Leni Newman Bronstein

Funeral service on Sunday, March 23, 2025, at 9AM, at Temple Rodef Shalom, 2100 Westmoreland Street, Falls Church, VA 22043. Visitation hours (shiva) with the family will be held Sunday evening 6:30pm-8:30pm in Vienna, Virginia. Specific location will be announced at the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the TRS Refugee Fund, Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, Moms Demand Action, or World Central Kitchen. Leni Bronstein, language scholar, award-winning Spanish teacher of over 40 years, Fulbright recipient, dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother, died on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Fairfax VA. She was 74. Leni’s life began in a post-WWII co-op apartment in a working-class neighborhood of Jersey City where she attended public school. She also was a student at the Yiddish school, Arbeiter Ring Schule. An only child, Leni was cherished by her parents Sally Schoenbaum (Jersey City, NJ) and Max Newman (Brooklyn, NY). Some of Leni’s fondest memories included late afternoons after school at the Miss America Diner waiting for her mom to come home from work as her dad often worked evenings. A special treat was going with her parents into Manhattan on the PATH train to see a Broadway play or with her mom to a New York deli or dairy (i.e. no meat) restaurant. After graduating from Henry Snyder High School, Leni attended Boston University, majoring in Spanish and Education, pursuits that would cement her love of teaching, learning, and language. During the early 1970s, Boston was a hotbed of student activism where she would participate in anti-Vietnam War protests. An especially momentous decision was going on a date with Harvey Bronstein (Providence, RI) whom she married in 1973. They were introduced by a mutual friend in Boston. On their first date, they went to a free movie at the student union and shared a 35-cent Coke. She graduated with honors as a Phi Beta Kappa awardee, a distinction that helped position her for a graduate degree in linguistics at Georgetown University. In 1973, Harvey began his career as an economist, and they moved to Washington, DC, renting an apartment in Arlington, VA followed by residences in the East Falls Church and Donaldson Run neighborhoods and a condo near the Vienna Metro station. Working part-time as a Spanish teacher at Langley High School in McLean and then as an English as a Second Language teacher at Washington-Lee H.S. in Arlington, allowed Leni to pursue graduate studies at Georgetown during the 1970s. She then took on a new identity known mostly to her students – Señora Bronstein. She spent most of her career at Williamsburg Middle School in Arlington and encouraged her students to select Spanish names. She became famous for occasionally rewarding her students with Spanish lollipops from a metal canister of Chupa-Chups. High-performing students would be allowed to ring a special bell on her desk marked Facil! Leni would lead nearly two dozen student trips to Spain, enabling middle-schoolers and some of their parents to gain an appreciation of the Spanish language, culture, and heritage. Leni had an extraordinary work ethic, spending long hours in the classroom, providing extra help to students who needed additional instruction, and innumerable late nights grading papers and planning lessons. At the time of her retirement, her teaching career would span more than 40 years. Some of her most significant recognitions included Foreign Language Teacher of the Year in 2014 for Virginia, in 2015 for the South region, and in 2016 as a finalist for the national Foreign Language Teacher of the Year from the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages, where she spoke before an audience of 6,000 educators at ACTFL’s annual conference. In 2009 she participated in the joint Organization of American States/Fulbright Center Teachers Institute program mentoring English teachers in Costa Rica. In addition to being a deeply dedicated teacher, Leni was an extraordinary and caring mother to her three sons: Adam, Max, and Daniel. She was always present and a constant voice of encouragement at Overlee and Yorktown High School swim meets, football games, Arlington soccer, baseball, and basketball games, Hebrew school, and birthday parties. Even though she spent long hours in the classroom and sometimes felt like a single parent when Harvey was working overseas, Leni would somehow find time to help her sons with their homework and science projects, and take them to their endless activities. Her love of foreign languages, international travel, and appreciation of different cultures would be passed on to her sons and eventually, to her grandchildren. As a grandmother, Leni adored spending time with her bilingual grandchildren Adriana and Lucia (Mamaroneck, NY). They valued every minute with Abuela Leni whether it involved assembling a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, playing an epic game of mahjong, or shuffling stones on a mancala board. Retirement enabled Leni to travel with Harvey and friends to Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador (the Galapagos), Spain, and Chile, and even to non-Spanish speaking countries such as France and Switzerland (where Harvey performed the language duties), and to Israel. She studied Hebrew and especially Yiddish via an online group with an instructor in Buenos Aires. Becoming an adult bat mitzvah deepened her understanding of Judaism. A huge Bruce Springsteen fan, she went to many of his concerts, most recently in September 2024 at Nationals Stadium. She enjoyed singing along to Beatles songs, and tolerated Harvey’s playing in jazz bands. She also became a Washington Nationals fan and enjoyed going to games. Leni loved theater and volunteered at Signature Theater in Arlington. Finally, having time to pursue genealogy, Leni discovered she’s a second or third cousin to the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum. She was engaged in a variety of social causes including advocacy to stop gun violence, support of Democratic candidates for public office, and helping recent immigrants and refugees. In 2023, Leni was a co-presenter at the annual American Thoracic Society conference, where she educated medical professionals about the daily challenges of living with pulmonary fibrosis and the need to improve clinical trials. Leni’s life and impact were felt by many. Her memory endures as a blessing to those who knew and loved her. She will be remembered for her activism, teaching, love of family and friends, compassion for others, and being an integral part of her community.

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Leni Newman Bronstein

January 30, 1951 - March 19, 2025