Northern Michigan University
in Marquette. He later attended
Wayne State.
Cantorial Soloist Barris was
known for his warm heart and
gregarious, outgoing person-
ality. He considered himself
something of a geek, memoriz-
ing comedy bits and beating
all comers in games of Trivial
Pursuit — often with best
friend Ari Hauptman. Edwin
Barris said his son had sum-
marized every episode from
the TV series M*A*S*H and
could quote much of the dia-
logue verbatim. More interests
were history and watching Red
Wings hockey and University
of Michigan teams play.
But no matter whom he
was with, Neil put something
about his daughter into nearly
every conversation. "If Olivia
was OK, then he was OK," stat-
ed his friend Mark Newton,
reading from the letter sent
for the funeral by Ari, now of
Minneapolis.
"His skilled and joyous day-
ening uplifted the spirits of all
who heard him," said Professor
Herman.
"His untimely death has left
all of us devastated, and we
mourn him with heavy hearts."
Cantorial Soloist Neil
David Barris is survived by
his daughter, Olivia Barris;
mother, Marge Parr of Walled
Lake; father and stepmoth-
ers, Edwin and Kelly Barris of
Elk Grove, Calif., and Bernice
Barris of West Bloomfield;
sister and brother-in-law,
Amy and Robert Rosender of
Farmington Hills; siblings and
their spouses, Gary Barris,
Laura and Howard Bernstein,
Faith and Steven Shapiro, Aric
Parr and Dieta Besemer; niec-
es and nephew, Megan, Ethan
and Elina Rosender.
Interment was at Clover Hill
Park Cemetery. Contributions
may be made to Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue, 1457
Griswold, Detroit, MI 48226; or
Olivia Barris School Fund, c/o
Amy Rosender, 31071 Carriage
Hill Road, Farmington Hills, MI
48331. Arrangements by Hebrew
Memorial Chapel.

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Obituaries on page C32

Obituaries

June 25 2009

C31

