ilies, who were connected by marriage
and the real estate construction business.
Joining the company as a novice, Mr.
Thatch quickly learned the building trade
and went on to have a 52-year career with
ing of the Benesch that all of us know is
what is today the Silverman Companies,
one of the great testaments to the poten-
headqi mrtered in Bingham Farms.
tial of all human beings," the rabbi said.
Mr. Thatch received a lifetime achieve-
Mr. Thatch had been an attorney-
ment award at a 1999 company lunch-
turned-successful entrepreneur when
eon. A video from the event is filled with
World War II broke out in Europe. He
loving tributes and "Ben" stories. Coming
was 30 and on his honeymoon
up in the organization, current
with his young bride, Riva.
chairman and CEO B1177
Both he and Riva survived
Silverman was mentored by
the Holocaust. In 1946, after
Mr. Thatch.
recovering his wife and their
In the video, Silverman said,
hidden child, Aviva, Mr.
"For over 50 years, Ben has
Thatch administered a program
made the whole business stick
in Germany that trained Jewish
together with his attitude,
boys whose education was
leadership, wisdom and sto-
interrupted by the war.
ries." Among the advice from
American Jews came to see
his mentor: "The more you're
how their money was being
in construction, the more you
used. That led to a fateful meet- Benesch Thatch
need jokes. If you don't laugh,
ing with a group of Detroiters
you're going to be crying a
including the late Joseph
lot."
Holtzman and the late Louis Berry, said
With his wife, a retired teacher at Hillel
daughter Aviva Sandler, "who became
Day School of Metropolitan Detroit, the
friendly with my dad." Giving him their
Thatches, members of Adat Shalom
cards, they told him he'd have a job if he
Synagogue, supported Israel Bonds,
came here.
Magen David Adorn and the JCC
The Thatch family, now including
Maccabi Games.
baby Rhoda, eventually moved to Detroit
Rhoda Kamin said her attentive dad
to take them up on the offer. Arriving in
"packed the school lunches, darned the
November 1949, they were met by mem-
socks, built the science project with us,
bers of the Holtzman and Silverman fam-

A Straight-Up Guy

ESTHER ALLWEISS TSCHIRHART

Special to the Jewish News

he rock of his family and a
beloved mentor and adviser
to many, Benesch Thatch
told his daughter Rhoda
Kamin before his death that he wanted to
be remembered as a "straight-up guy."
And so he was.
A vice president of
Silverman Construction
Company, Mr. Thatch
-"loved people and treated
them uniformly with gen-
UST nine respect and kindness,"
• said his son, Dr. Leonard
Thatch. "Whether they car-
ried a broom or briefcase, it
didn't matter."
Mt Thatch, 91, of Walled Lake, died
of cancer Jan. 16, 2003.
In conversations with Mr. Thatch,
eulogist Rabbi E.B. Bunny Freedman
learned something of "the unspeakable
horrors" he witnessed in the city of
Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania, its ghetto
and Dachau German death camp.
"To know that the man who saw all of
that turned into the gentle and regal bear-

drove the carpool, trimmed my nails."
Last Chanukah, he made a mountain of
latices "filled with equal measure of pota-
toes and love."
The grandchildren enjoyed swimming
in the Thatches' lake and visiting sites of
his building projects. He also played soc-
cer with the kids at age 82.
Rabbi Freedman said Buzz Silverman
and his dad Gilbert Silverman had their
last visit with Mr. Thatch in the hospital.
The men thanked him for his loyalty and
said they would miss him.
"Don't feel bad,' Mr. Thatch told
them. 'Every person is given a key. I lived
a good life. It's time to turn my key in.'
He was ready."
Mr. Thatch is survived by his wife of
61 years, Riva Thatch; daughters and
sons-in-law, Aviva and Robert Sandler of
Commerce, Rhoda and Michael Kamin
of Illinois; son, Dr. Leonard Thatch of
Mattawan, Mich.; grandchildren,
Elizabeth Sandler, Eric Sandler, Jennifer
Sandler-Bowen and Lance Bowen, David
Kamin, Carrie Kamin and great-grand-
son, Ian Sandler Bowen.
Interment was at Adat Shalom
Memorial Park. Contributions may be
made to the Jewish Hospice and
Chaplaincy Network, 24123 Greenfield
Road, Southfield, MI 48075 and the
American Red Magen David for Israel,
23470 Riverview, Southfield, MI 48034.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. ❑

DETROIT'S `Nomefrom page 117

Always Involved

In 1963, he became spiritual leader of
the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in
Detroit, where he served until he retired.
But it turned out retirement was a
state that didn't fit Rabbi Gamze.
'As soon as my parents moved to
Rhode Island, where my family lives, he
became involved in the synagogue here,"
said Mark Silberstein, Rabbi Gamze's
son. "He immediately became active and
made Temple Am David in Warwick,
RI., his home. He taught adult educa-
tion Torah courses. He was at the syna-
gogue seven days a week."
Just after 9-11, the rabbi represented
the Jewish community in a Rhode Island
ecumenical service. Temple Am David
Cantor Richard Perlman joined Rabbi
Nelson and several others in officiating at
Rabbi Gamze's funeral.
After his move, Rabbi Gamze returned
to Detroit to lead High Holiday services
with Downtown Synagogue Rabbi Craig
Allen and Cantor Usher Adler.

1/24

2003

118

The synagogue is in an urban, tran-
sient, downtown area, with much diver-
sity among its membership. "He tried to
make the synagogue a warm and wel-
come place for people of all back-
grounds," Silberstein said of his easily
approachable father, "even for those who
weren't Jewish."
Nino remembers the rabbi as "always
making sure to include everyone." Nino
said meeting Rabbi Gamze changed his
life: "He was my rabbi for 20 years and
he was like a father."
Nino was among the first for whom
Rabbi Gamze was influential in conver-
sion to Judaism, a group that grew to
include some 100 individuals, including
many black Detroiters.
"I used to watch him interact with
people as he witnessed someone becom-
ing Jewish," said Rabbi Nelson, who
often officiated the conversion process
along with Rabbi Gamze.
"He saw the sanctity of every human
being and he engaged that person with
the full force of his personality, with his

warmth, his love and his sweetness."

Heart On His Sleeve

Rabbi Gamze was known for his puns,
word-play and one-liners. "He was
tremendously humorous," said Rabbi
Craig Allen, who reads Torah and teach-
es Hebrew at the synagogue.
"He was the type of person you met
and instantly you knew all about him.
He wore his heart on his sleeve. And
once you met him, he always remem-
bered you — and your family and even
your pets."
Rabbi Allen found Rabbi Gamze's
name, Noah, to be appropriate. "This
Noah saw the Downtown Synagogue as
his personal ark where he was able to
keep Judaism afloat for almost 40 years.
And he brought in his congregants two
by two sometimes by going outside
near the bars and restaurants, seeking
Jews for a minyan. He was very much
connected with the community"
Relaying the words of Rabbi Gamze's
writings, Rabbi Nelson said, "He wrote

about assimilation and how we should
take a friendly and welcoming attitude
toward those who show even a mild
interest in embracing Judaism. And he
wrote that children who become interest-
ed in cults need benevolent firmness.
Even when he chastised people or was
unhappy, he did it in a very gentle way.
"Noah was the most generous man
and was a precious treasure of the
Almighty. His deep faith moved him to
serve God as the Torah says — with all
his-heart with all his soul and with all his
might."
Rabbi Noah Gamze is survived by his
wife, Ann Gamze; sons Eli Gamze of
Phoenix, Ariz., Mark Silberstein of
Warwick, R.I.; daughter Lori Silberstein
of Oak Park; brother Maurice Gamze of
Highland Park, Ill.
Contributions may be made to Isaac
Agree Downtown Synagogue, 1457
Griswold, Detroit, MI 48226 or Temple
Am David, 40 Gardiner St., Warwick,
R.I. 02388. Arrangements by Dorfi-nan
Chapel. ❑