But Steven's paternal grandmother, who, with her husband, became a national cause célèbre when a judge declared them too old to care for the boy, won't see it resolved.
Mildred Brasovankin died Friday at age 88. She formerly lived in Oxford Circle.
Although she and her husband, Morris, who died in 2008 at age 89, had pretty much resigned themselves that they weren't going to get custody of the boy, who is now 8 and living in a foster home, it remained an open sore.
"She was very family- oriented," said her granddaughter Beth Wharton. "She just didn't like the idea that he was living with strangers."
The Brasovankins were caring for Steven and had hoped to adopt him when, in June 2007, a worker for the city Department of Human Services whisked Steven, then 5, out of his preschool and put him in a foster home.
DHS acted on a decision by Family Court Judge Ann Butchart that the Brasovankins were too old to care for Steven.
This set off a national uproar from advocates for the aging, including the AARP. The case received nationwide news coverage and put the Brasovankins in an unwanted spotlight.
The couple took in Steven after the boy's father, also Steven, now 58, lost custody following an incident at a hospital. A court-appointed guardian ruled the father unfit to care for his son. The boy's mother, described as having drug problems, had left after Steven's birth.
The father, who lives in Port Richmond and drives a cab, has been trying to meet DHS standards to get his son back, through counseling, parenting classes and other means.
"He's been jumping through a hoop to try to show that he can be a fit father," said Steven's brother, Elliott Hirsh.
A new hearing will be held in Family Court in April, at which time the family will try once again to unite the boy with his father.
Mildred Brasovankin seemed an unlikely subject of a cause célèbre, or a symbol around which advocates for the aging could rally.
She was a fun loving grandmother, long on love for family and short on the idea of fame and controversy.
She was born in Philadelphia to Louis and Bertha Timerman, Russian immigrants. She graduated from William Penn High for Girls.
She held a number of jobs, including working in her parents' grocery, at 3rd Street and Fairmount Avenue, and as a teller at the Merion Bank and at Frankford Trust, where she worked for 25 years and made many lasting friendships.
Mildred and Morris also ran a delicatessen for a time in Cherry Hill called Deli Land.
Shortly after graduating from high school, she met and married Bernard Hirsh. The marriage ended in divorce. She married Morris Brasovankin, a welder at the Naval Shipyard, in 1951.
Mildred's granddaughter Beth described her as a "wonderful woman, really fun to be around. She was very hip for being 88 years old."
Once, Beth visited her grandmother unexpectedly and found her dancing by herself to the Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive."
She was a fan of all kinds of music and kept her radio tuned to music stations all day. She dug Lawrence Welk and Frank Sinatra. And, oh, yes, the Bee Gees, who provided the thumping music for "Saturday Night Fever."
Mildred enjoyed being with family and would talk for hours on the phone to her cousin Ida Katz and went to Gallo's on Roosevelt Boulevard with her baby brother, Jules Timmerman, for lunch. He died three months after her husband.
She was an excellent cook, specializing in matzo-ball and top-rib soup, beef brisket, and spaghetti and meatballs.
Beth said that she hated eggs, but that she enjoyed her grandmother's cheese omelets.
"I didn't like eggs, but I ate her eggs," Beth said.
Mildred always liked to keep herself neat and in style. Her favorite color was red, and Beth used to bring her red roses.
"She she was so sharp and funny," Beth said. "She liked to keep her mind sharp by doing puzzles. She was a whiz at crossword puzzles and was good at math.
"She was very talkative," Beth said. "She didn't hold back. If she had something to say, she would say it."
Although Mildred did not go to synagogue, she liked to study up on Judaism, and would tell Beth, "It's a privilege to be Jewish."
"There was no one like her," Beth said. "Everybody agreed to that."
Mildred also is survived by another son, Allen Hirsh, from her first marriage, and by Steven and Janet Wilson from her second marriage. She also had four grandchildren.
Services: Were Sunday. Burial was in Montefiore Cemetery, Rockledge.
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