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DETROIT

THE JEWISH N

3 ADAR I,

5 7 5 5 /FEBRUARY 3, 1995

Forget Them Not

42 Jewish residents remain at the old Borman Hall.

RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER

M

idge Appel knows agencies within the com-
about Menorah munity: Jewish Federation
House, a nursing Apartments, Fleischman
facility in Residence and Sinai
Southfield, and she supports Hospital.
it as the new Jewish home
The current census at
for frail elderly. But her Heartland is 72. The home
mother, 85-year-old Frieda is licensed for 147 beds.
Zabell, remains at
Residents of Heartland
Heartland, the former will continue to receive
Borman Hall.
kosher meals prepared in
Mrs. Zabell is familiar
with the Alzheimer's unit
at Heartland, Ms. Appel
explained, and she is ac-
quainted with most of the
staff, about 85 percent of
whom worked at Borman.
"My mother is comfort-
able there," she said. "The
staff knows her and that
contributes to her peace of
mind and happiness."
Ever since the Jewish
Federation sold the old
Borman Hall and Frank
Wronski opened the new, Anna, Bud and Muriel Sherbow at
private Menorah House Heartland.
last November, residents
have been split about
where to call home.
the facility's two Vaad-su-
Heartland Community pervised kitchens, although
Care Center on Seven Mile the Jewish Federation's fi-
Road in Detroit is still home nancial support of those
to 42 Jewish elderly, 39 of kitchens ended in January.
whom resided at Borman Mary Lee Jackson,
and three who recently were Heartland administrator,
admitted to Heartland from says she will not market the

facility as a Jewish home.
"We will meet the needs
of our residents, though
we're not targeting any one
ethnicity or religious group,"
Ms. Jackson says.
In late November, the
Jewish Federation and
United Jewish Foundation
sold Borman Hall to the
Heartland group. After the
sale, 54 of Borman Hall's
90-some residents relocat-
ed to an entirely different
nursing facility called
Menorah House, located
on Greenfield Road in
Southfield.
Most relocations from
the former Borman Hall to
Menorah House took place
between November and
the end of last month.
Federation has pledged to
supply Menorah House
with religious and cultur-
al programming, and Mr.
Wronski has promised to
operate it as a Jewish
home.
But, despite the Menorah
House option, some Jewish
residents say they chose to
remain at Heartland in part
because of its more spacious
surroundings. Others stay
because they enjoy their pri-
FORGET page 8

Close Up

BUCK'S
SHOT

After quitting boxing fol-
lowing his first loss as a
professional, Scotty Buck
has returned to the ring
more determined than
ever to be a champion.

STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER
(. _ - :7;! on page 38

Contents on page 3

Pamela Grossman, weeks before she died on 1-75.

How The World Changed
In One Afternoon

Four years after the death of their daughter, a family lives with
unsettling quiet and pain.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR

"I really don't know how to answer
amela helped pick this place, a
comfortable, open house with all those people who ask, 'How do you do
flower boxes, decorated with it?' " Ms. Zeitman says. "What choice do
hearts, on the outside. It's the you have? Either you die or, well, you
first thing visitors see when carry on."
they pull into the driveway.
Ms. Zeitman describes Pamela as
Pamela had a playroom in the base- "wonderful, so bright." She liked to cook,
ment and an upstairs bedroom that over- to read, to play games. She loved her doll,
looked the front yard. In the den, she "Ba," who is buried with her at the Beth
liked to sing while her father played the El Cemetery.
piano. "Over the Rainbow" was a fa-
Not long ago, Mr. Grossman and Ms.
vorite.
Zeitman tackled another challenge in
These days, sedate classical music is this never-ending sadness when the Rev.
piped throughout the home. It's one of Denis McMahon, who killed their daugh-
the only sounds to break the harshness ter, was released from prison. He served
of an unsettling quiet.
18 months before being let out on elec-
Pamela Jane Grossman lived in this tronic tether.
Rochester Hills home for three weeks.
The Grossmans seem resigned to the
Then she was killed.
fact that the Rev. McMahon is no longer
In July 1990, a priest, driving with- in prison. Keeping him there won't bring
out a license, ran into an embankment Pamela back, they say.
offI-75, hitting Pamela and her mother,
But they are troubled at the thought
Suzanne Zeitinan. Pamela died the next that the Rev. McMahon will be able to
day.
drive again.
Four-and-a-half years since Pamela's
"One of our main concerns has been
death, Jerrold Grossman and Suzanne to keep him off the road, so he can't do
Zeitman cannot find words to describe this to someone else," Ms. Zeitinan says.
the loss of their only child.
AFTERNOON page 8