A few weeks before she died, Rosa Anidjar had been out dancing with friends and wound up in a pizzeria at 3 a.m. “I think that story sums it up,” said her daughter, Karine. “She was 82 but acted like she was 22. She had a young spirit.”

Originally from Morocco, Rosa moved to New York with her husband, Benjamin, and 3 children in 1967. She taught French at Lycée Français de New York and the Lincoln Square Academy, where many of her students were child actors.

Outside of work, her life was focused on her community in Forest Hills, Queens. Karine said Anindjar volunteered at her local temple and gave herself to others. Her greatest love became her grandchildren, and she eventually retired from teaching to help care for them.

The only time Karine remembers Rosa slowing down was when Benjamin died in 2004. They had been married for 49 years. “It really hit her,” Karine said. “But then she decided not to be unhappy anymore. Weddings, birthdays, bar mitzvah’s, you name it, she was there.”