Obituaries

Donald Simon, 88, of Delray Beach, Florida, died Sept. 16, 2018. Mr. Simon’s first career was in the garment center of New York, selling children’s wear. Upon moving to Tucson in 1989, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from Prescott College, and worked for Jewish Family &… Read more »

Harold Murray Hirshberg of Park Ridge, New Jersey, 99, died Sept.18, 2018. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Mr. Hirshberg attended Rutgers University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration and a Master of Arts degree. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he… Read more »

Adam Brish, M.D., age 93, of Marquette, Michigan, and Sun City West, Arizona, died Sept. 11, 2018 in Surprise, Arizona. Dr. Brish was born in Lodz, Poland, to Sura and Yeshayahu Brysz. A Holocaust survivor, he ultimately survived by hiding in the Lodz Ghetto with his father, until liberation… Read more »

Howard Lee Rapoport, 89, died Sept. 19, 2018. Educated in St. Louis, Mr. Rapoport graduated from University City High School and later Washington University with a degree in business. Among his duties while in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict was serving as his company’s bugler. He later… Read more »

Molly Shenitzer, 95, died Sept. 4, 2018. Mrs. Shenitzer was born and raised in Chicago, the youngest of four children of Abe and Rose Slutsky. She married Hyman Shenitzer in 1944 and together they ran Hy’s Food Market on Chicago’s Westside. In 1953, they packed up their two young… Read more »

Eleanor Gellman, 91, died Thurs., Aug. 16, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Gellman was a native of St. Louis. She was a founding member of the Central Reform Synagogue. Survivors include her son, Larry (Kristen) Gellman of Tucson and Aspen, Colorado. Services and interment were in St. Louis.… Read more »

Robert J. Palles, 77, died on Sept. 5, 2018. Mr. Palles, the son of Maurice and Mildred Palles, was born in Chicago. He moved to Tucson in 1978, where he was the owner of Palles Insurance Agency. Survivors include his wife, Eileen Tucker Palles; children, Lawrence (Darcy Renfro) Palles… Read more »

Nathan Shapiro, 100, died Sept. 4, 2018. Mr. Shapiro was born in New York City, the youngest child of Aaron and Gussie Shapiro. The first in his family to attend college, he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in elementary education. While at City College of… Read more »

Those who knew Tucson philanthropist and community activist Joan Kaye Cauthorn, who died on Sept. 3, 2018 at age 75, describe her as one-of-a-kind. “Joan was a one-of-a-kind, kind-hearted force of nature who spent much of her energy making the world a better place.  She cared deeply about the… Read more »

Six-term Arizona Republican Sen. John Sydney McCain III, 81, died at the family ranch in Sedona, Arizona, Aug. 26, one day after declining further treatment for brain cancer. Today, he lies in state in the U.S. Capitol, where a formal ceremony will take place in the Capitol Rotunda at… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Richard Siegel, an educator who advocated for Jewish culture and arts and co-edited the seminal “Jewish Catalog” series of guides to “do-it-yourself” Judaism, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 70 and had been battling cancer for two years, according to a friend and colleague,… Read more »

Dorothy “Dotte” Sayre, 90, died June 30, 2018. Mrs. Sayre was born and raised in Chicago. She attended the National College of Education and taught pre-K and kindergarten. She and her husband, Julian, moved to Tucson in 1959. Mrs. Sayre was an active volunteer in the Tucson Jewish community,… Read more »

Eugene “Gene” J. Hameroff, 96, died June 24, 2018. Mr. Hameroff was born to immigrant parents, Abraham and Sarah Hameroff, in Cleveland, Ohio. Upon graduating from Ohio State University, he married Terri, and began working in advertising. He opened his own advertising agency in 1955 and grew it into… Read more »

Francine Shacter, 90, of Tucson, formerly of Bethesda and Highland, Maryland, died June 14, 2018. Mrs. Shacter was born in Los Angeles, graduated from Hollywood High School, and briefly attended UCLA before marrying and raising four children. Years later, in the middle of life, while working full time, she… Read more »

Herschel Kreloff, Ph.D., 86, was music director of the Civic Orchestra of Tucson for 38 years until his death on April 25, 2018. He brought years of experience as both educator and performer to his position as long-time conductor of the all-volunteer orchestra. Violinist Lori Fitzsimmons recalls, “The first… Read more »

Willard “Bill” S. Gold, M.D. 86, died April 22, 2018. Born in Chicago, Dr. Gold graduated from the University of Chicago and later from the College of Medicine at Northwestern University. He practiced psychiatry for 55 years, mostly in Texas, until 2017, when he moved to Tucson to retire… Read more »

(JTA) — Philip Roth, whose notorious novels about the sex drives of American men gave way to some of the most probing examinations of the American Jewish condition in the 20th and 21st centuries, has died. He was 85. His death was confirmed to The New York Times by… Read more »

Irene Frances Wolff, 90, died April 22, 2018. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Mrs. Wolff was a lifetime member of Hadassah and volunteered in her community throughout her life. A graveside service was held at Evergreen Cemetery, with Cantor Janece Cohen of Congregation Or Chadash officiating. Mrs. Wolff was preceded… Read more »

Elaine R. Lisberg, 88, died April 29, 2018. Mrs. Lisberg was born in Decatur, Illinois, to Emanual and Hannah Rosenberg. In 1993, she moved from the Chicago suburbs to Tucson, where she continued her strong volunteer work both on a local and national level. Mrs. Lisberg was preceded in… Read more »

Steve Kippur, 65, died April 20, 2018. Mr. Kippur was born and raised in Denver, raised his children in Pueblo, Colorado, and spent the last 15 years of his life in Tucson. Mr. Kippur owned a furniture store in Pueblo and was a third-generation scrap metal dealer at Amcep… Read more »