86 Friday, December 21, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS OBITUARIES The Family of the Late JEAN KORMAN Acknowledges with grateful • appreciation the many kind expressions of sympathy extended by relatives and friends dur- ing the family's recent be- reavement. Metropolitan Opera star Jan Peerce dies P,IftIRES‘ The Family of the Late ROSE KRUMAN Acknowledges with grateful appreciation the many kind expressions of sympathy extended by relatives and friends dur- ing the family's recent be- reavement. In Memory Of LEO LUBETSKY 1 Dec. 18, 1983 Deeply missed and al- ways remembered by his loving family. He is forever in our hearts. Gert, Harry, Michael, Marty and Grandchildren Albert Yendick and Ruth Vosko Wish to express their grateful appreciation for the numerous kind ex- pressions of sympathy ex- tended during their recent bereavement in the loss of their mother ROSE YENDICK Send Someone Special a Gift 52 Weeks a Year. Send a gift subscription to THE JEWISH NEWS! Focus on America's Future 0 Help Prevent Birth Defects Support the March —BIRTH of Dimes DEFECTS FOUNDATION THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED BY THE PUBLISHER Jan Peerce New York (JTA) — Opera star Jan Peerce, who worked his way from the Lower East side of New York to become the principal tenor of the New York Metropoli- tan Opera, died Dec. 15 at age 80. Born Jacob Pincus Perelmuth in the Lower East side in 1904, Ernest Weiss Ernest Weiss, an invesment counselor and senior vice president of Shearson Lehman American Express, 'died Dec. 15 at age 57. A native Detroiter, Mr. Weiss was a member of Knoliwood Country Club and Cong. B'nai Moshe. He leaves his wife, Ellen; chil- dren, Dr. Jeffrey Soffa, Larry Soffa of Canoga Park, Calif., Judy Weiss Oppenheim, Leonard Weiss, Helayne Soffa, Fred Weiss and Karen Weiss; his father, Eugene Weiss of North Miami Beach, Fla.; a sister, Mrs. Hyman (Rose) Weiner; and six grand- children. Celia Lefton Celia Lefton, a member of Jewish communal organizations, died Dec. 15 at age 75. Born in New York, Mrs. Lefton was a member of Temple Beth El, Franklin Hills Country Club and National Council of Jewish Women. She leaves a daughter, Mrs. Norman (Sydney) Stern; a brother, John H. Meistrich; a sis- ter, Mrs. Marvin (Mollie) Kanes of Lauderhill, Fla.; three grandchil- dren and two great-grand- children. Harry Rice Harry Louis Rice, a retired agent for Metropolitan Life In- surance Co., died Dec. 13 at age 84. Born in Poland, Mr. Rise was a member of Cong. Shaarey Zedek, Hannah Schloss Old Timers and the Metropolitan Retirees. He leaves two daughters, Mrs. Morris (Reva) Bornstein of Ann Arbor and Mrs. Gary (Helen) Wexler; a sister, Mrs. Louis (Fay) Bogrow; and four grandchildren. Peerce made his singing debut in 1932 at Radio City Music Hall, where he remained for eight years. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1941 as Al- fredo in La Traviata, and during his 27 years there distinguished himself in French and Italian re- pertoire. He made his Broadway debut in 1971 in Fiddler on the Roof. After retiring, he continued to perform and sang as a cantor during the High Holy Days. Mr. Peerce, while in Austria in 1973, visited a transit station in Vienna for Soviet Jewish emi- grants on their way to Israel. He performed for them the regular Sabbath service and afterwards sang the Yiddish tune Raisins and Almonds for the Soviet Jews. He sang in synagogues during his youth and later in synagogues in Moscow and 'elsewhere in the Soviet Union while on a tour of that country. Prior to singing, Mr. Peerce had been a violinist. He had made films, taught, recorded albums and appeared on TV talk shows. Mr. Peerce remained at Radio City for eight years and sang on many radio broadcasts. An NBC official brought the young tenor to the attention.of Arturo Toscanini, who engaged him for eight per- formances. According to the New York Times, from 1941 to 1968 at the Met, Mr. Peerce gave 205 per- Rabbi Kapustin dies School and was a past member of the day school's board. He was a 36-year member of Cong. Beth Tefilo Emanuel Tikvah of which he was a past president. Rabbi Kapustin served on the board of Yeshivath Beth Yehudah, was a member of Cong. Gemiluth Chasodim and taught at the Midrasha-College of Jewish Studies. He is survived by his wife, Nanette; two sons, Daniel D. of Pewaukee, Wis., and Samuel of Willowdale, Ont., Canada; • and five grandchildren. Fanni Epstein Ann Arbor community leaders and University of Michigan ar- chitectural department staff members are paying tribute to the memory of Fanni Epstein who died Dec. 14. Mrs. Epstein was formerly associated with the University of Michigan architectural services and in that capacity took a deep interest in the university's trib- utes to Raoul Wallenberg, a U-M architectural graduate. The widow of Mr. Clifford Eps- tein, she also took a deep interest in community and Zionist affairs. She met her husband in Palestine, where he spent some months re- presenting the Detroit News. His services of articles on Zionism aroused great interest at that time, in the mid-1930s. S. Hertzberg New York — Sidney Hertzberg, a writer, editor and political ac- tivist, died Dec. 14 at age 74. Mr. Hertzberg was a publicity adviser in the 1936 Presidential campaign of Norman Thomas, the Socialist, and a speech writer in the 1968 Democratic Presidential campaign of the late Hubert H. Humphrey. He served as a publicity agent for the America First Committee and the Liberal Party of New York and was chief Asia represen- tative of the United Nations Ap- peal for Children. Mrs. Newman Bessie -Newman, co-founder of Cadillac Beverage Co., died Dec. 16 at age 93. Born in Russia; Mrs. Newman was a member of the board of di- rectors for the Jewish orphans home. She was a founding member of the Jewish Commu- nity Center. Mrs. Newman was an officer of Northville Laboratories and a member of Order of the Eastern Star. She leaves a son, Paul; four grandchildren and four great- grandchildren. formances in 11 operas, plus 119 performances on tour. His last complete stage performance at the Met took place on Feb. 21, 1966 in Don Giovanni. When he was not singing at the Met, Mr. Peerce gave concerts. He appeared in European opera houses and was the first Ameri- can ever to sing at the Bolshoi Opera in Moscow since World War II. Among the films in which he appeared were: Carnegie Hall, Tonight We Sing and Goodbye, Columbus. S. Brezner Rabbi Max Kapustin • Rabbi Max Kapustin, director of the B'nai•B'rith Hillel Founda- tion at Wayne State University from 1948 to 1976, died Dec. 18 at age 74. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Rabbi Kapustin was ordained at the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary of Berlin. He received a doctorate in Semitics from Heidelberg University. He was an instructor of Bible and Talmud at the rabbinical college of Hoffmann Yeshivah in Frankfort-am-Main. He came to the United States in 1938 and held a pulpit in Dannville, Va., from 1938 to 1948, when he took the WSU Hillel post. He retired "in 1976. Rabbi Kapustin was an adjunct professor of German and Near East Studies while at WSU. In the Jewish community, Rabbi Kapustin was a member of the Council of Orthodox Rabbis. He sat on the executive committee of the Jewish Community Council and was affiliated with the De- troit Rolind Table of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Rabbi Kapustin was on the board of education of Hillel Day Samuel Brezner, an attorney, died Dec. 12 at age 78. Born in London, England, Mr. Brezner lived 74 years in Detroit. He was graduated from the De- troit College of Law in 1928. In 1934, he was elected judge of pro- bate for Wayne County. In 1936, he was appointed assistant pro- secuting attorney for Wayne County and in 1944 was ap- pointed chief of the civil division (county corporation counsel). He served as chief trial lawyer in the prosecuting attorney's office, followed by the appoint- ment to the post of chief appellate lawyer in that office. In 1961, Mr. Brezner was ap-. pointed chief assistant prosecut- ing attorney serving until January 1967. In 1967, he became the legal counsel to the Wayne County Sheriff's Department in both civil and criminal matters. He retired in 1971. From 1972 until 1978 he was visiting judge for Detroit Re- corders Court. He retired in 1978. He leaves his wife, Peggy; a daughter, Mrs. Joyce Friedman; and one granddaughter. A. Burnstine Libbie Schlussel, a member of Jewish organizations, died Dec. 13 at age 88. Born in Detroit, Mrs. Schlussel was a member of the Hannah Schloss Old Timers, Hadassah, Cong. B'nai Israel of West Bloom- field and its sisterhood. She did' volunteer work at Pontiac Gen- eral Hospital. She leaves two daughters, Mrs. Bennie (Pearl) Mirkin and Mrs. Edward (Beverly) Avadenka; four grandchildren and three great- grandchildren. Alexander E. Burnstine, owner of the Burnstine Pharmacy in De- troit, died Dec. 13 at age 92. Born in Traverse City, Mich., Mr. Burnstine was a graduate of the Detroit School of Pharmacy in 1914, a member of Mosaic Lodge of the Masons, Detroit Consistory and Moslem Temple. He leaves two brothers, Monte of Arizona and Zangwill; and a sister, Mrs. Hyman (Cecille) Levy. Mrs. Schlussel