Obituaries

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Fighter For Israel

Detroiter Rudy Newman was a gun-runner and air force pioneer in 1948.

BOBBI CHARNAS

Editorial Assistant

Il

e was larger than life. His courage and
strength were an inspiration for all of us,"
remembered his son Bill.
Rudolph Newman began showing that
courage and strength at age 16 when, as a student at
Detroit Central High School during World War II, he
told recruiters he was 17. He trained as a radio naviga-
tor and then became a fighter pilot in the Pacific. He
served on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Lexington through
the end of the war and received a Distinguished Flying
Cross.
He returned to Detroit in 1946, graduated from
Michigan State College (now MSU) in 1948, and
began studying law at Wayne University.
Approached by Rabbi Irwin Gordon of Hillel
House at Wayne to fly supplies to pre-state Palestine,
Mr. Newman found his sense of adventure and love of
flying was greater than his commitment to law. He
flew circuitous routes at odd hours to pick up arms
from Czechoslovakia and deliver them to Jewish corn-
munities throlighout Israel, avoiding the British block-
ade.
Mr. Newman was one of 200 men in 1948 who
served the Air Services of the Haganah Central

Command under David Ben-Gurion; that later
became Israel's first air force. He also flew as a pilot on
one of El Al's first flights. Mr. Newman, of Bloomfield
Hills, died Jan. 18 at age 74.
Mr. Newman met his wife,
Ann, in Israel. They were mar-
ried in a 1949 ceremony,
attended by many of the
Israeli air force pilots.
After the birth of their first
son, the Newmans returned to
Detroit in 1952. He worked
in mortgage banking and
eventually owned his own
company.
Mr. Newman maintained
close ties with Israel. He made
frequent trips; his final visit
Rudy Newman
was with his family for
Passover in the spring of
2000, shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer._
In addition to their support of Israel and Zionist
causes, he and his wife, Ann, supported many religious
and educational institutions.
"He was so quiet and unassuming, but he was a
hero of the Jewish people — a movie should be made
of his life and maybe it will," said Irwin Cohen of Oak

Park, a local Jewish historian.
In 2000, the Southfield-based Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
honored Mr. Newman with its Golden Torah Award.
"His life has been dedicated to the causes of the Jewish
people; bringing our homeland into existence and sup-
porting the education of the next generation of Jews,"
U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn, general chairman for
award dinner, said at the time.
Rudolph Newman is survived by his wife, Ann
Newman; sons and daughters-in-law, Eugene Charles
and Robin Newman of Bloomfield Hills, Robert
Sherman and Judy Newman of West Bloomfield,
William Gary and Natalie Newman of West
Bloomfield; brother and sister-in-law, Stanford Donald
and Victoria Newman of Warren; grandchildren,
Michael, Sarah, Samuel, Jesse, Elizabeth, Daniel,
Benjamin, Jeremiah, Abigail, Rachel, Jacob, Aaron,
Shoshannah, Caitlin, Eli, Josh, Jonah; great-grandchil-
dren, Rebekah, Eden. Mr. Newman was the loving
brother of the late Norma Shoemaker.
Contributions may be made to Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah, P.O. Box 2044, Southfield, MI 48037 or the
Leukemia Foundation of-Michigan, 29777 Telegraph,
Southfield, MI 48034. Interment was at Clover Hill
Park Cemetery in Birmingham.
Services and arrangements by Hebrew Memorial
Chapel. ❑

Of The Book

Milton Marwil endowed his love of learning for all Detroiters.

ESTHER ALLWEISS TSCHIRHART

Special to the Jewish News

F

or generations of Wayne State
University students, "Marwil"
was the name on the Cass
Avenue bookstore where they
bought their textbooks. "Marwil" is also
the name of the popular Jewish film
series presented by the Jewish
Community Center of Metropolitan
Detroit.
The erudite man behind both ven-
tures, Milton Marwil, 91, of West
Bloomfield, died Jan. 17 from heart dis-
ease.
Born in Detroit, Mr. Marwil was a
World War II veteran who never
stopped learning. He was a 1931 gradu-
ate of the University of Michigan, where
he also earned a master's in history. At
91, he was University of Michigan-
Dearborn's oldest student, taking cours-
es in politics and literature.
Sarah Lamstein of Newton, Mass.,
said, "Shabbos was a key part" of the life

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100

of her father, a former president of
Congregation B'nai Moshe. "He cele-
brated it religiously, in all senses of the
word." •
Typically say-
ing, "Am I glad
it's Friday
night!', he
would bless his
wife and chil-
dren. "It was his
day to be king
— not in a lord-
ly way, but to be
at rest," said
Lamstein. "It
Milton Marwil
was a happy
time for him, a
time of good food, family, prayer and
rest."
Grandpa was "an amazing storyteller,"
recalled Emily Rynd of Brooklyn, N.Y.
"He would make up stories for us about
Tom Sawyer and his brother Sid."
Mr. Marwil wrote for the Jerusalem
Post and belonged to Cranbrook

Writers Guild, Friends of the Detroit
Public Library, Jewish Historical
Society of Michigan and the JCC's
Institute for Retired Professionals. He
was a past president of Hebrew Free
Loan Association and the Zionist
Organization of America-Detroit
District, and received ZOA's lifetime
achievement award and the Detroit
Jewish community's Eight Over
Eighty Award.
Mr. Marwil was a founder of the
Jewish Book Fair and its children's
book fair.

College Landmark

The Marwil Book Store was family-
owned from 1948-1983. Mr. Marwil
started the endowment for the JCC's
Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival in
memory of his late wife. Before Mrs.
Marwil's death in 1997, Ann Kainan
said her Zionist parents would visit her
and her family in Israel each year.
Mr. Marwil is survived by his daugh-

ters and sons-in-law, Sarah and Joel
Lamstein of Newton, Mass., and Ann
and Yossi Kainan of Raanana, Israel;
sons and daughters-in-law, Joel of
Farmington, Dr. David and Judy
Marwil of Lexington, Ky., and Dr.
Daniel Ivy Marwil of Providence, R.I.;
grandchildren Joshua Lamstein, Emily
(Robert) Rynd, Abigail Lamstein,
Joseph, Isaac, Robert, Zachary and
Noah Marwil, Judy and Noa Kainan;
great-granddaughter Lila Rose Rynd.
He was the beloved husband of the late
Lenore Marwil.
Contributions may be made to
Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival
6600 W. Maple Road, West Blomfield,
MI 48322; Hebrew Free Loan
Association , 6735 Telegraph Road,
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301; or Hillel
Day School of Metropolitan Detroit,
32200 Middlebelt Road, Farmington
Hills, MI 48334.
Interment at Clover Hill Park
Cemetery. Arrangements by Ira
Kaufman Chapel. ❑