Obituary for Rebecca Elizabeth Sender
Rebecca Elizabeth Sender (née Lubove) 1964 - 2022
With great sadness we announce the untimely passing of our beloved mother, sister, aunt, daughter, and loyal friend Rebecca Elizabeth Sender (née Lubove), following a courageous battle with cancer. She died peacefully surrounded by family and friends on Saturday, December 10, 2022. Though Rebecca’s time with us was short, she packed a lot of living, love and generosity into her life, and was especially proud of her children Jessica Rory Sender and Matthew Daniel Sender. After her children, her greatest passions were travel, skiing, art, cats, and her lake house, where family and friends -- and friends of friends and family -- were always welcome.
“Becky” was born on October 9th, 1964, in Pittsburgh, PA, where her father Roy Lubove was a professor, historian and prolific author at the University of Pittsburgh, her mother Carole Klein (née Gollance) was a renowned fiber artist, and her adopted father Stanley Klein is a photographer. Inheriting her mother’s appreciation of art, Becky studied for a career in art and museum administration, earning her undergraduate degree in 1985 from Wesleyan University (where she played goalie on the women’s hockey team), followed by an M.B.A from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh in 1992, and an M.A. in art history and archaeology from Columbia University in 1999.
Becky had a rich and rewarding career in arts administration. She worked for several prominent organizations, including the American Federation of Arts in New York where she served as chief development officer, WNET-TV/Thirteen Public Television in New York, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Carnegie Institute and Carnegie Library, and the Brooklyn Museum. In 2001 she was appointed as associate director of the Princeton University Art Museum, eventually becoming acting director from January 2008 to June 2010. She was appointed deputy director for finance and administration for The Yale Center for British Art in 2011, where she managed the operating budget for the Center for British Art, and oversaw the institution’s security, facilities and operations, human resources, information technology, and museum shop. She also managed the institution’s emergency plan and worked with the center’s partner institution, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London.
She later became a shipping and logistics entrepreneur, founding the company Sender Express LLC which survives her.
Becky loved travel, scuba diving and skiing, often combining her passions in adventurous places, including Zermatt, Switzerland; Chamonix, France; Whistler Blackcomb in Canada; and, as recently as this past August, the Cerro Catedral ski resort near Bariloche, Argentina. Off the mountain, closer to sea level, she hiked the Appalachian Trail, visited the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, Mexico, and, just a few months ago, Alaska and London.
Showing resilience and courage in the face of her debilitating disease, Becky always maintained a positive attitude and sense of adventure until she could no longer endure the travel. But before that, she attended daughter Jessica’s graduation from Tulane University in New Orleans last May, and saw son Matthew’s ascension as a junior this year at the University of Pennsylvania.
In addition to her children whose accomplishments brought her endless pride, she is survived by her brother Seth Lubove and his wife Donna Sanford in Los Angeles, along with their children she loved and spoiled as if they were her own, Jesse Sanford Lubove of Cocoa Beach, FL, and Emma Anne Lubove of Charlotte, NC; and adopted father Stanley Klein in Pittsburgh, stepbrother Scott Klein, and stepsister Mindy Klein. Her dear friends Bob Schneck and Liz Boyce were a constant by her bedside, along with Lorretta and Gina Brown, the master cookie artist who became her business partner. Not to be forgotten are her loyal ragdoll cats Jackson and Charlie, and their many furry predecessors.
She was predeceased by her mother Carole and father Roy.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for memorial donations to be made to the Bucks County SPCA to support animals in shelter, at P.O. Box 277, Lahaska, PA 18731 or https://buckscountyspca.org/donate/
Or to the National Sports Center for the Disabled at 1801 Mile High Stadium Circle, Suite 1500, Denver, CO 80204 or https://nscd.org/honorary-and-memorial-gifts/
Send condolences to www.varcoethomasfuneralhome.com
With great sadness we announce the untimely passing of our beloved mother, sister, aunt, daughter, and loyal friend Rebecca Elizabeth Sender (née Lubove), following a courageous battle with cancer. She died peacefully surrounded by family and friends on Saturday, December 10, 2022. Though Rebecca’s time with us was short, she packed a lot of living, love and generosity into her life, and was especially proud of her children Jessica Rory Sender and Matthew Daniel Sender. After her children, her greatest passions were travel, skiing, art, cats, and her lake house, where family and friends -- and friends of friends and family -- were always welcome.
“Becky” was born on October 9th, 1964, in Pittsburgh, PA, where her father Roy Lubove was a professor, historian and prolific author at the University of Pittsburgh, her mother Carole Klein (née Gollance) was a renowned fiber artist, and her adopted father Stanley Klein is a photographer. Inheriting her mother’s appreciation of art, Becky studied for a career in art and museum administration, earning her undergraduate degree in 1985 from Wesleyan University (where she played goalie on the women’s hockey team), followed by an M.B.A from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh in 1992, and an M.A. in art history and archaeology from Columbia University in 1999.
Becky had a rich and rewarding career in arts administration. She worked for several prominent organizations, including the American Federation of Arts in New York where she served as chief development officer, WNET-TV/Thirteen Public Television in New York, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Carnegie Institute and Carnegie Library, and the Brooklyn Museum. In 2001 she was appointed as associate director of the Princeton University Art Museum, eventually becoming acting director from January 2008 to June 2010. She was appointed deputy director for finance and administration for The Yale Center for British Art in 2011, where she managed the operating budget for the Center for British Art, and oversaw the institution’s security, facilities and operations, human resources, information technology, and museum shop. She also managed the institution’s emergency plan and worked with the center’s partner institution, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London.
She later became a shipping and logistics entrepreneur, founding the company Sender Express LLC which survives her.
Becky loved travel, scuba diving and skiing, often combining her passions in adventurous places, including Zermatt, Switzerland; Chamonix, France; Whistler Blackcomb in Canada; and, as recently as this past August, the Cerro Catedral ski resort near Bariloche, Argentina. Off the mountain, closer to sea level, she hiked the Appalachian Trail, visited the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, Mexico, and, just a few months ago, Alaska and London.
Showing resilience and courage in the face of her debilitating disease, Becky always maintained a positive attitude and sense of adventure until she could no longer endure the travel. But before that, she attended daughter Jessica’s graduation from Tulane University in New Orleans last May, and saw son Matthew’s ascension as a junior this year at the University of Pennsylvania.
In addition to her children whose accomplishments brought her endless pride, she is survived by her brother Seth Lubove and his wife Donna Sanford in Los Angeles, along with their children she loved and spoiled as if they were her own, Jesse Sanford Lubove of Cocoa Beach, FL, and Emma Anne Lubove of Charlotte, NC; and adopted father Stanley Klein in Pittsburgh, stepbrother Scott Klein, and stepsister Mindy Klein. Her dear friends Bob Schneck and Liz Boyce were a constant by her bedside, along with Lorretta and Gina Brown, the master cookie artist who became her business partner. Not to be forgotten are her loyal ragdoll cats Jackson and Charlie, and their many furry predecessors.
She was predeceased by her mother Carole and father Roy.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for memorial donations to be made to the Bucks County SPCA to support animals in shelter, at P.O. Box 277, Lahaska, PA 18731 or https://buckscountyspca.org/donate/
Or to the National Sports Center for the Disabled at 1801 Mile High Stadium Circle, Suite 1500, Denver, CO 80204 or https://nscd.org/honorary-and-memorial-gifts/
Send condolences to www.varcoethomasfuneralhome.com