Obituaries

Annette Freed, 88, died Jan. 15, 2013. Born in Detroit, Mich., Mrs. Freed lived on Long Island, N.Y., where she worked as a knitting instructor and volunteered for ORT, before moving in 1964 to Tucson, where she managed Cele Peterson’s and owned the Monterey Beauty Salon. Survivors include her… Read more »

Bess Falkow, 94, died Jan. 15, 2013. Born in Albany, N.Y., Mrs. Falkow met her husband, Maurice, in elementary school. Following World War II, they moved to Tucson. She was a real estate agent and volunteered at Congregation Anshei Israel. Mrs. Falkow was preceded in death by her husband… Read more »

Rabbi Lee Avram Kivel, 80, died March 13, 2013. A graduate of New York University and rabbinical school, Rabbi Kivel served as a rabbi for 17 years before retiring to Tucson, where he was involved in the family business of commercial real estate. Rabbi Kivel was a supporter of… Read more »

Evelyn Barbarosh Bersh, 101, died Feb. 23, 2013. Mrs. Bersh was born in Newark, N.J., raised her family in South Orange, N.J. , where she volunteered at the National Jewish Home for Asthmatic Children, and moved to Tucson in 1972. Playing piano by ear since age eight, Mrs. Bersh… Read more »

Barbara A. Harow, 76, died Feb. 19, 2013. Mrs. Harow is survived by her son, Jay Harow of Tucson; brother, Eric Bernhardt of Pennsylvania; sister, Judith Steo of North Carolina; four grandchildren; and former husband, Marvin L. Harow. Graveside services were held in the Temple Emanu-El section of Evergreen… Read more »

Gerald Blum, 88, died Dec. 29, 2012. Born in New York City, Mr. Blum graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1942 and New York University in 1949. He served in the Army Air Force and fought in China during World War II. In 1989, Mr. Blum retired as president… Read more »

Aileen Bernstein Weisman, 89, died on Feb. 1, 2013. Mrs. Weisman moved to Tucson from Long Island, N.Y. She was a member of Congregation Anshei Israel. Mrs. Weisman was preceded in death by her husband, Theo­dore Weisman. Survivors include her sons, Steven (Susan) Weisman of Tucson and Harold (Connie)… Read more »

Lynn Sharon Strauss, 76, died Jan. 11, 2013, in Shreveport, La. A 45-year resident of Tucson, Mrs. Strauss operated an office consulting firm for medical practices specializing in computerized record keeping. She was a long-time member of Congregation Anshei Israel, where she was elected secretary-treasurer of the board of… Read more »

Milan Bier, 92, died Jan. 15, 2013. Born in Vukovar, Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia), Mr. Bier spent four years as a refugee in Yugoslavia, Italy and Switzerland during World War II. He graduated from the University of Geneva and immigrated to the United States in 1945. He received… Read more »

Allen Lee Baron, 79, died Dec. 14, 2012. Born Abraham Podolny in the Bronx, N.Y., Mr. Baron attended DeWitt Clinton High School. He graduated from University High School in Los Angeles. He enrolled at UCLA in 1952, joining the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity, but his studies were interrupted by… Read more »

Thelma “Teddi” Barlin, 83, died Nov. 23, 2012. A 66-year resident of Tucson, Mrs. Barlin graduated from Tucson High School and the University of Arizona. She was a long- time member of Congregation Anshei Israel, supporter of Tucson Hebrew Academy and a resident at Handmaker. Mrs. Barlin was preceded… Read more »

Mildred Maxine Perelman Chanin, 91, died Oct. 16, 2012 in Albuquerque, N.M. Mrs. Chanin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. After her mother died when she was in high school, her father, who suffered from arthritis, moved the family to Tucson. She graduated from Tucson High School and received a… Read more »

Spencer Giffords, 77, father of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, died Oct. 20, 2012. Born in New York City, Mr. Giffords grew up in Tucson and graduated from Mexico City College. After college he took over his father’s tire business, El Campo Tire. His father, Akiba Hornstein, son of… Read more »

Reva Schwartz Golad, 92, died Oct. 15, 2012. Born in Kansas City, Mo., Mrs. Golad attended Manual High School and Kansas City Teachers’ College (now UMKC). She married Maurice “Tiny” Schwartz in 1941.They owned Tiny’s Delicatessen in Kansas City. For 25 years, she worked at the Kansas City Jewish… Read more »

Maurice Washington Jontow, 98, died Oct. 5, 2012. Born in New York City, Mr. Jontow left high school in 1929 to work with his father in the family garment business. He met his wife, Rachel, in 1935 and they were married in 1936. Mr. Jontow served in the Army… Read more »

George McGovern signing his book "Abraham Lincoln" at the Richard M. Nixon Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif., August 2009. (Scott Clarkson via CC)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — George McGovern is widely remembered for advocating immediate American withdrawal from Vietnam and sharp reductions in defense spending. Yet despite his reputation as a pacifist, the former U.S. senator and 1972 presidential candidate, who died Sunday at 90, did believe there were times when America should… Read more »

Ann Braun Goldfein, 81, died on Sept. 30, 2012, after a yearlong battle with ovarian cancer. Born in Chicago, Mrs. Gold­fein studied art at the Pratt Institute of Design in New York City. Later, while living in Chicago, her brother Mac introduced her to Sam Goldfein and they married… Read more »

Reva Sherman, 86, died Oct. 3, 2012. Born in Chicago, Mrs. Sherman was the youngest of six children of Russian Jewish immigrants. She graduated from Chicago’s Von Steuben High School in 1944 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University. Mrs. Sherman was a docent at the Arizona Sonora… Read more »

Claire Salonic Kolins, 89, died Oct. 9, 2012. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Mrs. Kolins attended Penn State in the early 1940s and finished college at the University of Arizona in the 1980s. She was a longtime member of Temple Emanu-El. Mrs. Kolins was preceded in death by her… Read more »

Arlen Specter, shown speaking at the AFL-CIO convention in September 2009, represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate for 30 years. (Steve Dietz/Sharp Image)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — During his 30 years in the clubby confines of the U.S. Senate, Arlen Specter never lost his acerbic prosecutorial zeal, friends and associates say. The insistent questions, the commitment to independence that made the longtime Pennsylvania senator a critical player in recent U.S. history, ultimately did… Read more »