a fq The Family of the Late ANNIE KLEINMAN Announces the unveiling of a monument in her loving memory 12:00 p.m., Sunday, September 24, at Hebrew Memorial Park. Rabbi Rosenzzeig will officiate. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. A Champion's Life The Family of the Late DAVID SACHS StaffWriter SIDNEY NICKIN Announces the unveiling of a monument in his memory 2:00 p.m., Sunday, September 24, 2000, at Oakview Cemetery. Rabbi Bitran will officiate. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. BLANKA OPAS The wife of Michael Opas (Holocaust Survivor) Announces the unveiling of a monument in his memory 11:00 a.m., Sunday, September 24, 2000, at Hebrew Memorial Park. Friends are invited to attend. The Family of the Late LOUIS WECHSLER Announces the unveiling of a monument in his memory 9:00 a.m., Sunday, September 24, at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Rabbi Loss will officiate. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. In Loving Memory of In Beloved Memory of ERVIN GOLDING CARL SATTLER Who passed away August 21, 1999, Who passed away September 15, 1996. You are always with us in our hearts and always remembered and loved by, Kathy, Howard, Janis, Ronny, Diane and grandchildren. the 11 Tishri 5760. Sadly missed and always remembered by his wife, children and grandchildren. RODNICK BROS., INC. .fruit' Gift Basket Specialists (810) 772-4350 Daily & Nationwide Delivery WE'RE NUMBER ONE SINCE 1940! 1 4ster Cd , 0 9 04, Advertise in our Arts & Entertainment Section! 9/15 Call The Sales Department 2000 (248) 354-7123 Ext. 209 174 DIITROCT AIME inn= iTN y uri Rabinovich was a brilliant fencer — a child prodigy and junior Soviet champion. At age 20, he defected to the West and ultimately found a home in the fencing hotbed of Detroit, win- ning national champi- onships at Wayne State University. In the more than two decades since as a fenc- ing coach, he used his expertise, charisma and love of the sport to spawn a new gener- ation of champions. Mr. Rabinovich, 49, of Beverly Hills, died of a stroke Aug. 31 while on a golfing Yuri Rabinovich vacation to South Carolina. The trip was to celebrate what would have been his 50th birthday Sept. 3 and 20th wedding anniversary Sept. 6. More than 150 people, many of them students and friends from the Fencing Academy of Michigan, attended a memorial service Sept. 10 at WSU's McGregor Memorial Conference Center. "When Yuri fenced, he was incredi- bly intimidating, incredibly intimidat- ing," said longtime student Bonnie Topper of Southfield. "Then he would take off his mask and charm the per- son he'd just beaten the hell out of. "He was not intimidating to the youngsters, though," she said. "He became almost an uncle to them." Mr. Rabinovich began his fencing odyssey in Odessa, USSR, where he started training as a 6-year-old. According to his wife Suzanne, he also excelled in boxing and karate while in the Soviet Army. He defected from the Soviet Union during a fencing tourna- ment in 1970 in Paris and wandered through Europe for three years. While staying in Netanya, Israel, he joined the Israeli Olympic fencing team. He was devastated when he took ill at the time of the Games and had to be left behind. The team went on without him to the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, where his coach Andre Spitzer was one of 11 Israelis murdered by Arab terrorists. Mr. Rabinovich came to the United States in 1973 and caught the eye of renowned Wayne State fencing mae- stro Istvan Danosi, who offered him a scholarship. Mr. Rabinovich went on to win two NCAA championships in saber fencing, a format that targets the opponent above the waist. He was also a master of the two other fencing weapons, foil and epee, qualifying him as a maestro. Toward the end of the decade, Mr. Rabinovich became assistant coach of the WSU team and later spent three years as fencing coach at the University of Detroit. He eventually opened a studio in his house to give private lessons and served as master of the nonprofit Fencing Academy of Michigan. Mr. Rabinovich sought to convey his love of fencing to children. "My son started when he was 8," said Topper. "He watched me fence and wanted to give it a try. He was a natural from the beginning and Yuri was his teacher. "Yuri was like a Pied Piper. People would come to the academy and be drawn to the sport just because of the strength of his personality." Topper's son Mike received a fencing scholarship to Brandeis University and was NCAA champion for two years. Connie Whitmer of West Bloomfield was a fencing student whose son Darrin began 10 years of daily lessons at age 8. Darrin began classes at St. John's University in New York City on a fencing scholar- ship this year and hopes to compete in the 2004 Olympics in Greece. Ann Marsh, a former student of Mr. Rabinovich, is currently competing in the Olympics in Sydney, Australia. "Yuri not only taught the kids fenc- ing, but he also taught them life," Whitmer said. "He instilled his values in the kids and taught them how to win, how to lose, and how to make decisions in life. "He was such a wonderful man," she added, "kind, intelligent, talented. All he wanted to do was to pass on his love and knowledge of fencing to the next generation." Yuri Rabinovich is survived by his wife, Suzanne Weller Rabinovich, and sister and brother-in-law Rimma and Haim Aaron of Israel.0