Leonard Coris Leonard M. Coris, 78, died Jan. 31, 2019, of complications related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Mr. Coris was born March 29, 1940, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Betty and Al Coris. He attended the Brookline public schools and MIT, where he earned master’s degrees in both food science and finance. He… Read more »
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein arriving in Israel with the first group of immigrants brought by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Dec. 22, 2014. (International Fellowship of Christians and Jews)
(JTA) — To the many colleagues and supporters of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who died Wednesday at the age of 67, he was a man of vision whose enormous drive to succeed both facilitated and complicated his relentless efforts on behalf of the Jewish people. As head of the International Fellowship… Read more »
Martin M. Fogel, Ph.D., 98, died Jan. 6, 2019. Mr. Fogel was born in the Bronx, his father a Polish Catholic tailor, his mother a Russian Jew. Upon graduation from James Monroe High School, Mr. Fogel moved to California, where his father had sought a better livelihood as a… Read more »
Sam Zales, 53, died Jan. 15, 2019. Mr. Zales was an avid reader and writer. He taught Russian and American literature at the University of Arizona Osher Lifelong Learning Institute with his stepfather, Kenneth Greenfield. Survivors include his mother, Ruth Zales of Tucson; sister, Melissa (Tim) Zales Koller of… Read more »
Marilyn Ann Berg, 75, died Dec. 24, 2018. Born in New York City, Ms. Berg moved to Tucson with her family at age 12 because she suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. She attended Tucson High School and the University of Arizona, and was a lifelong poet. A participant in… Read more »
Leonard Dinnerstein, a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona, known as one of the foremost scholars of anti-Semitism in America, died Jan. 22, 2019 at the age of 84. Mr. Dinnerstein served as a professor of history at the UA from 1970 through 2004, and as the… Read more »
Ruth Berman, a co-owner of Tucson’s Benjamin Supply Company for more than six decades, died Jan. 3, 2019. She was 92. Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Mrs. Berman grew up in Brooklyn. Her mother died when she was 18 and she left school to take care… Read more »
Stanley Paul Abrams, 86, died Dec. 20, 2018. Mr. Abrams was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jesse and Gustav Abrams. He received his bachelor’s degree from Ohio University and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan. While at Ohio University, he entered the ROTC program and was… Read more »
Myron “Mickey” H. Freedman, 86, died Dec. 15, 2018. Mr. Freedman was born in Chicago. He was an engineer, retired from Raytheon. Mr. Freedman was predeceased by his wife, Cynthia, and daughter, Gail Freedman. Survivors include his daughter, Renee Freedman; one granddaughter and one great-granddaughter; and friend Anita Asquith.… Read more »
Robert A. Leffler, 88, died Dec. 20, 2018. Mr. Leffler was born in New York City. He received a degree in accounting from New York University. Mr. Leffler was predeceased by his wife of 50 years, Anita Stein Leffler, and brother, John Leffler, who died in World War II.… Read more »
Elise B. Gilden, 101, died Dec. 16, 2018. A native Chicagoan, Mrs. Gilden lived in Tucson for over 40 years. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in art history, and in her 50s received a master’s in special education from Roosevelt University in Chicago. As… Read more »
Philip S. Kleiman 65, died Nov. 14, 2018. Mr. Kleiman attended the Franklin Institute in Boston where he earned a degree in mechanical drafting. He met his wife, Sheri, in Denver in 1974 and they married in 1979. The two moved to Tucson in 1980. Mr. Kleiman had a… Read more »
Annie Cohen, right, met Holocaust survivor Ela Weissberger when the teen appeared in a New Orleans production of "Brundibar" in 2016. The children's opera by Jewish Czech composer Hans Krása was performed by the children of the Theresienstadt concentration camp, including Weissberger. (Courtesy of Cohen)
NEW ORLEANS (JTA) — Ela Weissberger, though tiny and elderly when I met her, was the strongest woman I have ever known. Her energy was indefatigable, her personality vibrant and sunny, her wit sharp and charming. Her magical rapport with children was undeniable. Ela was a Holocaust survivor, sent… Read more »
Scott Zorn The Tucson Jewish community was stunned by the news that Scott Zorn, 59, died Jan. 1, 2019, in Akron, Ohio, with hundreds of Facebook messages quickly going out to his wife, Julie; children, Haley and Dylan; and in-laws, Tucsonans Kathy and David Unger. Zorn was the director of children,… Read more »
(Photo illustration by Lior Zaltzman)
(JTA) — The end of every year brings the grim task of rounding up the prominent Jews who passed away over the previous 12 months. But in doing so, we are able to pay tribute to their incredible lives and accomplishments, and revel once again in the talents and… Read more »
Paul L. Kahn, 92, died Dec. 4, 2018. Mr. Kahn was born in New York City to Robert and Esther Kahn. A longtime stockbroker, he served in the U.S. Navy and moved to Tucson in 1957. Mr. Kahn was preceded in death by his son, Errol Kahn. Survivors include… Read more »
Norma Lena Rappeport-Salonic, 90, died Nov. 28, 2018. Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Dr. Joseph Rappeport and Anna Neuman Rappeport, she graduated from Phoenix Union High School in Phoenix, Arizona. She was a longtime resident of Tucson. Mrs. Salonic was a life member of Hadassah, a Girl Scout… Read more »
Elliot Frank, 46, died Nov. 30, 2018. A native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, Mr. Frank attended Bucknell University and graduated with a B.S. in electrical engineering. He later earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree at American University while working at the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C. In late… Read more »
Janice Hedeman Lahr, 95, died Nov. 18, 2018. Mrs. Lahr was born in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1945 she married Larry Sakin and moved to Tucson. They opened Town and Sports, a woman’s apparel shop. After their divorce in 1955, she enrolled at the University of Arizona, receiving a degree… Read more »
Noah Klieger discussed his life in a 2018 video for 70 Faces Media, JTA's parent company. (70 Faces Media)
(JTA) — Noah Klieger, who survived Auschwitz by pretending to be a boxer and went on to a storied career in journalism, died Thursday in Israel. He was 92. As a prisoner in Auschwitz, Klieger was selected for the gas chamber but managed to talk himself out of the… Read more »
