Greenspun was devoted to her family, Jewish causes

Thursday, April 20, 2006 | 7:41 a.m.

During their six-year engagement, Belle Greenspun at times would sit on the shoulders of fiance, David, as he ran up Brooklyn subway station stairways.

The young couple garnered stares and even a few smiles from jaded New Yorkers who thought they had seen everything. Theirs was a love affair that blossomed as teenagers, matured in their marriage in 1939 and continued for 61 years until his death in 2000.

Belle's devotion to their three children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren was her lasting legacy, daughter Lynn Silva of Las Vegas said, noting that her mom's family "was her whole life."

Belle Greenspun, a longtime supporter of local Jewish causes and the sister-in-law of late Sun Editor and Publisher Hank Greenspun, died Tuesday at Nathan Adelson Hospice. She was 89.

The cause, her family said, was cancer that was diagnosed nine months ago.

Brian Greenspun, the Sun's editor and president, said his aunt lived a "long, warm wonderful life."

"I remember spending almost as much time at her house as I did mine," he said. "My aunt always had my favorite cookies and a heartwarming smile to greet me.

"Her marriage to my father's younger brother, Dave, was always the model we looked to as the perfect relationship. When he died, we thought Aunt Belle would follow shortly thereafter. But, she found so much happiness in watching her grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow that she taught us another valuable lesson - that life can and does go on."

Longtime Sun columnist Muriel Stevens wrote in her April 1, 1997, column that Belle was a "woman whose loving nature embraces all who meet her."

"Belle's relationship with her grandchildren, even the ones who didn't grow up in Las Vegas, is a close one," Stevens wrote. "When the little ones would visit at the same time ... the spats over who would get to sit in Nana's lap would be spirited. Somehow she managed to accommodate them all."

Born Belle Berman on March 29, 1917, in Brooklyn, N.Y., her hair naturally turned white by the time she was a teenager, her daughter Lynn said.

Belle graduated from New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn and attended business school.

She worked as a bookkeeper for a chain of New York movie theaters before coming to Las Vegas with her family in 1953, where David Greenspun was a founder of KLAS-TV Channel 8 and a longtime Sun vice president.

For several years, Belle worked as a bookkeeper for her sister-in-law, Sun Publisher Barbara Greenspun, when Barbara owned the pro shop at the old Paradise Valley Country Club.

Belle was a life member of Hadassah and supported the Jewish War Veterans.

In addition to her daughter Lynn, she is survived by a son, Dr. Richard Greenspun of Santa Monica, Calif.; another daughter, Karen Mainwaring of Boulder, Colo.; eight grandchildren, Jonathan Adler, Erin Greenspun, Julie Greenspun, Kara Greenspun, Stefani Bremers, Alana Bremers, Andrea Ayres and Sam Bremers; and two great-grandchildren, Jason Ayres and Marc Ayres.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 53 years will be 3 p.m. Friday at King David Memorial Chapel, 2697 E. Eldorado Lane near Warm Springs Road and Eastern Avenue.

Graveside services will follow at Palm Mortuary Eastern.

The family says that donations can be made in Belle Greenspun's memory to Nathan Adelson Hospice.