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 »
Saul Rutin, 84, died Nov. 4, 2018, from complications of PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy), a rare neurological disease often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s. Mr. Rutin was a pharmacist. Survivors include his wife, Dian; sons, Aron (Carla) and Eric (Carolyn); stepsons, Eric and Jim (Denise) Lieberthal; and six grandchildren. A celebration… Read more »
David J. Lyons, 79, died Nov. 2, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Lyons grew up in Minneapolis. Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Myrna Lyons; sons Jonathan (Jamie) Lyons of Marietta, Georgia, and Brett (Marlo) Lyons of Los Gatos, California; sisters Barbara Maurice Hobbs of Minneapolis and Lisa… Read more »
Ruth Sokol Graff, 87, died Oct. 30, 2018. Mrs. Graff was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She attended Girls’ Latin School in Boston and graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in business management. She worked for the Combined Jewish Philanthropies in Boston and later in New York City. She… Read more »
Vivian Mae Workman, age 78, died Sept. 12, 2018, in Evergreen, Colorado, after a battle with lymphoma. Mrs. Workman was born in Brooklyn, New York, to David and Pauline Brande. She was a 1957 graduate of East Rockaway High School and a 1961 graduate of the University of Rochester… Read more »
Lola Lipsitz Grabb died peacefully at her home in Tucson on Sept. 29, 2018 due to complications related to cancer. Lolita (as she became known to friends) was born on March 20, 1929, in Santiago de Cuba to Julio and Emma Lipsitz, immigrants to Cuba from Lithuania. Lolita first… Read more »
Beatrice Lippel, 82, died Sept. 24, 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she was the eldest of three children. An accomplished pianist, she earned her bachelor’s in music at Brooklyn College and master’s in musicology at Indiana University. She married Berthold Lippel in 1959 and they had… Read more »
