In 1950, the two married. As a wedding gift, Earl's father gave the couple a grand piano so Nina could pass along her love of the piano to children.
The plaque on the piano donated to the Oakland Public Library. (Jann Rudd photo) Nina and Earl Dobkin met on their first day as students at Bayonne High School in the mid-1940s. Nina went on to study music at Hofstra University, while her high school sweetheart attended Julliard School of Music.
When the two married in 1950, Earl's father gave the couple a grand piano so Nina could pass along her love of the piano to children.
Earl died in January 2014. Nina died that same year in March.
After their deaths, the Dobkin family knew something special needed to be done with the lifelong Bayonne resident's piano.
"Her love for music, the whole thing made it critical that we come up with something to do with the piano," the Dobkin's daughter, Jann Rudd, who noted that her mom was still giving lessons six months before she died.
Rudd, and her sister Ronni Dobkin, decided to donate the piano to a new concert hall being established at the public library the Bergen County borough of Oakland, where Rudd lives.
Between 1950 and 2013 Nina taught more than 2,000 children how to play, exclusively on the grand piano in her Bayonne home. Growing up, Rudd said children were always at the house learning the art her mother was passionate about.
But Nina didn't just give back to the community through music. Over the years she worked with countless Bayonne organizations including the Board of Education, the Community Day Nursery, the YWCA and the National Council of Jewish Women.
Rudd said it was important to her family that the piano continue to have "another life."
The piano has been refurbished with hopes the concert hall's newest addition will attract musicians for high-quality performances, Rudd said.
"This was just her life," Rudd said. "I just felt like something special needed to be done, not just sell it. It couldn't have been more perfect."