My birthday this year came and went with no bouquet of roses gifted to me by a special man and nary a sweet nothing whispered in my ear. It’s just not fair, I silently reproached the universe. Why are there so many more women than men over 60 looking… Read more »
Senior Lifestyle
Retired doctor turned rabbi shares joy of Jewish knowledge with Tucson
Judaism has always been a large part of Howard Schwartz’s life, but only after moving to Tucson did he truly fall into his role as a teacher of Jewish beliefs. The doctor turned rabbi uses his time post-retirement volunteering at different synagogues to give lectures on Judaism, and has… Read more »
JFCS continues services to seniors during pandemic
During the coronavirus pandemic, Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona’s Older Adult and Adult with Disability Services programs have continued to provide robust services for the community. These programs include the Trusted Advisors Project, Jewish Elder Access, and Select Care. Through the Trusted Advisors Project, JFCS provides short-term care management… Read more »
‘Dispatches from Quarantine’ features last Reiner interview
Comedy icon Carl Reiner left a message for these trying times through ‘Dispatches from Quarantine,” an online video series. His interview, conducted in May, was the last from the comic legend behind TV’s “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” who died June 29 at age 98. Presented by Reboot, a… Read more »
Teen wins contest for essay on seniors
Gianna Lampert, a teen participant in the Tracing Roots program that brings together students from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Hebrew High and residents at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, is the 2020 winner of the Better 2 Write contest sponsored by the Legacy Heritage Better Together… Read more »
Video chats help local senior living facility residents stay connected during pandemic
Senior living facilities in Southern Arizona and all across the country have been on lockdown for several weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, with non-essential visitors not allowed. “This means no family and friends, and it also means no exercise teachers, musical performers, Shabbat service leaders, lecturers, Torah study… Read more »
B’nai B’rith homes seek DVDs, art supplies
B’nai B’rith Strauss Manor requests donations of DVDs/Blu-Rays and art supplies to occupy residents during the coronavirus pandemic. The Gerd and Inge Strauss Manor is a federally assisted multi-family senior housing project with 81 apartments. “I’ve started a library where residents can check out movies,” says Luz E. Gallego, Strauss… Read more »
Departure of Dean Emeritus Jeffrey Goldberg from University of Arizona will leave gap
The University of Arizona will lose one of its stars in May as Jeffrey Goldberg, Ph.D., dean emeritus of the College of Engineering, retires. Speaking prior to the coronavirus pandemic, he said he planned to travel, see his grandkids more often, and practice a healthier lifestyle in his golden… Read more »
For Tucson newcomer, literature, law, religion, and family are keys to life well lived
Bob Schwartz has been involved with the Jewish community since he was a child growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey. He has been a part of nine congregations in six states and has been active within the Jewish community in Tucson for two years. A former attorney,… Read more »
For lifelong artist, Tucson storytelling groups provide new creative outlet
Mary Jo Pollack lives life out loud, not only as a storyteller for Odyssey Storytelling, FST!, and Tellers of Tales Tucson, but as a general life philosophy. Pollack, 71, is an artist on the board of directors of Beading Divas to the Rescue, a group of Tucson women who… Read more »
Music is local Hebrew choir leader’s lifeblood
Rina Paz leads Tucson’s Shirat HaShirim Hebrew choir and does other volunteer work within the Jewish community. She grew up in Haifa, Israel, in a large family that was always singing and dancing. Ever since she was a little girl, she says, she has been living life as the… Read more »
Retiring to Israel requires advance considerations
For a growing number of Jews in the Diaspora, turning retirement dreams into reality also means realizing a lifelong dream of living in Israel. Over the past decade, more than 6,000 Jews from North America and Britain have retired to Israel. In 2019, some 500 of 3,500 immigrants to… Read more »
How to retire to Israel
JERUSALEM – For a growing number of Jews in the Diaspora, turning retirement dreams into reality also means realizing a lifelong dream of living in Israel. Over the past decade, more than 6,000 Jews from North America and Britain have retired to Israel. In 2019, some 500 of 3,500… Read more »
Board helps Strauss Manor offer locals more than low cost
The Gerd & Inge Strauss Manor on Pantano is one of two B’nai Brith affordable housing communities for seniors in Arizona. Both are in Tucson, the other being the better-known Covenant House. Managed by Biltmore Properties, the communities come under B’nai B’rith’s advocacy umbrella as the largest national Jewish… Read more »
Volunteers can change local seniors’ lives
Jewish Family & Children’s Service is a program site for Pima Council on Aging’s Senior Companion Program. Senior companion volunteers age 55 and older help homebound and isolated older adults continue living independently in their homes by providing companionship, transportation, and caregiver respite. “The need for volunteers is outrageously… Read more »
105th birthday plans in works for local woman
If you are a Tucson Hebrew Academy student, you have probably met, or at least heard of, Gertrude Shankman, a resident at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. THA students have been celebrating Shankman’s birthday every year since she turned 100. On Oct. 26, Shankman will turn 105. “It… Read more »
At 95, Tucsonan Bill Kugelman still charming, vigorous
When I first spot Bill Kugelman across the room at a local senior living community, he is sitting in a chair, waving his arms in the air and stomping his feet to lively Zumba music. Surrounded by a group of grey-headed women, he is one of very few men… Read more »
At COC Sisterhood Girls’ Night Out, fitness coach to discuss healthy aging
Health and fitness coach and author Laurie Rein will present a Healthy Aging for Women program for a Congregation Or Chadash Sisterhood Girl’s Night Out on Nov. 13. Rein brings 30 years of experience in health training and a career in professional dance to her talk. Growing up in… Read more »
Longtime Tucsonan gives heart and soul to the Jewish community
Linda Tumarkin, 79, has been an active volunteer in the Tucson Jewish community since shortly after moving to town in 1971, including three terms as chair of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and four terms as chair of the Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council. She was on the… Read more »
Local volunteer’s love for teaching is a good fit for P2G
Shelley Ann Lipowich, Ph.D., says she’s taught “for 150 years … everything from pre-kindergarten to post-doctoral, and I’ve had a ball.” She got her first taste of the Old Pueblo when it truly was a little village. She attended Sam Hughes Elementary as a child, “when Plumer Avenue was… Read more »