Obituaries
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Devoted Jewish Leader And Champion Of Education
V
ivian Berry contributed might-
ily to humanity as a whole as
well as working to increase the
vibrancy of the Jewish community in
America and Israel.
She worked constantly to further
Jewish learning and her beneficence has
advanced learning and communities in
Michigan, Florida and throughout the
world.
Mrs. Berry, 93, of West Bloomfield, died
May 8, 2008.
She stated that Judaism was her life
and that commitment was reflected in the
standard of goodness that she created.
Gratz College recognized the leadership
that Mrs. Berry assumed in Metropolitan
Detroit and in Palm Beach, Fla.
In Detroit, she served on boards of
Hadassah as vice president, of the Detroit
Women's Division, of both the American
Jewish Congress and the Jewish Welfare
Federation and as a member of the
Detroit Committee for the Maintenance of
Separation of Church and State. She was
honored twice by the Women's Division of
Israel Bonds.
With great distinction, she led the sis-
terhood of Detroit's Congregation Shaarey
Zedek. There, she opened the way for new
generations of women by successfully
MAX DREW, 84, former
Detroiter, died May 4,
2008, at Cleveland Clinic
Southpointe Hospital
after many years of bat-
H3o>vsr thing dementia.
OR
Mr. Drew was born
in Stolin, Poland, on
May 12, 1923. His father was murdered
by robbers when Max was only 2, leaving
his mother, Miriam, to raise six children.
An older brother, Abraham, immigrated
to Palestine before the outbreak of World
War II.
In 1939, when Poland was invaded by
the Nazis from the west and the Soviets
from the east, Max was taken along
with the other young boys of Stolin into
Russia where he was trained as a tool
and die maker.
He was transferred to many places
in the former Soviet Union including
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Baku.
In 1941, when the Nazis invaded
the remainder of Poland, his family
— mother, four brothers and a sister
— were exterminated by the Nazis,
something he did not learn about until
C44
May 15 • 2008
lobbying for con-
gregational voting
rights for women,
being the first
woman to serve on a
congregational com-
mittee and eventual-
ly becoming the first
woman to be called
to the Torah when
such roles were the
exclusive purview of
men.
As a founder and
past chairperson
of the Michigan
Vivian Berry
branch of the
Women's League
for Conservative
Judaism, she established a standard of
activity for the legion of Jewish women
who have followed her example. With her
beloved husband, the late Louis Berry,
she honored Conservative Judaism in the
Jewish Theological Seminary with her
devotion to its mission and received the
Jewish Theological Solomon Schecter
Award and the Eternal Light Award.
Mrs. Berry's dedication to society
knew no boundaries. In Detroit, the
establishment of the Louis and Vivian
Berry Health Center of
Sinai-Grace Hospital
has lengthened the lives
of an untold number of
people representing the
full diversity of society.
She also served on the
Detroit executive com-
mittee and the national
advisory council of the
American Friends of
the Weizmann Institute
of Science of Rehovot,
Israel.
In Palm Beach, she
devoted herself to
the community. As
chairperson of the
Palm Beach National
Women's Division of United Jewish
Appeal, she established a model for emu-
lation.
Her commitment to the future reso-
nates strongly in her own life. Her deep
appreciation for family and community
is rooted in the story of her maternal
grandfather who fled Czarist Russian to
build a new life in America.
Vivian Berry is survived by her daugh-
ters and sons-in-law, Joan Provizer
of Farmington Hills, Barbara and Dr.
after the war.
In 1942, he was drafted into the Soviet
Army, where he fought the Nazis. He
killed many Nazis during the war rising
to the rank of lieutenant through field
commissions.
After the final battle for Berlin, he
crossed over to the American zone and
made his way to Bergen-Belsen concen-
tration camp, which had been liberated
and turned into a displaced persons
camp to search for his family members.
It was there he found out all the Jews of
Stolin had been exterminated.
Mr. Drew remained in Bergen-
Belsen, where he met his wife, Sara,
(nee Finkelman). They were soon mar-
ried and moved to the nearby town of
Hanover, Germany. Their son Joe was
born in 1948.
An aunt who had immigrated to
Detroit in the 1920s sponsored them to
come to America. In 1950, they did. Upon
arriving in Detroit, he worked at Dodge
Motor on the assembly line, in construc-
tion, with beef and dairy cattle and
finally in the trading of tool steels and
nickel alloys. A second son, Floyd, was
born in 1953. In 1957, the family became
naturalized United States citizens.
Mr. Drew was an active member of
B'nai B'rith, the American Red Magen
David for Israel and the Israeli Cancer
Society.
After 40 years in the nickel alloy busi-
ness, the Drews retired to Boynton Beach,
Fla., where he was an active member of
Temple Torah Synagogue.
In 2004, he was diagnosed with
dementia and was cared for at home by
his devoted wife, Sara, until 2007. At that
time, he and Sara moved to the Cleveland
area to be closer to their son Joe and
daughter-in-law Barbara. During the last
five months of his life, Mr. Drew was a
resident at the Montefiore Nursing Care
Center in Beachwood, Ohio. Mrs. Drew
lived across the street in the Sherri Park
apartments, from where she visited him
every day.
He will be sorely missed by all who
knew him as a man who struggled to
provide for his family, a man who gave
much charity and support to every
Jewish community where he lived during
his life, and a lover of Israel.
Stephan Morse of Franklin, Marcy and
Michael Feldman of Huntington Woods,
Selma and Jack Schwartz of Bingham
Farms; son and daughter-in-law, Harold
and Barbara Berry of Bloomfield Hills;
grandchildren, Dr. Jeffrey and Kari
Provizer, Marc Provizer, Traci and Jeffrey
Kaye, Jennifer and Robert Mattler,
Rachel and Ben Geller, Ronit Feldman,
Noah Feldman, Joanna Feldman, Betsy
and Jeffrey Heuer, Rebecca and Michael
McMaster, Lawrence and Sharon Berry,
Elliott Berry and Campbell Harvey,
Miriam and Peter Seagle; great-grand-
children, Noah, Jacob and Eliana Provizer,
Morgan, Ari and Erin Mattler, Joshua and
Isabelle Geller, Matthew, Katie, Jacob and
Megie Berry, Louis McMaster, Jeremy and
Hilary Heuer, Olivia and Elizabeth Seagle.
She was the beloved wife of the late
Louis Berry and the late Louis Tatken;
loving sister of the late Leah Kaplan; dear
sister-in-law of the late Dr. Albert Kaplan.
Interment at Clover Hill Park Cemetery.
Contributions may be made to Yad Ezra,
2850 W. 11 Mile, Berkley, MI 48072; www.
yadezra.com; Congregation Shaarey
Zedek, 27375 Bell Road, Southfield, MI
48034, www.shaareyzedek.org; or to a
charity of one's choice. Arrangements by
Ira Kaufman Chapel. 0
He is survived by his loving and
devoted wife of 63 years, Sara; sons, Joe
and Floyd; daughter-in-law, Barbara (nee
Hoffmann); grandchildren, Emily, Lindy,
Benjamin and Nick.
Services held at Berkowitz Funeral
Chapel in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Internment followed at Mt. Olive
Cemetery, Solon, Ohio, section 104, row G.
LOUIS ELLENSON, 101, of Southfield,
died May 8,2008.
He is survived by his son, Gary
Ellenson of Southfield; daughter, Sandra
McCurdy of Nashua, N.H.; grandchildren,
Rachel and Mark Davis; sister-in-law, Ida
Ellenson.
He was the beloved husband of the
late Edith Ellenson; loving brother of
the late Harry Ellenson, the late Vivian
Jackson, the late Joe Ellenson, the late AI
Ellenson.
Contributions may be made to a char-
ity of one's choice. Interment at Adat
Shalom Memorial Park.
Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial
Chapel.