Obituaries

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — Daniel Azulay, one of Brazil’s most prominent children’s artists and educators, died March 27 at 72 in Rio de Janeiro. Azulay was being treated for leukemia when he contracted the coronavirus. Azulay was the creator of “Turma do Lambe-Lambe,” a group of children’s characters… Read more »

We’re creating space to mourn Jews who are lost to the coronavirus at a time when Jewish mourning practices are nearly impossible to observe. If you’ve lost someone dear to you, we invite you to share their story with us using this form. Maurice Berger, 63, was a noted… Read more »

YetYeta Bart Weston, 104, died March 4, 2020. Mrs. Weston was the oldest of three girls born in Brooklyn, New York to Ester and Laser Bart. She and her husband, Dr. Aaron S. Weston, who predeceased her in 2008, spent their first 80-plus years in New York. Aaron practiced… Read more »

Harold J. Lisberg died February 14, 2020. Mr. Lisberg was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal for his service as a B24 pilot during World War II. He was predeceased by his wife, Elaine. Survivors include his sons William (Patti) of Minneapolis,… Read more »

Ronald S. David, M.D., 80, died Feb. 10, 2020. Dr. David was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. He obtained his bachelor’s and medical degrees from Stanford University, and after a stint in the Army, went on for specialty training in psychiatry at the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center in New… Read more »

Edith Weingarten Fox, a Holocaust survivor who settled in Buffalo, New York, and moved to Tucson in her later years, died Feb. 16, 2020. Mrs. Fox was born in Czechoslovakia and was 13 when World War II started. She survived a Polish ghetto and the Auschwitz and Theresienstadt concentration… Read more »

John Schiro

John “Jack” Schiro died Dec. 29, 2019. A graduate of Cincinnati Country Day School, University of Cincinnati and attendee at Tulane University, Mr. Schiro pursued a career in marketing and sales for several well-known companies, obtaining top honors in his profession. Survivors include his sister, Caren Schiro of Tucson;… Read more »

Marla Edelstein

Marla Beth Edelstein, 70, died Jan. 30, 2020 after a battle with cancer. Mrs. Edelstein was born in Philadelphia on March 28, 1949 to Shirley and Jules Mechanic. She graduated from Northeast High School and Temple University, where she received her bachelor of science and master’s degrees in education… Read more »

Doris Fleischman, 92, died Jan. 11, 2020. Mrs. Fleischman was born in New York City and raised primarily in Los Angeles, where she met her husband, Alvin, on a blind date. They married in 1950, and had two sons, Larry and Marc. Due to Al’s career in the whiskey… Read more »

Thelma Bernice (Sporn) Goldberg died Jan. 10, 2020. Originally from New York, Mrs. Goldberg taught at John Jay High School in Cross River, New York, and Lamson Business College in Tucson. She also was active in B’nai B’rith and Hadassah. Mrs. Goldberg was preceded in death by her husband,… Read more »

Kenneth Martin Greenfield, 87, died Jan. 23, 2020. Born on Feb. 25, 1932, Mr. Greenfield was raised and lived in New York City and New Jersey. He moved to Tucson in 2000. A corporate attorney for most of his professional life, he graduated from Columbia University Business School and… Read more »

Sarah Katz, 97, died Dec. 25, 2019. Mrs. Katz moved to Tucson from Skokie, Illinois in 1971. She worked at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging for 25 years, until her retirement. Mrs. Katz was predeceased by her husband of more than 50 years, Jerome Katz. Survivors include her… Read more »

Diana Jo (Zieger) Leeds, 83, died Dec. 26, 2019 in Phoenix. Mrs. Leeds was born in Philadelphia and grew up in New Jersey. She moved to Phoenix in 1953, finished at North High and met her eventual husband, Ron, at Arizona State University. After their marriage, Mrs. Leeds taught… Read more »

Gerald “Jerry/Big D/Grand D” Vegodsky (1929 – 2019) Gerald Vegodsky was born Feb. 12, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. He married the love of his life, Ruth, in 1950. He was a proud veteran of the Army and did his military service from 1951-1953. He and Ruth moved to… Read more »

Esther Sherberg, a longtime Tucson resident and Jewish community volunteer, died Jan. 9, 2020, at the age of 86. Services were held Jan. 10 at Evergreen Mortuary, with Rabbi Robert Eisen of Congregation Anshei Israel officiating. Interment was in St. Louis, Missouri. Ms. Sherberg was born Oct. 1, 1933… Read more »

(JTA) — Gladys Bourdain, who convinced an editor to publish the first article written by her chef son Anthony, has died. Bourdain died in hospice on Friday in the Bronx, New York. She was 85. She worked for nearly 25 years as a copy editor at the New York… Read more »

Michael Elsner

Michael Elsner, 65, died Dec. 9, 2019 of pancreatic cancer. Mr. Elsner was born to Sidney and Jean Elsner in Cleveland, Ohio, where he grew up. He graduated from the University of Arizona and earned a master’s degree and doctorate from American University. He taught sociology, criminology, and criminal… Read more »

Harold Feig

Harold “Leroy” Feig, 83, died Nov. 25, 2019. Mr. Feig was born in the Bronx, New York, to Rose and Herbert Feig. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Mimi (Richard). Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Bobbie; children, Betsy (Fred) of Scottsdale, Marc (Aleda) of Phoenix,… Read more »

(JTA) — Richard Alpert, the spiritual seeker better known as Baba Ram Dass who first came to prominence as a confederate of the controversial LSD proponent Timothy Leary, has died. Albert, who was raised in a Jewish family in suburban Boston, died at his home in Maui on Sunday.… Read more »

Jennifer Tamara Mendelsohn, 39, died Dec. 4, 2019. Ms. Mendelsohn was born in Tucson. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Archie and Marjorie Mendelsohn of Tucson, Richard Temple of Kansas City, and Miriam Temple of Tucson. Survivors include her parents, Steven and Karen Mendelsohn; and brother, Jason… Read more »