Director nurtured reading program

Deena Kaufman, 84, retired executive director of Read For Literacy Inc. who nurtured the volunteer adult reading program into the largest of its kind in the country, died Monday in Flower Hospital.

Mrs. Kaufman of Sylvania Township died of complications from diabetes, her family said.

A former Toledo Public Schools teacher, she took over executive director duties of Read For Literacy, which helps area residents who cannot read or have poor reading skills, in August, 1989. The 3-year-old program had about 300 volunteer tutors at the time.

She was instrumental in expanding programs, obtaining grants, and forming partnerships and sponsorships -- including for The Blade's annual Corporate Spelling Bee -- to raise funds for recruiting more volunteers. The organization with headquarters at the main branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library had nearly 1,700 adults enrolled in one-on-one learning programs in 2006 when she retired.

"She was a fine woman who cared about adult literacy. … She worked there for almost all of the 12 years I was president of the board. In that time the organization went from a budget of about $30,000 a year to one in the range of $200,000 a year," said William Block, Jr., a former president of the board of trustees.

She became skilled in grant writing and applied for money that was available from foundations and corporations. In 1998, Read For Literacy was among eight programs in the country to receive a $40,000 grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund in 1998.

"There were other programs in the country that had bigger budgets but almost none of them had more students," said Mr. Block, a member of the executive committee of the board for Block Communications Inc., parent company of The Blade.

Diana Bush, director of operations at Read For Literacy who worked with Mrs. Kaufman for nearly 16 years, said: "She was very determined. She was always interested in trying new ways."

Mrs. Kaufman's son, Steve, said she became so good in writing grants that she was asked to prepare grants for other literacy organizations. She also served on the advisory boards for literacy programs in Ohio.

Born Deena Bergher, she grew up in north Toledo and graduated in 1944 from Woodward High School. She graduated in 1948 from the University of Toledo with a degree in liberal arts, majoring in Spanish, French, and German.

She married E. Mitchell Kaufman on Aug. 22, 1948. Mr. Kaufman said his mother and father became acquainted at UT. E. Mitchell Kaufman died Aug, 3, 1989, the same day that Mr. Block offered the executive director position to Mrs. Kaufman, he said.

After college, Mrs. Kaufman taught kindergarten at Sherman Elementary. After raising her family, she became a substitute foreign-language teacher in the district's high schools.

A devout conservative Jew, Mrs. Kaufman was active in organizations at her synagogue, Congregation B'nai Israel. She was national vice president in 1982 of the Women's League for Conservative Judaism. She was a past president of the B'nai Israel Sisterhood.

Surviving are her daughter, Lisa Axonovitz; son, Steve Kaufman, and four grandchildren.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Wick-Wisniewski Funeral Home, 2426 N. Reynolds Rd. Family and friends will be received from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at the home of Lisa and Bob Axonovitz.

The family requests tributes to Congregation B'nai Israel or to the charity of the donor's choice.

--Mark Reiter