Renee Lenore Abrams , 89, of Delray Beach, FL, passed away peacefully on January 25, 2021. Renee was born and raised in Manhattan , NY by Martin and Esther Green. She is survived by her loving and dedicated husband of 68 years, Balfour, who was with her when she passed, her children Peter (Jamie), David (Kathy), and Eric (Mary), her grandchildren Daniel (Sonia), Rachel (Dan), Christopher, Alexa, Nicholas and Elizabeth, and her brother Sam Green (Carol).

Renee graduated from Washington Irving High School in Manhattan and attended Brooklyn College until she started working at MetLife to help support her family. Renee met Balfour on a blind date in Manhattan and they quickly fell in love.  Balfour asked Renee to go steady on a date in beautiful Central Park. When they married, they lived in Brooklyn and Renee continued to work for MetLife while Balfour served in the Navy.

Renee is remembered as a loving wife, mother and grandmother, and a brilliant woman who focused on her family more than herself. She left her promising career at Met Life to start a family and raise her 3 boys in Queens, NY while still making time to cultivate her artistic and technology skills. She was proficient in many art mediums including painting, needlepoint, leather crafting, knitting, decoupage and photography - she even had her own dark room. Renee was also handy enough to tackle home remodeling jobs such as paneling her kitchen.

Renee was an early technophile, and was always first to have an electric calculator, home computer, digital camera and video recorder. With all her new technology,  she could teach her children how to use it rather than the other way around.

When her children were all in school, Renee started to focus on her career. Her first job, combining several of her talents, was as a black and white picture colorist.  Because her left brain was just as bright as her right brain, Renee started working as a tax preparer where her boss soon told her she was too smart to work there and convinced her to go back to college so she could qualify for a job as an IRS agent. Renee rose through the ranks and eventually became  chief of the Audit section in New York. Renee won awards for developing several computer programs including some used nationally by the IRS.

Renee and Balfour retired in the 1990s in NY and continued to enjoy camping and their grandchildren. Renee’s next “job” after retiring was to spend several months in Houston, Tx to help David and Kathy with their 2 children so Kathy could continue her career. That was the only time since Balfour returned from Naval service that they  were apart for more than a week. They moved to Delray Beach, Florida in 1998 and continued their long and happy retirement where they remained inseparable until she passed.

A private memorial service will be held on February 9, 2021 at Beth Israel Memorial Chapel in Boynton Beach, FL, followed by a cemetery service at South Florida National Cemetery. 

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