Ziona Tuchler, a long-time resident of Silver Spring MD, passed away peacefully on April 3 after a year-long battle with cancer. She was 95.

Ziona, known as ‘Mrs. Tuchler’ to her piano students, ‘Grandma’ to her grand-kids, and simply ‘Z’ to pretty much everyone else, had a life full of adventure, activity and accomplishment, and influenced many, many lives. She was almost impossibly energetic and left a legacy of what someone can do when they’re committed to it.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1931 to Ukrainian immigrants in then-Palestine (now Israel) as a child she attended Conservatory and studied classical piano ‘in the Russian tradition’. While in her teens, she served as an army instructor in what would later become the IDF. She was fond of reminding her kids that she outranked her future husband, Mike.

Immigrating to the US in 1953, she and Mike settled in the Washington DC area and she embarked on a career as a piano teacher, while raising a family that ultimately included five children. As a mother, she was highly committed to her kids, driving to innumerable dance lessons and 5am swim practices and officiating at meets, and of course, making many many thousands of lunches. She did have some areas that were lower priority: as a gourmet cook, she was an excellent piano teacher.

Her piano teaching career spanned over 70 years, during which time she taught over 500 students, often spanning multiple generations within the same family, and conducting over 75,000 lessons to students both young and old, in addition to staging hundreds of recitals. Many of her students went on to continuing musical education or professional music careers. Considering she was the first in the family to do online bill paying, it was no surprise that during Covid, at age 90, she figured out how to conduct lessons via Zoom.

As her family got older, she added another career, being the official travel agent for Nation’s Capital Swim Club, arranging numerous trips for dozens of elite swimmers (including Olympians) to destinations in the US and beyond. This travel agent role expanded to being a general travel agent and led to her catching the travel bug, which took her to destinations all over the world, and resulted in many lifelong friendships. We got used to hearing things like “do you remember so-and-so, who swam against you 20 years ago? – well, I ran into him in Peru”.

She used her travel agent skills over the last 30 years to organize every-other-year family trips, eventually exceeding 30 people. These trips will be an enduring part of her legacy, as her children, their spouses, and numerous cousins, despite being scattered around the country, are still close.

In her spare time, Ziona kept her piano skills active by providing background music at places like the Watergate lobby, and developed a repertoire specifically designed for retirement communities, assisted living centers, and cultural centers. Her performances often featured live piano with thematic narration, including Jewish cultural or historical topics, or general themes such as Christmas music. She performed more than 1,000 such shows.

Mom transitioned from having no interest in professional sports to being an ardent fan of the Washington Redskins (now Commanders). She faithfully watched all the games on TV, and she knew the game, the players, and definitely had opinions about ownership!

In her final decades, starting in her early 70s, Ziona discovered her true love: ballroom dancing, specifically Latin Dance. She was a longtime student at Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Silver Spring, and participated in dance competitions around the US and internationally, leading to a level of admiration for her mastery of the various styles (which earned her numerous awards), but also for her energy, as it was not uncommon for her to perform well over 100 dances at a competition. When asked once how she could possibly do 105 dances over 3 days, she deadpanned: “it’s really not that big of a deal - - just 35 each day”. She was a fixture and beloved member at Arthur Murray, and considered the staff and fellow students her second family.

Ziona lived in the house we grew up in, by herself for the last 30 years, and learned to be self-sufficient. However, as someone who had never before been sick, she did not know what recovery meant. So after her emergency surgery in December 2024, she issued a series of what we came to call Executive Orders. While still in the ICU, she declared “I will not go to a rehab center”. In January 2025, when she couldn’t lift a glass to her lips, “I will be living in my house and teaching piano by February”. Did it. In February: “I will be driving by myself by March”. Done. Then: “I will be dancing by the end of the year”. Done – most recently 179 dances at a Holiday Danceathon in December 2025.

Her ultimate wish was to travel with the family in mid-March to the gathering that she had spent 2 years organizing and led to her final Executive Order: “I will celebrate my birthday in Cancun so I can say goodbye to everyone”. She was much weakened, but with the help of a wheelchair was able to make the trip, appearing at meals and smiling during her 95th birthday party, which was in the middle of the week. She clearly used all her available energy for this trip, as her health quickly declined on her return and she passed just 2 weeks later.

Ziona was one-of-a-kind. She had strong opinions which belied her nuanced understanding of people and the world around her. She was fiercely independent but able to ask for help when she needed it. She was not an overtly emotional person but never missed a single birthday, anniversary or other event. As she said more than once when asked about her unusual energy level: “I have to keep moving - - if I stop, it’s over”. She held true to that philosophy her entire life, resulting in not only a fulfilling life for her, but being a role model for everyone else. A full life, well lived. Miss you already, Mom!

She was preceded in death by her husband Michael, and is survived by children Edna (Daniel), Dan (Suzanne), David (Ellen), Ed (Heather), and Jim (Amy), and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Services will be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, 12:30pm, at Tikvat Israel Congregation in Rockville, MD. Interment to follow at Judean Memorial Gardens in Olney, MD. Shiva will be held following burial at the home of Daniel and Edna Breit.

Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.