Job In Retirement Has Lasted 22 Years
ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR
L
ouis Ellenson assured the
caller to the synagogue of-
fice that he would notify the
clergy. He wished his ill
friend a speedy recovery, then re-
turned to his books.
At Congregation Beth Achim,
Lou Ellenson's "books" could be
prayer books or financial records.
He has been equally adept with
both for most of his life.
At 88, Mr. Ellenson has been
the volunteer bookkeeper at Beth
Achim for 22 years. A year after
retiring from his railroad job in
1971, he told the synagogue, "I'll
be a $1-a-year man and come in
and take care of the books."
That $1 a year is actually
$2,500, which is still a small
amount for someone who works
three hours each day to send data
to a computer, prepare dues
statements, and record incoming
checks while continuing to pay
his regular dues to the syna-
gogue.
"When I offered my services,"
Mr. Ellenson said, "I told them
Pd come in when I want and I'd
leave when I want. But I guess
the price was right."
The congregation has offered
several times to raise his self-im-
posed salary, but Mr. Ellenson
refuses. "I just need a little mon-
ey to donate to various charities"
— including yeshi-vot here and in
Israel.
Mr. Ellenson was born in 1906
in Poland and
Louis Ellenson:
his family em-
Two sets of books._ igrated to Lon-
don, Ontario, when he was a tod-
dler. His father, who was Ortho-
dox, began taking Lou to religious
services when the family moved
to Detroit.
He attended cheder in London
"with an old-style European
teacher" but he became a Con-
servative Jew "because I felt a
family should be able to pray to-
gether."
He is a past president of Con-
gregation Beth Aaron, a fore-
runner of Beth Achim, is a
regular at daily prayer services,
and led the High Holiday pre-
liminary services for 40 years.
Cantor Max Shimansky de-
scribes Mr. Ellenson as Mr. Con-
sistency. "He knows everybody in
"For organizations
or in the vineyards
of the Lord."
— Louis Ellenson
the congregation and he knows
everything that is going on. He
very rarely misses a day."
Mr. Ellenson, however, admits
to a few changes in recent years.
He no longer walks to the syna-
gogue from his home five blocks
away. "In the last year," he says,
"my feet wouldn't cooperate with
me so I have to drive."
Mr. Ellenson has a routine: He
comes to Beth Achim for morn-
ing services, stays for three hours
to work on the books, returns to
the home he shares with his son
and then comes back to Beth
Achim for evening services.
"I have chores at home," he
says. "I buy prepared foods and I
have someone come in to clean
the house. But I make the salads
and there are clothes to be
washed."
He entered this "retirement"
after a lifetime of work. He left
old Central High School (now
Wayne State University's Old
Main building) after 10th grade
to help his family. He began
working at Michigan Drug Co. in
1922 for $10 a week, then his
brother found him a job with the
railroad at $4.23 a day.
He ultimately was appointed
joint agent-treasurer of the Union
Belt of Detroit Railroad, a switch-
ing carrier owned by the Wabash,
Pere Marquette and Pennsylva-
nia railroads.
After retiring in 1971 at age 65
with his wife Edith, a school-
teacher in Detroit for 40 years, he
decided that he needed to be busy
and to give something back to the
community.
"I could work for organizations
or in the vineyards of the Lord,"
Mr. Ellenson says. "I decided the
synagogue is the best place to do
it."
Mr. Ellenson also has a daugh-
ter and granddaughter in New
Hampshire. His wife died five
years ago.
Phyllis Strome, executive di-
rector at Beth Achim for the last
two years, credits Mr. Ellenson
with teaching her a lot about her
job.
"He is continuity," she says.
"He has such a love of this place,
and his love is contagious. He's
one of the most wonderful people
I've ever met in my life.
"He does this out of his love for
Judaism and his love for the syn-
agogue. He's genuine."
Mr. Ellenson believes the best
retirement is when a person has
plenty of money to do what he
wants. "I've got my railroad pen-
sion and social security, so I've
got no worries as long as I've got
my health.
"The work keeps me happy
and healthy." D
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