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• Bat Mitzvah
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PEACE
HEROES
Mel Ball
Owner
Mel Ball and Colours
She went on to write three humor
books (New Voices Publishing Co.),
which are mainly based on her experi-
ences as an immigrant, and recently fin-
ished a fiction mystery novel.
Drapkin teaches art classes at the
Heritage House in Southfield, where she
lives with her husband, Jack, 92, a retired
photographer and teacher, to whom she's
been married for 65 years. They have a
married daughter. Drapkin teaches
"Young at Art With Frita," and hand
paints original watercolor greeting cards,
which she sells to residents for $1 and
donates the proceeds to the Make-A-
Wish Foundation.
"My mother used to call me a cuch
lechel (wooden cooking spoon) because
she said I got mixed up in everything,"
Drapkin recalls. "I just like people and I
like doing good deeds for others."
Alan D. Kandel
Facing retirement in 1984 and not being
a golfer, Kandel considered many possi-
ble retirement activities. "I didn't want to
just sit around and watch television; I
needed
something
to do," he
recalled. "So,
I became an
archivist."
He took
two years of
training in
archival
administra-
tion at
Wayne State
University,
and has since Kandel
used his skills
for several Jewish organizations. He
helped illustrate two volumes of Jewish
history and organize the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit files
donated to the Burton Historical
Collection at the Detroit Public Library.
"Collecting photos for the history
books was painstaking work," he said. "I
gathered about 1,000 photos from
around the state, often from private
homes. Some people just shut the door
on me and refused to part with their pic-
tures."
Kandel's professional career was a fore-
runner of his commitment to Jewish
communal service. Born in New York, he
worked for Jewish federations in
Houston and Cleveland before coming
to the Detroit Federation in 1967. When
he retired, he was assistant director of fis-
cal planning and budget. His skills as a
planner have served him well in his
archival interests.
"This work is fascinating because of .
the historical aspect of everything you
do," he said.
Kandel, 86, of West Bloomfield also is
a founding member of the Institute for
Retired Professionals (1985), serving
three terms as chairman, and he contin-
ues to be a facilitator of the international
relations discussion group. He's on the
advisory board of the Jewish Historical
Society of Michigan and the board of the
Hebrew Free Loan Association.
Kandel's wife, Carol, is in the antique
business and he accompanies her on
antique shopping trips to Europe and
Asia. They have two children and two
grandchildren.
Bea Kriechman
"Do you hit students on the knuckles
with a ruler?" the student asked
Kriechman early in her career as a
Hebrew school teacher. "No," she
answered, much to the relief of the
youngster who obviously was thinking of
another teacher with an infamous reputa-
tion for punishing unruly pupils.
Kriechman has been a Jewish educator
for a half century, strengthening the
Jewish identity of many children and
adults in the Detroit area. Born in
Philadelphia, she attended Gratz
(Hebrew) College and Temple University,
earning an education degree.
She moved to Detroit with her hus-
band, Bert, a U.S. Post Office employee,
and taught
English for
only one
year while
working as a
substitute
Hebrew
teacher. He
died in
1983. "The
United
Hebrew
Schools
(UHS)
Kriechman
administra-
tion con- .
vinced me they needed me more than
the public schools, so I joined them full
time," she said.
Kriechman spent 47 years as a teacher
and administrator at various locations
around the community and organized
the Southfield branch of UHS. She went
on to become principal for 17 years at
the UHS branch at Adat Shalom
Synagogue.
"I'm proud of the fact that I taught
many youngsters who became well-
known professional people and business
leaders in the community," she said.
She has served on many Adat Shalom
committees and advisory boards.
Retiring 10 years ago, she received the
Schochet Family Achievement in
Teaching Award from the Jewish
Federation. She continues to tutor for the
Jewish Coalition for Literacy and other
groups, and she's an active member of
the Institute for Retired Professionals.
"I never sought chairmanship positions
or kavod [honor]," she explains. "I just
work quietly and do my best." She has
two children and two grandchildren.
Leah Snider
Snider, 80, of West Bloomfield, is a fund-
raiser extraordinaire, who has devoted her
talents and energies to many Jewish char-
ities over seven decades.
"She has encouraged thousands to
strengthen their Jewish identity and com-
mitment by
translating
ideals into
the funds
necessary to
sustain all
that is vital
to the Jewish
people,"
wrote her
daughter,
Martha Jo
Fleischmann
of
Snider
Bloomfield
Hills, a free-
lance writer for the Jewish News.
Born in Indianapolis, Snider served as
president of Hadassah's Young Judaea at
age 12. When her father took ill, her
brother supported the family by buying a
business and moving everyone to
Detroit. She attended Central High
School (1940) and Ohio State University,
where she met her husband, Chuck, an
attorney and real estate developer.
"My mother once told me she never
knew anyone who got poor giving to
charity," said Snider.
She has trained countless solicitors in
fund-raising seminars, advising them that
a prospective donor is a friend, not the
enemy.
Snider has been president of three
Hadassah chapters and of the Sinai
Guild, earning the Max Osnos Award for
Distinguished Leadership and co-chair-
ing the first Heritage Ball. She has served
on many boards and committees of
Jewish organizations. She received the
United Foundation's Heart of Gold
Award.
Snider visited patients in the old
Veterans Hospital in Allen Park once a
week for many years — "not to get per-
sonal recognition, but because I felt sorry
for the lonely veterans," she said. Snider
has four grandchildren.