Mazel Toy!

Family And A smile

One of Fleischman's
original residents
has a birthday next week.

CARI WALDMAN

Special to the Jewish News

I

magine coming ro America at 17,
not speaking a word of English,
or recognizing something as mod-
est as a banana.
Fannie Whiteman has vivid memo-
ries of those years. Yet now, 80 years
later, ask the vibrant Americanized
woman what her secret to success is and
she immediately credits her loving chil-
dren and the companionship she has
with her 91-year-old baby sister, Ida
Lewis.
"My life is not a story, it is
`Historia,‘" says Whiteman, who will
turn 97 on Nov. 9.
In 1920, Whiteman came to Detroit
from Poland along with her sisters and
mother. Her father, a carpenter, had
arrived years earlier and saved money to
send for them.
Within a year after her arrival,
Whiteman met her handsome sweet-
heart — also a carpenter — and became
Mrs. Jacob Whiteman. Renting a flat for
$15 a month on the corrier, of Hastings
and Warren in Detroit, Fannie set up
home with her new husband and par-
ents. "I cooked and cleaned, making
strudel, blintzes and cold borscht — the
table was always full. We made the best
of it," Whiteman recalls.
Within the next few years, Jacob and
Fannie gave birth to two daughters, Sara
in 1922, and Evelyn, three years later. "I
remember standing in line at
Commonwealth Bank," says Sara,
"holding my mother's hand while they
were handing out small amounts of
money during the Depression."
And Evelyn reminisces about her
mother's triumphant spirit. "In spite of
the times, she always kept a beautiful
home, with traditional chicken soup and
sponge cake every Friday night."

Top: Fannie Whiteman will turn 97 Nov. 9. Above: Family time: Sara Berlin, Ida Lewis, Fannie Whiteman and Evelyn Berlin.

Jacob, who later went on to
become a contractor, died in 1956 of
colon cancer. Not wanting to be
alone, Fannie gave up her home in
Detroit to live in Southfield with
daughter Sara, son-in-law Max Berlin
and their three children. "My mother
became an integral part of our house-
hold," says Sara, "making sure dinner
was on the table and that the kids
made it onto the Hebrew school bus.
Today they have not forgotten that."
After 28 years with the Berlins,

Fannie's grandson Steven told the family
about a proposed new building in West
Bloomfield. And at that point, 15 years
ago, at age 84, Fannie became one of
the first residents at Fleischman
Residence.
"There was no carpeting and no
elevator when I moved here," says
Fannie. "But little by little, they
assured me more people would
come. Now this is my home, and for
the past five years my sister Ida has
lived in the room next to me. We

look out for each other this way.
"The other day," says Ida, "when I
wasn't feeling so good, Fannie knocked
on my door to check on me. My sister
has a heart of gold."
Fannie is looking forward, not back.
She is anticipating seeing all five of her
grandchildren and 12 great-grandchil-
dren together next June at the wed-
ding of great-grandson Aaron
Weitzman to Karen Dorfman.
Says Fannie about the reunion, "I
will feel like I'm in heaven." 7

))

11 /5
-1999

Detroit Jewish News

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