Bess Malin Laderman was born April 2, 1911 in a small village near Kiev, Ukraine. Bess Malin moved to Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 12 and attended public schools and college in Kansas City. She married Rabbi Manuel Laderman in 1933 and the couple moved to Denver, where Rabbi Laderman became the first rabbi of the Hebrew Educational Alliance in 1932. Bess and Manual Laderman had a son Rabbi Paul Laderman and a daughter Mierle Laderman Ukeles.

Bess Laderman served in many organizations and was active in the Hebrew Educational Alliance. She was program chair of the Hebrew Educational Alliance Sisterhood for many years and for 60 years, she was a leading force in the Denver Symphony Orchestra. She was elected president of the Denver Symphony Guild in 1964 and served on many committees of the orchestra, including the Family Concert Committee from 1951-1959. Bess Laderman chaired the Denver-Karmiel (Israel) Sister-Committee from its founding in 1977 until 1986. After Rabbi Laderman’s death in 1989, she moved to Israel to join her children and grandchildren. Bess Laderman died in Jerusalem, Israel on January 6, 1998.