OBITUARIES

Photographer James Varon
Never Gave Up Hope

On the day it was an-
nounced that two researchers
had isolated the gene and
defect that cause cystic
fibrosis, Jim Varon cried and
read a poem:
Mine is a life of hope.
I hope to feel well enough to
get up in the morning.
I hope to stay healthy
enough to continue
working.
I hope I live long enough to
see my child grow and
mature.
Most of all, I hope for a
cure to the disease that
makes it necessary for
me to hope.
award-winning
An
photographer for The Detroit
News who was born with CF,
Jim Varon of Lake Orion died
Sunday. He was 28.
Yet he never gave up hope,
living longer than most peo-
ple who suffer from the
disease that attacks the
respiratory system and other
organs.
Mr. Varon worked with
children at a camp for
youngsters afflicted with CF,
called Camp Onkoi Benek.

James L. Varon

He was a mentor for many of
those children.

He started taking pictures
as a teen, going on to work as
a portrait photographer for a
department store, a freelance
photographer, a staff
photographer for The State
News campus newspaper at

Michigan State University
and the News.
A graduate of Birmingham
Seaholm High School and
MSU, he started working for
the News as an intern in
1984. He was later hired as a
staff photographer. During
his career, Mr. Varon won
awards from the National
Press Photographers Associa-
tion, United Press Interna-
tional and Associated Press.
There, he covered the Red
Wings, traveled with Pope
John Paul II in Europe and
went on special assignment to
the Middle East.
He married Laura, now a
graphics editor for the News,
five years ago. They wanted a
child, a fate almost unheard
of for CF victims who usual-
ly are infertile.
Again Mr. Varon beat the
odds when Laura gave birth
to Molly Rae on Oct. 21.
In addition to his wife and
daughter, Mr. Varon is surviv-
ed by his parents, Jerry and
Sharon of Southfield; a
sister, Dr. Linda; grand-
parents, Saul and Marion
Dicken of Ohio and Mary
Varon.

VIC

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Solomon H. Bienenfeld:
Edison Counsel And Scholar

Solomon Bienenfeld, of
Southfield, special counsel to
Detroit Edison and a former
Michigan assistant attorney
general, died Dec. 30 in Las
Mesa, Calif. He was 69.
A member of the B'nai
B'rith Barristers Group,
Bienenfeld, recognized as one

Solomon Bienenfeld

of the state's foremost
scholars in his field, was the
author of numerous legal ar-
ticles, and in 1978 published
the basic "Text on Michigan

Administrative Law." He com-
pleted a revision of that work
last month.
"Sol was a living legend in
the legal profession — one to
whom lawyers and judges
turned for answers to the
most difficult questions," said
Leon Cohan, Detroit Edison
senior vice president and
general counsel. "He also was
a kind and gentle person who
loved life, his family, and his
friends and who had a deep
affection for books, music and
travel.
"Sol touched many lives
and all who knew him will
miss him deeply."
A former law professor and
legal assistant at Wayne
State University (WSU),
Bienenfeld was named first
assistant attorney general of
Michigan in 1966. He served
in that capacity until 1979
when he joined Detroit
Edison as general attorney
and special counsel.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y.,
Bienenfeld served in World
War II with the U.S. Army Air
Force in India. Following the
war, he attended WSU from
which he was graduated in

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1947. He graduated first in
his class from WSU Law
School, and later received a
master's in law degree from
Harvard University.
Mr. Bienenfeld leaves his
wife Dorothy, two daughters
and sons-in-law, Paula and
Emlen Myers of Washington
D.C. Sheila and Yaacov
Gruber of Israel; a son David;
two brothers and sisters-in-
law, Arnold and Rose of Long
Island, New York, and Dr.
Harold and Ilene of Birming-
ham and five grandchildren.

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Bush Spins
The Dreidel

Washington (JTA) — Pres-
ident Bush played dreidel at
the White House Dec. 21,
first getting a no-decision on
"nun" and then winning a
pot of chocolates on
"gimmel."
Bush played with students
from the Charles E. Smith
Day School as part of the
first large-scale Chanukah
celebration at the White
House.

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