Naomi Simkhovitch Rottman passed away on February 1, 2025.

Naomi Simkhovitch Rottman, 88, passed peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, February 1, 2025, following several years enduring the cruel decline brought on by dementia where, rather than living life, she was just existing.
Naomi was the wife of the late Honorable Alvin G. Rottman (1925-1997) and is survived by her daughter Patricia (Patti) Antonelli and son-in-law John Antonelli of West Haven. She was predeceased by two sisters.
Naomi was born on August 11, 1936, in Greenwich, CT to the Russian/Ukraine/American artist Simka Simkhovitch (d 1949) and Elsa Fornell Simkhovitch (d 1970). The family moved to Milford, CT in the mid-1940s and Naomi graduated from Milford High School in 1954.
Naomi and Al met when she started working at his private law practice. They married on April 15, 1956, which is when she moved to the Woodmont section of Milford where Al resided. Naomi was a 65-year resident of Woodmont until it was necessary for her to be moved to assisted living.
In the early 1960s Naomi worked for Drs. Leonard Rappaport and Nicholas Coassin at Milford Surgical Associates doing administrative duties to keep the business side of their medical practice in order and running smoothly. After a few years she changed her profession to keeping her home in order and running smoothly. One of her main responsibilities was going to the library almost every week to get and return several books at a time for Al, who was a voracious reader.
One of Naomi’s greatest personal achievements in life was quitting smoking in 1973, which she did through a program called SmokEnders. After successfully completing the program, she worked for SmokEnders for several years as a program moderator, and took tremendous pride in helping many others “kick the habit.”
Later in life Naomi discovered the joy of swimming and for years spent hours in Long Island Sound swimming back and forth from in front of her house and towards the West Haven shore. This led to another one of her greatest personal achievements: Winning the Masters’ Class in the 25th annual 1.5-mile Cross Milford Harbor Swim event on July 26, 1980.
Naomi was a proud daughter of Simka Simkovich, who was an accomplished artist in the early 1900s through his premature death in 1949, and she took immense pride in trying to preserve and promote her father’s legacy and extensive body of work.
Naomi’s greatest joy in life was peaceful solitude and the wonderful view of Long Island Sound and the coast of West Haven from her waterfront home on Beach Avenue, where she resided since 1969 and had hoped to remain for life. Naomi lost her eyesight at the beginning of 2020 and, with 24/7 home care, she was able to remain in her waterfront home in Woodmont until the fall of 2021 when she was moved into assisted living.
Besides her house in Milford, the one other place she loved was Cape Cod. When a child, summer family vacations were spent in Hyannisport. After she and Al married they vacationed every year in Provincetown, spending time with many artists and business owners who lived there year-round and became life-time friends. Naomi maintained many of these friendships after Al passed.
Naomi preferred the company of adults and could be a very gracious hostess or guest. She had a good sense of humor, loved a good laugh and perusing the aisles at Trader Joe’s, and many days her highlight was going out for dinner. She always tried to keep up on the news and preferred entertainment that was cultural or educational, though The Sopranos was one of her all-time favorite shows, right up there with Masterpiece Theatre. As much as she loved a fun time, Naomi was also very set in her ways and never afraid to speak her mind or offer her opinion.
Naomi’s daughter wants to extend very special thanks and gratitude to those who provided much-needed help and compassionate care for Naomi in her final years: Deborah McKeever, for coordinating Naomi’s life and care for the last few years she was at home; Donna Bradley, who provided help with Debbie McKeever; home aide Aisha Mustafah, who had the patience of a saint; the staff at Carriage Green of Milford; the staff in the memory care area at Charter Senior Living of Orange since May 2023, particularly the staff during the last six months (there are far too many to name individually in this space, but special thanks to nurse Cheryl Kinman who was there when Naomi arrived and always checked in on her); hospice nurse Donna McCarthy and aide Christine Steeves from Constellation Healthcare who provided the extra exceptional care and attention that was needed for an extended period of time leading up to and during the final stages to the end; and to Tina Knapp, a former aide, for her continued caring visits and gifts of homemade cookies or other treats that were Naomi’s favorites.
There will be no calling hours or services. To leave online condolences, please visit our website at www.codywhitefuneralservice.com.