Amy Lee Berkowitz

It is with great sadness that the family of Amy Lee Berkowitz announces her death. Amy passed away on January 25, 2014, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was 46 years old. Born in Orange, NJ and raised in South Orange and West Orange, NJ, she was the daughter of Bernard S. Berkowitz and the late Edith Collins Berkowitz, and the stepdaughter of the late Rita S. Berkowitz. She is survived by her father Bernard, her sister Laura Lokker and her husband Brian; her brother Philip; her stepbrothers Robert Sobel and his wife Nina, and Richard Sobel and his wife Gail; and her eight nieces and nephews: Andrew, Nicholas, Katie, Matthew, Victoria, Dean, Haley and Jesse. Amy’s stepsister, Alexa Sobel, predeceased her. An unmistakably unique and genuine person, Amy was a skilled artist who was also passionate about philosophy, people, and especially her Boston-based business Artifaktori, a vintage clothing boutique she founded and ran with imaginative vision, humor and grace. Her knowledge of fashion history and textiles and their generational influence was remarkable and Amy delighted in sharing her enthusiasm with those she encountered. Amy loved animals and nature and relished her time spent hiking, swimming, and meditating at Walden Woods in Concord, MA. Those who were fortunate to know Amy were treated to her kind and generous spirit, her quirky yet authentic point of view, and most of all her unfailing kindness and loyalty. Amy was a graduate of The Putney School, Putney, VT and Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. A memorial service will be held at Friends Meeting at Cambridge, 5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge, MA on Saturday March 1st at 2:00 pm. Donations in Amy’s memory can be made to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Attn: Contribution Services 10 Brookline Place West 6th Floor Brookline, MA 02445 or to Brigham and Women’s Hospital Development Office 116 Huntington Avenue, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02116.