Obituaries
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`A Legend In The Community'
BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News
S
arah Laker, who maintained a
fervent love for her family,
friends and Detroit's Jewish
community, died of heart fail-
ure on Sept. 23, 2003, at her Southfield
residence, surrounded by her family and
caregivers. She was 93.
Mrs. Laker was not only the matriarch
of one of local Jewry's most benevolent
families. She was also a sharp business-
woman who helped launch the family
business 57 years ago and, without a for-
mal education, kept it at an even keel as
the business grew and expanded through
the years.
"She reigned as a high priestess of love
and devotion in the midst of her family,"
said Rabbi Irwin Groner of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
"She lived in an age when pressures
divide families and weaken family tries
— but family loyalty and solidarity were
fundamental values that she transmitted
to her loved ones. She was truly a lady
because she lived out of the depth of her.
values and her convictions."
Rabbi Paul Yedwab of Temple Israel
called Mrs. Laker a "legend in the Jewish
community, who radiated a spiritual aura
that had a positive effect on everyone."
"She was always sweet, nice and very
supportive, and carried out her activities
with dignity and kindness. She and her
husband, Harry, formed a perfect part-
nership, that, likes waves in a stream, will
have a ripple effect in the community for
generations to come." Temple Israel's
main prayer book is dedicated to the
Lakers.
Family Ties
Mrs. Laker's three sons, grandchildren
and great-grandchildren were strongly
devoted to her. Her sons, Irving Laker of
Bloomfield Hills, Martin Laker of West
Bloomfield, and Dr. Gerald Laker of
Beverly Hills, rarely missed sharing
breakfast at their mother's, a habit
formed in their college days when they
often would return home from school
"with a gift for Mama." They also always
brought her
mementos of their
travels.
Mrs. Laker's
eyes lit up and her
face broadened
into a big smile
when she talked
about her chil-
dren. "My boys
were always won-
derful to me," she
beamed when
interviewed on
videotape for her
80th birthday cel-
ebration in 1990.
"They gave me a
lot of joy and sun-
shine in my life."
Sarah Laker
Mrs. Laker,
born in Russia,
and Harry, born
in Poland, had very little money when
they got married in 1926 when she was
15. "Her father told them they couldn't
date unless he would marry her — so
they got married," said Irving Laker.
Harry Laker died in 1986 at age 77, after
they had been married 60 years.
"They lived with her parents; and my
father, who came from Windsor, made
$3 a week working for a fish company,
while my mother sold notions or any-
thing she could get her hands on and
even took in borders." They had to push
a stalled, rented Model A Ford to their
wedding-night honeymoon at the old
Book-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit.
Mr. Laker joined Wolfe Sanitary
Wiping Cloth, but left to form Ace
Wiping Cloth in 1946, using a loan
from a relative. It was the forerunner of
AceTex of Detroit, the current family
business which supplies cleaning materi-
als and other products. Mrs. Laker
worked the night shift and her husband
worked days.
But she also found time
to play baseball and touch
football with her sons and
attend their school activi-
ties and sports events. One
time at Passover, the entire
family brought dinner to
Mr. Laker at the business,
so they could have the
seder together. "I finally
told her in later years that
enough was eno
she should quit the family
business and stay home,"
Irving Laker recalled. "She
was sharp, witty and
bright."
A Giving Tradition
Tzedakah was extremely
important in the Laker
household. Dr. Gerald
Laker remembers when "the only charity
my parents could afford was placing
coins in the little blue box on the Friday
night table."
The Lakers had strong community
involvement, helping to found the local
tree program at the Jewish National
Fund and the Wall of Faith at the
Holocaust Memorial Center in West
Bloomfield. They were involved with the
Pinsker Progressive Aid Society, the
Zionist Organization of America, the
Jewish Theological Seminary, Bar-Ilan
Fund, Histadrut Labor Zionists and
many Israel Bond drives.
They created scholarship funds at
Shaarey Zedek and Temple Israel, send-
ing young people each year to study in
Israel.
And Sarah and Harry Laker loved all
forms of music. Free annual concerts at
both synagogues bear their names.
Mrs. Laker's 90th birthday in 2000
became a community event when she
was honored by cantors throughout the
world at the 53rd annual Cantors
Assembly convention being held in the
Dearborn. Cantor Chaim Najman of
Shaarey Zedek, then Assembly president,
described Mrs. Laker and her husband as
"role models for Jewish parenting and
philanthropy in the community"
Mrs. Laker is survived by her sons and
daughters-in-law, Irving and Beverly
Laker, Martin and Renee Laker, and Dr.
Gerald and Elaine Laker; grandchildren,
Andrea Laker, Kim (Gerald) Freid, Jolie
(Martin) Kaufman, Bonnie (Steven)
Winkler, Pam (Brad) Morris, Stacey
(Tyler) Smith, Dr. Scott (Naomi) Laker,
and Dr. Michael (Dr. Cristina) Laker;
great-grandchildren, Jared and Harrison
Freid, Joshua Laker, Simon Kaufman,
Mara, Jay and Rodney Winkler, Jordan
Morris; sister, Clara Neuman of
Southfield.
Mrs. Laker was the beloved wife of the
late Harry Laker; great-grandmother of
the late Ivy Smith; sister of the late
Joseph Kleiman and the late Rose Lang.
Contributions may be made to the
Harry 8 Sarah Laker Memorial Concert
Funds, at either Congregation Shaarey
Zedek, 27375 Bell Road, Southfield, MI
48034, or Temple Israel, 5725 Walnut
Lake Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48323;
or the Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy
Network, 24123 Greenfield, Southfield,
MI 48075.
Interment was at Clover Hill Park
Cemetery. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel. 0
Rafael Scharf, 89, Aided Polish Jewry
Rome/JTA — Rafael Scharf, who died last week
in London at age 89, worked tirelessly to preserve
the memory of the vibrant world of Polish Jewry
that was annihilated in the Holocaust.
A writer, historian a.nd respected public figure,
Scharf strove to build bridges between Poles and
Jews and promote the re-emergence of Jewish life
and culture in Poland after the fall of
Communism.
9/26
2003
174
Scharf was born in Krakow in 1914. He
became a lawyer and a committed Zionist before
leaving Poland in 1938 for London.
In 1993, he helped establish the Center for
Jewish Culture, whic.h opened its doors in a for-
mer synagogue in Krakow's old Jewish quarter.
Scharf came to see himself as one of the last
representatives of the rich, multi-faceted world of
pre-war Polish Jewry.
Universally known by his nickname, Felek, he
visited Krakow frequentl;., and became a mentor
for young Polish scholars, artists and intellectuals
— :Jewish and non-Jewish alike.
The Polish .government honored him with the
Commander's. Order of Merit of the Polish
Republic for his work in fostering Polish-Jewish
understanding. Li