Alice Kaikow Polakoff Beckholt

Alice Kaikow Polakoff Beckholt was born in New York City on August 7, 1941 and passed away in the Medical City Las Colinas ICU, on March 9, 2020 surrounded by her children and husband. She lived in New York City until she was 14, at which time she moved with her family to Granite Springs, New York, in northern Westchester County. She graduated at the age of 16 from Somers High School. She was the daughter of educators. She was pre-deceased by her mother, Mary Katz Kaikow, who was a middle school teacher and her father Julius Kaikow, who was a Professor of Geography at the City University of New York. Her older sister, Susan Kaikow Schulman, who also pre-deceased her, was a professor at the Rockland County Community College. Alice chose a different career path, choosing to go into nursing, a profession for which her temperament and skills were eminently suited. She graduated from Syracuse University with a BA in psychology, and later earned a BSN degree in nursing from the University of Texas at Arlington, as well as an MS degree in women's health from Texas Women's University. The culmination of her career was becoming a CNS (Clinical Nurse Specialist) while working at the Columbus Health Department in Columbus, Ohio, where she was employed for 23 years in the STD clinic, a position from which she retired in February, 2017. She touched many lives throughout her nursing career and in her personal life. She never met a stranger and was beloved by all who knew her. She is survived by her three children, Katherine Polakoff of Dallas, Texas and her sons Michael Polakoff of Irving, Texas and Matthew (Cathy) Polakoff of Coppell, Texas. She is also survived by her grandson, Alexander Polakoff, of Coppell, Texas, who was the joy of her life. She is also survived by her hus-band, Kenneth Beckholt, who was privileged to share her life, from the mo-ment they met, at a performance of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, in Dallas, in 1989. They married on February 3, 1990 in Irving, Texas and moved that Spring to Columbus, Ohio, where they resided at the time of her death. She is also survived by her sister's children, nephew, Stuart (Susan Waters) Schulman of South Orange, New Jersey and her niece, Wendy Schulman (Kieran) Spelman of New City, New York. Alice loved to read, attend classical music concerts, and travel with Ken to many places in the US and overseas, including numerous trips to Europe, as well as visiting Israel for the 50th anniversary of its founding and visiting her daughter Katherine in Okinawa. Their last overseas trip was to Europe, in 2017 and took them to Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. In Lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Alice's memory to: American Cancer Society www.cancer.org or Big Cat Rescue at www.bigcatrescue.org

Alice Kaikow Polakoff Beckholt

August 7, 1941 - March 9, 2020