with music director Samuel Goldfarb, who asked her to join the music teaching staff in 1948. She went on to become the Temple’s Music Coordinator. Spring wrote numerous plays, musicals and cantatas for the temple.

Spring was married to Rudy Abram Spring in 1955. Their blended family included Rudy’s two daughters from a previous marriage, Sally and Peggy. The Springs had two sons, Perry and Harley.

In 1977, Spring was appointed Cultural Arts Director for the Jewish Community Center. In 1983, she accepted a position as Volunteer Director at the Kline Galland Home. She worked to improve the quality of resident life until her retirement in 2003. In 2005 she was awarded the Power of One award by the Women’s Endowment Foundation for her work with Kline Galland. She arranged for the creation of the Lucy and Rudy Spring Endowment Fund for the Enhancement of Jewish Life at Kline Galland, which provides money for Jewish programming at the home.

Spring was active in the Seattle Sephardic community. She celebrated her 80th birthday in 2013 with a special concert at Kline Galland Home as well as a celebration at Temple B’Nai Torah in Bellevue, WA. She died in December 2013.