A Giant Of Law
and to respond."
rofessor Boaz Siegel was a
The congressman also noted his
towering figure at the
friend's
"long involvement in activi-
Wayne State University
ties
in
the
Jewish community."
law school, said longtime
Professor
Siegel was known for a
friend U.S. Rep. Sander Levin.
lifetime
of
service
to the Labor-
At 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds,
Zionist
Alliance
and
the Jewish
Levin said, "Buzz was as large in his
Parents Institute. He
persona as in his person."
was also a member of
Professor Siegel, who
Sholem Aleichem
served on the WSU law
Institute, Workmen's
faculty for more than 40
Circle, American Jewish
years, died Sept. 22, 2002,
Congress, American
at his Laguna Woods,
Jewish Committee and
Calif., home. An arbitra-
a board member of the
tor as well as .a teacher, he
Jewish Community
specialized in labor, con-
Center of Metropolitan
tract and administrative
Detroit. He founded
law.
and endowed the Boaz
Professor Siegel, 87,
Siegel Fund for Senior
died of acute liver cancer
Adults
at the JCC.
— an exacerbation of
In 1952, Professor
esophageal cancer he had
Boaz Siegel
Siegel began service as
suffered the year before.
legal counsel to the
"He was an exceptional
trustees of many multi-employer,
professor at WSU law and a pioneer
jointly
administered health, welfare
in the metro Detroit construction
and pension funds throughout
industry for many decades," said
Michigan. He had been active since
Levin. "He combined a demanding
the inception of these funds, acting
expectation of students, clients and
as adviser in the fields of economics,
colleagues with a deep personal con-
insurance, taxes, investment, litiga-
cern for them."
tion and policies, as well as the
Professor Siegel's son, Dr. Joel
problems of aging citizens.
Siegel, said his father "made his life's
Beginning in the mid-1940s,
passion to protect the well-being of .
Professor
Siegel sat on the labor dis-
others, to encompass their needs, to
putes
arbitration
panel of the
sensitively understand their issues
ED
to Mrs. Kron — "this most remark-
able patient" — in 1962 while intern-
ing at Sinai Hospital in Detroit. She
became world-famous, he said, for
having "learned more about Crohn's
disease from the viewpoint of the
patient than anyone else, and learning
to navigate her illness."
Mrs. Kron willingly shared that
knowledge, making phone calls, send-
ing e-mails and mailing materials, to
help people around the world manage
their own chronic conditions.
"She was a wonderful counselor,"
said Dr. Sills.
Mrs. Kron lectured at medical con-
ferences and wrote two books pertain-
ing to her own and other chronic ill-
nesses. The Crohn's and Colitis
Foundation of America published her
monthly 'Ask Audrey" column. Dr.
Kron and a couple of her close friends
plan to edit her last writing project,
From Hurt to Hope, a compilation of
stories about people successfully deal-
ing with chronic illness.
Among her enduring interests was
the Lit Group, a monthly book club
she founded 35 years ago with her
friend Edith Broida. Mrs. Kron also
belonged to professional organizations
and several clubs at Birmingham
Temple, where she organized a half
dozen of their annual retreat week-
ends, Dr. Kron said. They joined the
temple 28 years ago.
" Not letting her illness stop them,
the Krons traveled widely, including
yearly trips to visit her family in
Hawaii.
Dr. Sills said simply, "For many
people, Audrey was a hero."
Arderican Arbitration Association. In
1961, he wrote Proving Your
Arbitration Case while serving as a •
member of the National Academy of
Arbitrators of the Bureau of
National Affairs.
In the late 1950s and 1960s,
Professor Siegel's expertise in labor
matters led to his appointment to
advisory committees by Michigan
Govs. G. Mennen Williams, John B.
Swainson and George Romney,
Detroit Councilman Mel Ravitz and
U.S. Secretary of Lab-or Arthur
Goldberg.
In 1967, Gov. Romney appointed
Professor Siegel as chairman of the
arbitration board to determine the
route of Interstate-696 and settle
disputes involving six south Oakland
County cities.
In 2000, Professor Siegel was hon-
ored by a special resolution of the
Michigan legislature. Also that year,
President Bill Clinton . honored him
for lifelong service.
"In the broadest sense," said his
son, "Boaz Siegel was a special man,
a special humanitarian and a forceful
advocate for the rights of those
whom he represented."
In'addition, said his son, he was "a
model father, in the best, most lov-
ing, sense of the word. His family
life and the joy he brought to those
around him is a testament to his
spirit of caring, giving and under-
standing.
Professor Siegel is survived by his
wife of 65 years, Bess Siegel; daugh-
ter and son-in-law, Paula Siegel and
Norman Bindler of New York; son,
Mrs. Kron is survived by her hus-
band, Dr. Lawrence Kron; son and
daughter-in-law, Michael and Rebecca
Kron of Coto de Caza, Calif.; son and
partner Robert Kron and Mark _
Gonzales of Southfield; daughter and
son-in-law, Karen Kron and Dan
Welcher of Chicago; three grandchil-
dren, Joseph Kron, Scott Kron and
Jack Welcher; mother, Mae Katz of
Tamarac, Fla.; and sister and brother-
_in-law, Judith and Sid Rosen of
Honolulu, Hawaii.
She was also the dear daughter of
the late Harry Katz.
Memorial contributions are suggest-
ed to Birmingham Temple, 28611 W.
12 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, or
Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of
America, 31313 Northwestern Hwy.,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334. ❑
Dr. Joel Siegel of San Diego and
granddaughter, Nicole Bindler.
A private graveside service at Adat
Shalom Memorial Park was arranged
by Ira Kaufman Chapel.
Contributions may be made to the
Bess and Boaz Siegel Culture Fund
at the Society for Humanistic
Judaism, 28611 W. 12 Mile,
Farmington Hills, 48334.
The family has planned a public
memorial celebration of Professor
Siegel's life at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at
-Birmingham Temple in Farmington
Hills. ❑
Walter Annenberg,
94, Philanthropist
JOSHUA RUNYAN
Philadelphia Jewish Exponent
Walter H. Annenberg, the billion-
aire founder of TV Guide, former
ambassador to Great Britain and
philanthropist who endowed two
journalism schools died Oct. 1 at
94.
Mr. Annenberg gave generously to
Jewish causes, including a $15 mil-
lion gift to Operation Exodus in
1990 to bring Russian Jews to
Israel. Over the years, he gave in
excess of $30 million to the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
Fortune magazine estimated his
wealth to be about $4 billion.
An art connoisseur, he gave a col-
lection of Impressionist and early
modern masterpieces valued at $1
billion to New York's Metropolitan
Museum of Art in 1991.
Mr. Annenberg was given owner-
ship of the family's publishing prop-
erties when his father, Moses
Annenberg, died in 1942. Those
properties included the Philadelphia
Inquirer and two horse-racing publi-
cations. In 1953, he created TV
Guide.
A favorite friend of Republican
politicians and British royalty, Mr.
Annenberg was appointed ambassa-
dor to England by President Richard
Nixon in 1969. He received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom from
President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Mr. Annenberg is survived by his
wife of 51 years, Leonore, three
daughters, numerous grandchildren
and great-grandchildren. ❑
. J1N1
10/4
2002
129