Lois Lee Kretzer Solomon
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Lois Lee Kretzer Solomon of Brookline, MA, passed away peacefully on September 11, 2025. Born in 1943 in New York City to the late Syde (Sarah) and Sol Kretzer, Lois spent her early years in the city before her family moved south to Mobile, Alabama, when she was 12. She later said it was “like moving to Mars.”
She began college at the University of Alabama and graduated with a BS in Education from University of Illinois. Shortly after graduating from Illinois, Lois reunited with an old boyfriend from Camp Blue Star summer camp, Harold Solomon of Savannah, Georgia, who was finishing medical school at the University of Georgia. They were married in Augusta, on the weekend of the Masters golf tournament, in 1965. They settled in Boston and despite later divorcing, Lois made Greater Boston her home for 56 years.
Lois’s impressive career in Human Resources and Training & Development spanned decades and included such business powerhouses as Polaroid, Wang Laboratories, and Tyco International. She was also dedicated to lifelong learning, earning a master’s in education degree from Harvard in 1980 and an executive MBA from Babson College in 1985. Her first love, however, was for art and culture, and that led to her favorite and final role of her career, as the Head of Lectures and Courses at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
What made Lois special was her enduring beauty, endless curiosity and energy, sense of adventure, and her propensity to have fun. She traveled the world and made art and music central in her life, inspiring her children and grandchildren to do the same. She was a voracious reader and loved going to the movies with friends. Her travels took her to all corners of the globe, including her final international trip to see the famed Vermeer exhibit in Amsterdam in 2023.
Lois’s life was indelibly enriched by the hundreds of friends she made, notably her 40+-year-old Chavurah and her book club of 36 years. She had a gift for bringing people together, introducing many couples to each other and forming affinity groups – all while making countless lifelong friends along the way. Many of Lois’s friends and family recall having long conversations with her and benefiting from her life-altering advice.
She was a remarkable lady of beauty, charm, grace, and intelligence. All of us who knew and loved her were blessed and positively impacted by her presence.
Lois is survived by her children, Lara Cohen of Wellesley and her husband Craig Cohen; and Jeremy Solomon of Medfield and his wife Michelle Solomon; and her six grandchildren Dara Cohen of Somerville, Morgan Cohen of Quincy, Sadie Cohen of Wellesley; Maxwell Solomon, JJ Solomon, and Mason Solomon of Medfield; and her sister Barbara “Babs” Feibelman and brother-in-law Jef Feibelman of Memphis, TN and their children. She is also survived by countless friends, many of whom were like family.
Memorial service will be held at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA on Friday, September 19, 2025 at 10:00 am with shiva at temple immediately following until 12:45pm. Her friends and family knew her many passions; in lieu of flowers please make a donation in her honor to the charity of your choice.