I Obituaries
Obituaries from page B45
HELEN TATARKA, 76, of Tucson, Ariz.,
died Nov. 4, 2008.
She is survived by her daughters and
son-in-law, Renay and Dr. Leslie Taub of
Commerce Twp., Marsha Tatarka of Houston,
Texas; sister and brother-in-law, Irene and
Seymour Burg of Southfield; grandchildren,
Brent, Randi and Lindsey; many nieces,
nephews, other family members and friends.
Mrs. Tatarka was the beloved wife of the
late Saul Tatarka.
Interment at the Hebrew Memorial Park
Cemetery in Mt. Clemens. Contributions may
be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma
Society. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.
SARAH ZACKMAN, 85, of Southfield,
died Nov. 6, 2008.
She is survived by her beloved husband,
Alexander Zackman; daughter and son-
in-law, Inessa and Norman Edelstein of
Kentwood, Mich.; grandchildren, Jeremy
Abramson, Craig and Scott Edelstein;
great-granddaughter, Brianna.
Mrs. Zackman was the dear sister of the
late Basha Gercekova.
Interment at the Adat Shalom Memorial
Park in Livonia. Contributions may
be made to a charity of one's choice
Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.
Hero Diplomat's Wife
Yukiko Sugihara, who encouraged her dip-
lomat husband to issue the visas that saved
thousands of Jews, has died. Sugihara died
Oct. 8, 2008, in Fujisawa, Japan. She was 94.
In 1940, Sugihara encouraged her hus-
band, Chiune, Japan's consul in Kovno,
Lithuania, to issue visas to thousands of
Polish Jews trapped in Lithuania, despite
the risk to his career and family. Chiune
Sugihara was named Righteous Among
the Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust
museum in Jerusalem.
Yukiko Sugihara was the author of the
book Visas for Life, which tells the story
of her husband's heroic actions. She and
her book inspired "Visas for Life: The
Righteous and Honorable Diplomats
Project:' a traveling exhibit and program
started in 1993 that features the story of
life-saving diplomats.
"Human life is very important:'
Sugihara said in her book. "Being virtu-
ous in life is also very important. My hus-
band and I talked about the visas before
he issued them. We understood that both
the Japanese and German governments
disagreed with our ideas, but we went
ahead anyhow.
"The Jews who passed through Kaunas
still treasure the visas which my husband
issued. They didn't forget what they
shouted when we were leaving Kaunas
station: 'We will never forget you. We
will see you again."' In future years, the
Sugiharas met several of the Jews that
had been saved by the visas.
Yeshiva U. Benefactor
E. Billi Ivry, a personal secretary turned
stock broker and a major philanthropist,
died at 102. Ivry, who died last month, was
the first woman to serve on the board of
trustees of Yeshiva University. She went on
to serve on the boards of five of its schools.
Born in 1906 in Grajevo, Lithuania, now
Poland, Ivry was the youngest of nine chil-
dren. Her father was in the lumber busi-
ness in Europe and was a paper box manu-
facturer in New York City, while her mother
was very active in philanthropic work with
women's organizations in Manhattan.
After high school she worked as personal
secretary to the top executive of McCrory
department stores. The executive taught
Ivry how to manage his portfolio of stocks
and investments, and lent her a small
amount of money to invest for herself, fuel-
ing Ivry's interest in the stock market.
In her 50s, Ivry took courses to become
a stockbroker. She enjoyed success at sev-
eral major firms.
A Yeshiva University benefactor, Ivry
established and endowed the Rebecca
Ivry Department of Jewish Studies at
Stern College. She also endowed schol-
arship funds, research fellowships, a
professorial chair, a free loan fund, a beit
midrash and a student center at various
schools under the university's banner.
In 1987, Ivry was awarded an honorary
doctorate.
Ivry served since 1992 on the board of
the Jewish Theological Seminary, where
she endowed the Rebecca and Israel Ivry
Prozdor High School and the E. Billi Ivry
Professorship of Talmud and Rabbinics.
She also was a board member of the Elie
Wiesel Foundation for Humanity; a mem-
ber of the President's Club of State of Israel
Bonds and director of both the Friends of
the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in
Israel and the Brookdale Centeron Aging
at Hunter College. She also supported the
Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon
Lev) in Jerusalem, the David Yellin College
of Education and Boys Town, Jerusalem.
Making a Lasting Memory.
T
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B46
November 13 • 2008