The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Myra Rubenstein was born in Braddock and raised in Pittsburgh. In her youth, she participated in musical programs arranged by the Rodef Shalom Sisterhood and the Tuesday Music Club. She also attended Camp Canadotha for Girls. Rubenstein attended the School of Fine Arts at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in the early 1930s.
Rubenstein married George Miller Gress (1906-1985), who was also an artist or draftsman. They divorced in 1936. She became an illustrator for furniture store and also briefly worked for the Works Progress Administration. Rubenstein and Gress remarried in 1943 and at some point relocated to Chicago, where they were co-proprietors of the Gress-Rupert Advertising Company. (Rubenstein appears to have used the surnames Rupert and Ruboni at points.)
Following her husband’s death, Rubenstein relocated to Bellevue, Washington, where she lived until her death