Giving comfort and hope to all

Whether she was caring for her family of four children and a husband, a dozen foster kids or mentoring health care staff, Karen L. Belsky was a source of love and hope for all who knew her.
Belsky died on Jan. 26. She was 68.
She grew up in New York City, but moved to Inwood in her late teens, said her daughter, Deborah Belsky. “She was so extraordinary,” Deborah said. “She always treated people with respect and humanity no matter what you did in life you were welcomed and treated like a person in the family.”
She married Irwin Daniel Belsky in 1970. He died in 2010.
Besides having three daughters and a son, Belsky cared for 12 foster children. “She devoted her earlier years to providing hope, guidance and love to a dozen foster children,” Deborah said. Belsky also kept in contact with all her close friends from elementary through high school.

Working in the home health care field for more than 30 years, Belsky worked for Unlimited Care, Inc. in Hicksville for more than 16 years. Her positions included regional manager and special project manager/compliance. She also applied her experience to mentor health care industry personnel.
A strong believer in hope, Belsky not only wrote a poem about it, she demonstrated her belief that circumstances will improve by not surrendering to her illness. She crocheted hats for cancer patients, soldiers and others less fortunate than her, while undergoing treatment.
“She is known for kindness, compassion, wisdom and generosity,” Deborah said.
In addition to Deborah, Belsky is survived by daughters, Lisa Mason and Danielle Bergstein, son Eric Belsky, her brother Kenneth Weissman, 10 grandchildren, four great grandchildren and many close and extended family members and friends.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests that donations be made to either Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at P.O. Box 27106, New York, NY 10087-7106 or http://mskcc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=giv_donate_now or St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
https://shop.stjude.org/GiftCatalog/donation.do?cID=14222&pID=23750.

A funeral service was conducted by Rabbi Pinchus Weinberger at Boulevard-Riverside Chapel in Hewlett on Jan. 27. Belsky was interred at Mt. Hebron Cemetary in Queens.