These families know what makes the Lehigh Valley a great place to live. They should. They’ve been here for generations.

Clichés are clichés for a reason. If you’re writing a novel and you hope to stand out for your gifts for colorful description and insightfully idiosyncratic turns of phrase, avoid them. But clichés often become clichés because they capture what many people want to say about something in just a few words. They’re shorthand for a preponderance of evidence hidden beneath the surface. Consider this one: It’s a great place to raise a family.

All of the three families we talked to for this article on families that have been in the Lehigh Valley for four or more generations offered some version of that cliché as one of their top reasons for being here. There’s a lot implied in those words. You’d be right to assume that good schools are part of it, quality of life, comfort, fun and interesting things to do, viable jobs—a wide range of positives for every member of the family, from the youngest to the oldest.

THE EPSTEIN FAMILY
“It’s a great community with no traffic, beautiful parks . . . ”
Jeff Epstein has a reason for staying in the Lehigh Valley that you don’t hear every day: “Because buildings don’t move.” But it makes sense. He’s in the commercial real estate business, at Berger-Epstein Associates, and needs to be near his properties.

Real estate has been the Epstein family business since Jeff’s grandfather David, a Russian immigrant, arrived in the Valley and ventured into it before the Great Depression—until the failing economy knocked him out. Eventually he was able to buy his way back in. Over the decades, the “whole family” has been involved, Jeff says, including his son Jonathan, a partner with him at Berger-Epstein for the past 20 years. 

Jeff is married to Roberta, who has volunteered extensively at the Jewish Federation and earned the Daniel Pomerantz Award for Campaign Excellence for her work on the Federation’s Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs. Jonathan has two boys with his wife, Iris: Harry and Charlie, ages 15 and 18. They’re the fifth generation of Epsteins in the Lehigh Valley. Both attend Parkland High School and are on the diving team. Harry is an artist and loves cars, and Charlie plays trombone in the high school marching band and is a gymnast at Parkettes.

When Iris is asked, Why do you live here? she responds, “Why not? It’s a great community with no traffic, beautiful parks . . . ” The list goes on. Iris’s resume in the Valley since arriving here in 2004 includes treasurer of the Jewish Federation, Lion of Judah member of its Women’s Philanthropy, chair of its allocations committee, vice chair of its Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs, and winner of the George Feldman Award for Young Leadership. Iris also fills various roles and board positions at her sons’ schools.

Jonathan was born and raised in the Valley, attended the Jewish Day School, and went to the Jewish Community Center for activities. He left the area for college and for work experience, but returned in 2003. He’s vice president and treasurer of the Congregation Keneseth Israel Cemetery Association (while Jeff heads the cemetery board at Congregation Sons of Israel), volunteers as chair of the nonprofit Great Allentown Fair Foundation, and serves on the Fund to Benefit Children and Youth and as an advisor of the LaunchBox program though Penn State Lehigh Valley. He and Iris were on the board of directors of Keneseth Israel, and Iris continues to be active in the Women of KI as the Oneg Fairy for over 18 years. 

Iris’s family traces to New York and Asia. Her dad, Harold Rosenberg, was born in the Bronx. During World War II, he served in the Pacific Theater with the US Navy and afterward returned to Asia. He started a plastics and toy business in Hong Kong, where he met Iris’s mom, Shaoli, visiting from her native Taiwan. They married and Shaoli helped Harold build his company, which was best known for manufacturing ping-pong ball guns, parts for Barbies, and Hot Wheels.

Iris was born in Taiwan and lived there with her adoptive grandparents before moving to Hong Kong to be with her adoptive parents (Harold and Shaoli). “Then Dad got homesick and decided to move back to New York when I was 8,” Iris says. She grew up in Long Island and has always considered herself lucky. “I was adopted by two of the most generous and wonderful people I have ever known,” she says. Her volunteering in the Valley Jewish community comes down to passing along to others the sort of good that was done for her.

THE MORRISON-FEINBERG FAMILY
“There’s a lot of options here” 
Dr. Alan z”l and Judy Morrison moved to the Lehigh Valley in 1972 with their three sons, Robert, Peter, and Michael. Alan, a hematologist/oncologist, started a practice that remained open for many years, with Judy as the office manager. He also led the hematology/oncology department at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem. He died in 2022. 

Judy and Alan’s son Robert, Robert’s wife Amy, and their daughters, Abby and Rachel, moved here in 1995, when the girls were still in preschool. What appeals to the families are the friendliness, the schools, the good living conditions. All of them developed a whole network of friends in town.

The Lehigh Valley is conveniently close to two of the largest cities in the country, complete with many of the cultural and recreational amenities they offer, not to mention to Judy’s and Alan’s roots. “We missed New York,” Judy says, “but we were able to go back and forth a lot. We go to Philadelphia. This was the ideal spot to raise children, and the best of both worlds.”

Robert had settled with his wife Amy in Chicago after he went to medical school. At first, Amy says, “my husband didn’t want to come back to Allentown.” But at her prompting, he changed his mind. 

Amy sounds a lot like Judy when describing her adopted home. “It’s a good place to raise kids, it has a Jewish community, and I made long-lasting friends,” she says. She’s on the board at Temple Beth El and has overseen the TBE and Keneseth Israel volunteers at the soup kitchen in downtown Allentown for 25 years. 

The move to Allentown also worked out for Robert, an ophthalmologist who ran his own private practice before working for the VA. He and Amy have a lot of favorite restaurants in the area. “We eat out a lot,” Judy says. “We’re very good at making reservations.” 

The family also goes to the theater, and Judy used to be on the board of the internationally famous summertime Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University. Museums are a big draw too. And those are just the start. As Judy puts it, “We support anything and everything in town.” Abby offers a favorites list peppered with places, activities, and services: “Fruit picking, wineries, good restaurants, outdoor playgrounds, excellent universities, babysitting from Hillel, Lake Nockamixon, casino, airport, great daycare.” 

Abby left home for the University of Connecticut in the 2000s. She found Ben there on JDate. They got married in 2014 and in 2016 they moved to the Valley, where she’s a licensed clinical social worker whose outreach has included working with youth groups at the JCC. Ben, a Connecticut native, fully supported the move. “There’s a lot of options here,” he says. “It remains a young and vibrant community. It’s continuously up and coming.” Ben and Abby have two kids, Madison and Brianna, ages 4 and 2—the fourth generation of Morrisons in the Valley.

The family remains very involved, volunteering in the Jewish community and beyond. These days, Judy is a Lion of Judah member of the Jewish Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy and helps with the local Meals on Wheels. “Delivering meals is very rewarding,” she says. “I do that two, three times a week.”

THE NOTIS-COHEN FAMILY
“It’s a beautiful, inclusive Jewish community and a great place to raise a family”
Cooky and Michael z”l Notis were both born in Far Rockaway, New York. “I met him in fourth grade,” she says. They married in 1959, during Mike’s senior year at Lehigh University in Bethlehem. After a stint living in Bethlehem, they moved to Allentown, in 1960, and later moved within Allentown to the house where Cooky still resides.

The Notises had four children, Beth, Mark, Jennie, and Debbie. All went to the JCC nursery school and attended the Jewish Day School through seventh grade. “We liked the day school,” Cooky says. “That was very important to us. And the JCC and synagogue offered a warm and friendly environment.”

Michael went to work at Western Electric (which became Bell Labs) and simultaneously earned a PhD in materials science at Lehigh University. The University offered him a position and he worked as a professor and educator for many years, with a specialty in metals. “He was active in research literally until the day he died” in 2023, his son Mark said.

Once the kids were grown, Cooky worked as a teacher’s aide at the JDS. She volunteered and was president of Jewish Family Service. “I think it’s phenomenal,” she says. “They have so many programs.” She returned to school and earned her bachelor’s degree at Muhlenberg College.

Mark is the only one of Mike and Cooky’s children who remained in the Lehigh Valley. Like his dad, he attended Lehigh University. He married Alice, also from the Lehigh Valley. While Alice worked as a nurse, Mark attended dental school in Philadelphia. “There was no way I was going to stay here,” he says. But after graduating dental school, he had the opportunity to take over a dental practice in Allentown. He and Alice initially lived upstairs from the office, but with two kids and another on the way, they moved to a house nearby. “It was a couple of blocks to the office and synagogue,” he says. “It was a great place to raise kids.”

Alice and Mark’s daughter, Evie Notis, one of five siblings, is the third generation to live in the Valley. Evie attended Brandeis University, where she started dating Noam Cohen, now her husband. After short stints in New York City and the Philadelphia area, Evie and Noam moved to Allentown, where Evie completed her medical residency at Lehigh Valley Health Network in family medicine. After graduating residency, she worked as a primary care physician and is currently pursuing a fellowship in palliative care and hospice medicine at LVHN. Their young children, Eden and Micah, are the fourth generation of the Notis family to live in the Valley, and Eden is the third generation to attend the JDS. Likewise, Micah is the third generation to attend daycare at the JCC. Noam is finishing up his PhD at New York University remotely and teaching Hebrew and Jewish studies at Muhlenberg College. 

Just like Mark, Evie did not think she would end up moving back to Allentown. Now she jokes about not being able to leave. “There is so much keeping us here!” she says. “It’s a beautiful, inclusive Jewish community and a great place to raise a family.” She and Noam enjoy community events and love taking their kids to the numerous family-friendly attractions in the Valley: Emmaus Farmers’ Market, various seasonal food and craft festivals, library events, museums.

Family Faves

JEFF EPSTEIN— Syb’s West End Deli. “Syb’s is a favorite of mine. I go to meet my friends. If you publicize it too much, I’ll never get a seat again.”

IRIS EPSTEIN— Allentown Rose Gardens. ‘The Rose Gardens because that’s where Jon proposed to me.”

JON EPSTEIN— Hawk Mountain. “Hiking there, the river—lots of memories.”

HARRY EPSTEIN— Home. “He’s an artist and he loves making art,” Iris Epstein says of her 18-year-old son. “It can be very hard to get him out.”

COOKY NOTIS— Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market.

JUDY MORRISON— Civic Theatre of Allentown, Act 1 Productions. “We all go to the theater.” 

BEN FEINBERG— Lake Nockamixon, Folino Estate Winery, Thai Avenue restaurant.

MADISON FEINBERG— “Red Robin!” Dorney Park, Udder Bar ice cream.