ESTHER ALLWEISS TSCHIRHART
Copy Editor

T

he Michalson brothers of
Novi have experienced
more than their fair share
of tragedy.
Their mother, Joan Penner
Michalson, suffered from multiple
sclerosis for 20 years before she died in
January 1998. Mark Michalson was
left to care for their sons. Then on
June 12, a heart attack took Mark's
life. Now the future is uncertain for
Jeremy, 20, and Benjamin, 16.
"This is a drama unfolding in our
community," said Otto Dube of Ira
Kaufman Chapel, where Michalson's
funeral was held on June 14. "These
are really sweet kids with no means of
support."
Dube said Ben and Jeremy have no
surviving grandparents, uncles or
aunts. Rabbi Aaron Bergman, who
gave the eulogy, noted that the boys'
only aunt, Mark's sister Estelle Rosen,
also died with MS, just six weeks after
their mother.
Jeremy, on break from Western
Michigan University, and Ben, who

6/23
2000

Community
seeks help
for orphaned
teen brothers.

was finishing his freshman year at Novi
High School, were both home when
they found their father. Michalson, 52,
was pronounced dead at Botsford
Hospital in Farmington Hills.
Facing a dire situation, the young
men had to decide what to do next.
Who should they contact for help?
"We called our cousin Seymour and
Muriel Posner (a niece of their late
grandmother Ruth Penner)," said
Jeremy, and the Southfield residents
came right to the hospital. The broth-
ers' next call went to Debbie Aaron of
Farmington Hills, whose parents Belle
and Sam Kayne had been close friends
with Mark's parents, Tillie and Hy

Mark, Ben,
to stay in Novi.
Jeremy and Joan
Jeremy has been
Michalson
working at the
in 1990.
Jewish Community
Center's hockey
camp in West Bloomfield.
"We made an appeal at the funeral
for the community to rally around
them," Rabbi Bergman said. Through
the intercession of the Aarons and
Otto and Patty Dube, a collection for
the Michalson brothers has been
established through Jewish Family
Service.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for
people to practice what they've been
taught: to look after our own, to lend
a helping hand to others," said Debbie
Aaron. In the absence of insurance or
a will, she hopes the community will
help the boys pay the mortgage and
immediate bills (the family home like-
ly will be sold) and also "offer these
boys a future, to ensure their educa-
tion."
Several families have asked to shel-
ter the boys. "It's a very gracious, lov-
ing offer," Aaron said, adding that a
family would not have to shoulder all
the cost if the community helps.
It is likely Ben will move in with
Elissa and Richard Berg of West
Bloomfield; Ben is friends with their
son Zach and would join him at West
Bloomfield High School. Jeremy, plan-
ning to return to college, may be made
his brother's guardian temporarily.
Aaron said the brothers already feel
Michalson. Arrangements were made
a
little
easier about managing things.
for the funeral. Debbie and husband
"I'm
surprised there are so many
Lou offered their home for the shiva.
people
who
care," Ben said shyly.
Rabbi Bergman taught Jeremy and
Jeremy
acknowledged
that -
Ben at Hillel Day School of
Kaufman
Chapel
handled
the funeral
Metropolitan Detroit. Jeremy had his
arrangements
free
of
charge
and
bar mitzvah at Congregation Beth
donated the monument for both par-
Abraham Hillel Moses (now Beth
ents; Machpelah Cemetery donated
Ahm), and Ben at Adat Shalom
the plot for Mark Michalson to rest
Synagogue.
beside his wife. A number of Hillel
At the funeral, Rabbi Bergman
parents have assisted as well.
spoke of how their loving parents had
The Michalson brothers "were so
" created them as good men."
afraid
they were going to be doing this
"I remember Joan coming to school
on
their
own," Aaron said, "but it's
in her wheelchair," Rabbi Bergman
not going to happen. People will not
said. 'And Mark made sure he was
let them sink.
home when the boys got home from
"All they've known is loss," she said.
school; he took that as a major
"It
would be wonderful if their moth-
responsibility."
er
could
look down and see, 'These
Debbie Aaron recalled Mark's devo-
boys
aren't
going to be forgotten."' ❑
tion to his wife, how he'd carry Joan
up and down the stairs at home. The
family situation influenced their sons'
To help, send a check payable to
characters. "They're good, solid kids,"
Jewish Family Service to JFS,
said Dube, "and it was nice to see how
24234 Greenfield, Southfield,
many of their friends showed up at
MI 48075; in memo portion
the funeral."
write: Michalson brothers.
Since the tragedy, Ben said he has
Donations are tax deductible.
been "moving around" to the homes
of several friends, while Jeremy prefers