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A Legacy Of Leadership

LEONARD POGER
Copy Editor

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ourteen years ago, Tillie
Brandwine, always active in
numerous Jewish organizations,
wanted to ensure that Jewish families
could easily find where their long-
deceased ancestors were buried.
She led the Cemetery Index project
— an effort to create a database of all
local Jews buried in both Jewish and
non-Jewish cemeteries.
According to the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit's Web site,
Mrs. Brandwine and her committee
members walked throughout non-
Jewish cemeteries, "writing down
(Jewish) names from deteriorating
headstones so that no one from the
community would be forgotten."
The database includes more than
64,000 names that can be accessed
through Federation's Web site:
www.thisisfederation.org.
Matilda "Tillie" Brandwine, who
came to Detroit with her family as a
child from New York City, died Aug,
18, 2005. She was 90 and lived in

Bingham Farms.
The Cemetery Index was just one of
the many causes and groups that Mrs.
Brandwine was involved with during
her energetic and active live in the
Jewish community.
Among her many awards for Jewish
activism, she was honored in 1989
with the prestigious Fred M. Butzel
Award for Distinguished Community
Service by the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. The honor was
based on her work with the Hadassah
and other Jewish groups.
She was also a former president and
Allied Jewish Campaign chairman of
the Federation Women's Division,
served on the Federation's executive
committee, chaired its culture and edu-
cation division and was the first
woman to serve on the Federation's
budget committee, leading the way to
provide daycare funding for working
parents with small children. She was
the founding president of Friends of
Hillel Day School.
Over the years, Mrs. Brandwine also
served as president of Jewish
Federation Apartments and helped

LEONARD POGER
Copy Editor

EC Byer "Mike" Shear — a war hero and
service station owner who was loved and
respected by all those who knew him
throughout his 88 years — died Aug.
12, 2005, from complications follow-
ing surgery.
Captain Shear was a highly deco-
rated World War II bomber pilot
with 65 missions whose honors
included the Air Medal with multiple
clusters for "meritorious achievement
while participating in aerial flights,"
the Distinguished Flying Cross for
extraordinary achievements" and the
Purple Heart with multiple clusters.
During his lifetime, he was too
humble to discuss his accomplish-
ments and wartime feats, but to
Meyer Shear
quote grandson Max Orbach, "He
was a superhero, and Superman had nothing on
him."
A native Detroiter, Mr. Shear graduated Cass
Technical High School early at age 16 in order to
help his family. He was drafted pre-Pearl Harbor
and trained to be a radio operator before being
accepted as a cadet pilot in the Yuma, Ariz., Army
Airfield Air Forces Advanced Flying School, Class

((

organized the Jewish Family Services'
nursing home visitation program.
But Jewish communal work wasn't
her whole life, said her daughter, Lois
Granader of Bloomfield Hills. Twice a
year, there were major family get-
togethers for her children, their spouses
and grandchildren — during Passover
in Florida and at Thanksgiving in the
Pocono Mountains in eastern
Pennsylvania.-
Lois' husband, Hadar Granader,
described Mrs. Brandwine as a "renais-
sance lady who was well read and
knowledgeable."
Lois noted the irony of her mother's
passing last Thursday — on the same
day that she was featured in a Jewish
News story about the compiling of her
memories in book form given to family
members last April to help celebrate
her 90th birthday. The memoir, writ-
ten by P.J. Cherrin after numerous
-
hours of interviews, was 120 pages
long and accompanied by audio
recordings.
Tillie Brandwine is survived by her
daughter and son-in-law Lois and
Hadar Granader of Bloomfield Hills;

of 1943. He quickly earned his captain's bars and
received the President's Certificate of Appreciation
((
for war services for guarding our country in the
air." Upon discharge, he was immediately offered
employment with American Airlines, but declined
in order to stay close to home to pursue a relation-
ship that was sparked while in the
service.
Mr. Shear was introduced to Betty
Salter by his cousin Muriel
Rosenbaum and fell in love at first
sight. They spent much of 1945 writ-
ing to each other. Their nearly 59-year
marriage was "storybook" in terms of
the love, commitment and teamwork
they shared; and Betty has kept every
one of those letters Meyer scribed.
Raised in Huntington Woods, their
children, Diana and Brian, loved and
respected their father as a soft-spoken
man who had earned their love and
admiration.
Back from the war, Mr. Shear was
the owner for over three decades of Mike's
Marathon on Nine Mile and Majestic in Oak Park.
Always looking to help others, he became an auto
mechanics mentor for the Oak Park High School
co-op program where he was described as being
"very fair and encouraging and focused on teaching
work skills and a solid work ethic." He spent much

Tillie Brandwine

sons and daughters-in-law, Dr. Warren
and Beverly Brandwine of New Jersey,
Mark and Melissa Brandwine of
Georgia; grandchildren, Brian
Granader, Robert and Jill Granader,
Eric Brandwine and fiancee, Clarissa
Cook, Joel Brandwine, Cory
Brandwine, Alex Brandwine, Max
Brandwine, Jake Brandwine; great-
grandchildren, Joshua, Jessica and
Natalie Granader.
She was the beloved wife of the late
Morris Brandwine and the dear sister
of the late Max Biber.
Interment was at Clover Hill Park
Cemetery. Contributions may be made
to Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit or the National Council of
Jewish Women. Arrangements by Ira
Kaufman Chapel. ❑

. of the past 10 years volunteering in the rheumatol-
ogy department of the Henry Ford Hospital facility
in West Bloomfield.
Mr. Shear was also an avid bowler with B'nai
Brith and former member of Temple Emanu-El and
Adat Shalom. He loved traveling the world with
Betty, playing golf and poker with his lifelong bud-
dies, admiring old cars and spending time with his
family. To honor his memory and celebrate his life,
his family left Shabbat services at Congregation Shir
Tikvah in Troy Friday night via the Woodward
Dream Cruise in a classic 1966 Ford Thunderbird.
Mr. Shear, himself, was a classic. — a hero to his
country, his family, and all who knew him.
Mr. Shear is survived by his wife, Betty; his
daughter and son-in-law, Diana and Richard Tolin
of Hawaii; his son and daughter-in-law, Brian and
Linda (Orbach) of Huntington Woods; grandchil-
dren Maximillian and Peter and Sophia (Orbach)
and Rachel (Orbach), sisters and brothers-in-law,
Bea and David Shulman of West Bloomfield and
Harriet and Lou Penfil of Oak Park; cousins,
Muriel and Morrie Rosenbaum.
Those wishing to honor Mr. Shear's memory may
visiting the Jewish War Veteran's Memorial Exhibit
at the Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield, where his decorated uniform, flight log
and photos are displayed . Contributions may be
made to a charity of one's choice. Arrangements by
Dorfman Chapel.

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QIN

8/25
2005

89