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www.detroitjewishnews.com

After attending a screening of the
movie Patch Adams, about a doctor
who wore a red clown nose to ease th
fears of his patients,, Mrs. Disner
acquired several hundred red clown
noses from the promoters to distribu
at Children's Hospital in Detroit.
Friends from IBM praised the kin
ness she extended to her co-workers.
She mentored younger employees an
took a personal interest in them.
When a friend was overwhelmed wit
her daughter's wedding plans, Mrs.
Disner took over all the details and
even handcrafted many of the accou-
trements herself. "It's a privilege to
_ help," she told her friend.
Harve Disner's mother, Devora
Disner, said her son and daughter-in
law, married 27 years, "had the great
est life and did everything together..
Susie told me that she didn't get a
mother-in-law with me but a mother
Susan Disner
Susan Disner arranged for a famil
and Gabi
portrait to be taken over Thanksgivi
with members of the Disner family
from California. Rabbi Krakoff said,
"Susie'wanted this photo so badly
because she said, 'Who knows the
next time when the whole family wil
be together again?"'
Gabi, a 50-pound Hungarian
Vizsla, was Mrs. Disner's constant
companion. At Somerset Collection
Troy, she and her dog often attracte
crowd, enjoying the tricks Gabi did
Three decades ago, Mrs. Disner
for thein.
helped her husband get established in
At Children's Hospital, Gabi wou
the auto brokerage business and more
jump up on the beds to the delight
recently spent several days in Lansing
the child patients. "Susie's biggest
monitoring legislation affecting that
pleasure was taking Gabi to see the
business.
kids," said her mother-in-law.
For 31 years, she served IBM as an
Gabi sat in the front row at Mrs.
administrative assistant to top execu-
Disner's funeral at Ira Kaufman
tives in the Detroit district. In
Chapel. At the shiva house, Gabi w •
December 1998, she joined the Gale
a torn, black ribbon of mourning.
Group in Farmington Hills as execu-
. Thinking of his wife, Harve Disn
tive assistant to Chief Executive
said, "I can't use the word `Mommy
Officer Allen Paschal.
around Gabi anymore. She wants to
Paschal admired Mrs. Disner's
look around for her."
"people-first" mentality. "It was
"Susie was the ambassador of goo
always non-confrontational — she
cheer," Rabbi Krakoff said. "It is sa
built consensus, she got people on
ironic that Susie loved to help peopl
board and excited," he said. "I even
and that is how she died — just bei
put her on the executive committee
Susie."
to make sure she helped teach the
Mrs. Disner is survived by her h
executives. She was a tremendous
band,
Harve Disner; father Milton
influence there.
Bloom of Southfield; mother Franc
"If she knew I was going to dinner
Goldsberry of Washington; father-i
on the weekend, without me even
law and mother-in-law Jerry and
knowing, she would call to make sure
Devora Disner; brothers Sam Mand
I had a particular waiter or waitress
of Pennsylvania and Harold Bloom.
that she knew was good at that restau-
Interment was at Clover Hill Park
rant. She was that attentive and that
Cemetery. Contributions may be ma
detail-oriented and always trying to
to Paws With a Cause, 4646 South
take care of people."
Division, Wayland, MI 49348.
Her resourcefulness was legendary.

To Children
nd Colleagues

DAVID SACHS
Editorial Assistant

S

usie Disner kept in her base-
ment 50 spools of ribbon on
a large rack — ribbon of
every width, color and tex-

ture.
She used the ribbons freely and
gave of herself as well. When she'd
visit a friend with home-baked cook-
ies, the platter would be adorned with
doilies and bows. When she hosted a
multitude of family and friends on
Thanksgiving, ribbons festively flowed
from the chairs. She had a heart of
gold and a Martha Stewart flair.
On weekends, she and her dog,
Gabi, visited patients at Children's
Hospital of Michigan, utilizing pet
therapy to uplift the young patients'
spirits.
Susan Disner, 53, of Farmington
Hills, whose one motivation in life
was to bring joy to- others, was
stabbed to death Dec. 27 in her
brother's Farmington apartment. The
brother, Harold David Bloom, 52,
was charged with first-degree murder.
Mrs. Disner's husband, Harve, said
his wife's brother had psychological

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2000

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and personal problems, but "Susie was
his mother, his sister, his nursemaid,
his driver — anything he wanted, in
the middle of the night, she would go
to him.
"Obviously, it's a terrible thing. He
killed the one person who loved him
more than anyone else in the world."
At her Dec. 30 funeral, Mrs.
Disner's friend, Rabbi Joseph Krakoff
of Congregation Shaarey Zedek, said,
"Our challenge is not to dwell on the
tragic circumstances of her death, but
to remember the love, the joy and the
accomplishments. This is how Susie
should be remembered."
Brother-in-law Eliot Disner, of
Brentwood, Calif, compared Mrs.
Disner with actress Mary Tyler Moore,
who portrayed the assistant to a televi-
sion newsroom boss. "There were
louder, fatter, funnier, bolder people
surrounding Susie wherever she went,
but she was always the thoughtful
center," he said.
Eliot Disner's wife, Sandi, said,
"Susie's gentle demeanor, propriety
and sweetness made her incapable of
uttering a harsh word or a cutting
remark. She was the glue that held us
all together."

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