Obituaries Obituaries are updated regularly and archived on JN Online: www.detroitjewishnews.com Clues To A He aler Dr. Abraham Becker DAVID SACHS Staff Writer D r. Abraham Becker, of Bloomfield Hills, who died April 28 at age 90, was the longtime chief of pul- monary medicine at Sinai Hospital in Detroit. He was also a fan of the fictional super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes. And Dr. Becker duplicated detective Holmes' techniques in his practice — using acute powers of observation and superior brainpower to become a medical "sleuth" in his own right. He was known as a master diagnos- tician among his peers. "It's all deduction in medicine; you're given clues," said his wife of 52 years, Dorothea Becker. Dr. Jeff Parker of West Bloomfield, part- ner with Dr. Becker for 15 years until the latter's retirement in 1979, noticed a problem with Dr. Becker's patients when he first joined the practice. "When I finished an examination they would say, 'You're not done, are you?"' he said. "'Dr. Becker would spend much more time and go into much more detail,' they would say." Son Dan Becker once witnessed his father examine a friend at the dinner table. "I saw the change in my dad," he said. "He became intense, highly alert, highly focused, as an athlete at the starting blocks. His whole being was put into the examination." His son remembers his father poring over medical journals late at night; journals were piled so high that the desk they rested upon teetered under the weight. Said Dr. Parker, "Dr. Becker would integrate the academic and the clinical in a way that very few physicians could. All the doctors would come to see him when they got sick." Peggy Jo Wise Marcuse of Huntington Woods said her father, the late Judge John M. Wise of Wayne County Circuit Court, was always very grateful for the doctor's ability. Dr. Becker diagnosed Judge Wise's cancer in time for him to seek successful treatment at the Mayo Clinic. "I remember my father always saying, Abe saved my life,'" she said. The judge was just one of many patients who could so testify. Dr. Becker graduated from Central High School in Detroit with highest honors and was Phi Beta Kappa at the University of Michigan and Alpha Omega Alpha, a similar distinction, at its medical school from which he graduated in 1934. He spent the next four years at the U-M Hospital, followed by a practice in Detroit associated with Harper Hospital. Beginning in 1942, he served in the army with Harper's 17th General Hospital in Europe, and was on his way to the Pacific when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Returning from service in 1946, Dr. Becker resumed his practice at Harper and helped estab- lish Sinai Hospital in 1954. Dr. Becker was a clinical professor of medicine throughout his career. He served one year as chief of medicine at Sinai and one year as chair of the doctors' group of the Allied Jewish Campaign. He and Dorothea were among the founding families of Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park. Praising her role was Emanu-El Rabbi Joseph Klein, who spoke at Dr. Becker's funeral April 30 at Ira Kaufman Chapel. "Dorothea enabled Abe to become the dedicated and honored professional he became," said the rabbi. "And in these last several years, as Abe's health began to decline, it was Dorothea who gave him such extraordinary care." Dr. Becker is survived by his wife, Dorothea; son and daughter-in-law Daniel and Naomi Becker of Israel; daughter Rachel Becker of Keego Harbor; grandchildren Yochai, Tamir, Amitai and Arnon Becker and Emily, Eric and Andrew Shepley. Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Jewish National Fund for the Abraham Becker Forest in Israel or Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington Hills. ❑ Cardinal O'Connor, • Foe OfAntisemitzsm New York/JTA — Jewish leaders are joining Catholics in mourning the loss of New York's Cardinal John O'Connor, who died May 3 at the age of 80. Cardinal O'Connor was heralded as a man of conscience who helped improve Catholic-Jewish relations. "He had the largest Jewish diocese in the world," said Rabbi Mordecai Waxman of Temple Israel in Great Neck, N.Y., a past leader of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations. Cardinal O'Connor was known for his fierce opposition to anti- Cardinal O'Connor semitism. "No one who is truly Catholic can be an antisemite. It's a contradiction in terms," the cardinal said when he was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by the Reform move- ment's Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, making him the first Catholic cardinal to be so honored by a Jewish seminary. In line with these beliefs, Cardinal O'Connor sent a letter last year to his Jewish friends before the High Holidays express- ing his remorse for violence committed against the Jews throughout the ages. Though he omitted any direct reference to the Holocaust, Jewish leaders took his statement as a positive step toward bridging the gap between Catholics and Jews. "I ask this Yom Kippur that you understand my own abject sorrow for any member of the Catholic Church, high or low, who may have harmed you or you forebears in any way," he wrote. "The Jewish people lost a champion and I lost a friend," said Rabbi A. James Rudin, interreligious affairs director for the American Jewish Committee. Rabbi Rudin said he was inspired when he inquired as to the cardinal's well being. Cardinal O'Connor replied, "Rabbi Jim, every day is a holiday." "He meant the joy of it all," Rabbi Rudin said. "He loved being the cardinal." Rabbi Rudin also recognized Cardinal O'Connor's role in matters concerning the Jewish state. "I consider him a chief architect in establishing Vatican-Israel relations." In 1987, Cardinal O'Connor made a landmark visit to Jordan and Israel, where he provoked controversy over his endorsement of a Palestinian homeland and acquiesced in a Vatican request to downgrade his meetings with Israeli officials. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations heavily criticized him, but the same group later recognized him for his role in urging the pope to grant political recognition to the Jewish state. "He set the bar very high in terms of what should be done vis-a-vis Jews," Rabbi Rudin said. Aside from his achievements as a community leader who often spoke out against popular opinion, Cardinal O'Connor will also be remembered for his sense of humor. Rabbi Aaron Landes, senior rabbi of Beth Sholom Congregation in Elkins Park, Pa, served as a Navy chaplain with the Father O'Connor. He remembered a Christmas trip to Antarctica to visit sailors. "He regaled us with stories, especially about the seals," remi- nisced Rabbi Landes, who laughed as he remembered of Father O'Connor as he "acted out the parts .of the seals." 5/12 2000 173