Q

TEITEL page 117

uality you can build on,
a name you can trust.

mia, :
„; Z7
Aii
MI
P111110
12*......*11.----±----.-----....... --------"Mi
i l"iy:

aillialg •

Willa •
Mingle
•
•

IIIIED

.ipt. 111111111. Mil

XENIX

4.1.1111111“

.

M D
WO,

The Teitel Charitable Trust contributed to the Children's Medical Center
of Israel.

Recognized by Remocle&I Mara i4e for excellence in design and construction.
Quality craftsmanship. Whether it's for your home oibusiness, we take your ideas
and bring them to life...with creativity and cost efficiency.

peAliedk

a a1alai/4 ii/L the pia-4S.

We specialize in design & build for
Americans pith Disabilities. ADA...
Barrier free construction.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of
the REMODELING INDUSTRY

Regional
"CONTRACTOR of the YEAR"

M QUALITY
%-,4 0 CONSTRUCTION

RESIDENTIAL-COMMERCIAL

INRECON

wow,-

Call for a FREE estimate:

846-5735

7937 Schaefer Road • Dearborn, MI.

The Third Annual

ROEPER GALA

& GOLDEN APPLE AWARDS EVENING

featuring

MAYA ANGELOU

Celebrated Author & Poet

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1993
TROY MARRIOTT HOTEL
7-10 PM

THE DETROIT JEWIS H NEWS

hosted by WDIV• TV4's

118

CARMEN HARLAN & EMERY KING

1993 Golden Apple Awardees
MAYA ANGELOU
NORMA CARTER, STAN OVSHINSKY
ROSA PARKS, DUDLEY RANDALL

Limited Seating Available
For ticket information call The Roeper School • 313/642-15bO

This event is made possible in part by the generous donations of
The Lyon Foundation, Cadillac Motor Car, Goodwill Printing , WDIV•N4 & Uniglobe Macomb Travel, Inc.

9•••=1.111

hardly high-profile. It was a
place where Jews could
spend relaxing summer
days without worrying
about anti-Semitism,
endemic to many other
resorts at the time. The
resort attracted Jewish fam-
ilies from Michigan, Chicago
and as far away as Saint
Louis.
It was in South Haven
that Mr. Teitel met the love
of his life, Harriett
Mendelson, daughter of
David Mendelson, who
owned the resort. The cou-
ple married in 1940, then
left for Long Beach, Calif.,
where Mr. Teitel worked for
a ship-building company as
part of the war effort.
It was hot, dirty work in
the bowels of the ship.
While installing asbestos
insulation, Mr. Teitel was
exposed to large amounts of
carcinogin.
"That's how he contracted
the disease that killed him
40 years later," Mr. Cook
says.
In 1944, Mr. Teitel joined
the army and served in
Germany during World War
II. When Mr. Teitel
returned home two years
later, Harriett's father
asked him if he would work
as general manager of
Mendelson's.
Under Mr. Teitel's man-
agement, the resort boomed,
recalls Mr. Cook, who com-
pares it to the box-office
smash, Dirty Dancing. Mr.
Teitel, who had a flair for
carpentry, built card rooms
and cabanas. He helped
install a swimming pool and
tennis courts.
The Teitels were as popu-
lar as their facilities. Ben
and Harriett were born
hosts. Mrs. Teitel's warmth
mixed well with her hus-
band's gregariousness, for-
mer guests at the resort say.
Employees also remember
the Teitels with fondness.

"Ben and Harriett were
great bosses to work for,"
says Joel Shere.
Now a local attorney, Mr.
Shere and his friend, Alden
Leib, spent three summers
working together as busboys
and waiters at Mendelson's.
"It was kind of a mini
Catskills," he remembers.
"There were comedians who
were brought in and big-
name entertainment. Staff
put on musicals, like Guys
And Dolls and The Pajama
Game. I call Ben a sport. He
was handsome, a sharp
dresser, friendly. Harriett
was an angel. An absolute
doll. She watched over us
like she was our mother.
The Teitels ran a business,
but they also cared a lot
about the young college
kids, as we were then."
In his eulogy, Rabbi M.
Robert Syme of Temple
Israel noted that Mr. Teitel
was a generous man who
helped pay for the college
education of an employee.
"In spite of his success, he
never became arrogant,"
Rabbi Syme said.
Though the family was
not observant, the adopted
son, Robert, was bar mitz-
vah, and the Teitels became
major contributors of First
Hebrew Congregation, the
South Haven temple.
Then in 1963, the Teitel's
fortune took a turn for the
worse. Mrs. Teitel was diag-
nosed with cancer. Her
death, about a year later,
devastated Mr. Teitel. He
vowed he would never
marry again, and didn't.
He sold his and Harriett's
interest in the resort and
embarked upon a new
dream: to revitalize the fal-
tering economy of South
Haven. After Mendelson's
boom of the 1950s, Jews
began spending more of
their summertimes else-
where. New highways made
it easier to drive further