Yesh1v lia • Obituaries Sch School for Boys • Beth Jacob School for Girls Early Childhood Development Center 15751 W. Lincoln Drive • Southfield, MI 48076 • (248) 557-6750 Obituaries are updated and archived on JNonline.us. During the coming week. the students of Yeshiva Beth Yehudah will study in memory of the following departed friends. In orldition, Kaddish will be said during the dailv tninyan. 6 DE= Jove 28, 2009 Lester Norman Freed Louis Freedman Leon Friedman Ben Hersh Julius Heymanson Harry Sheawitz Sophie Cohen Sarah Finkelstein Perie Crantz Gassel Goldie Kieinberg Bronia Nothman Ethel Raifman Sarah Schmier Pearl Shoskes Mary Simon Gussie Slootsky 7 Dina June 34 2009 Dovid Ben Shimul Hakohen Adolph Dinetz Mrs. Duberstein Martin Foster Kari Hess Ham/ Pet Sam Puckovitsky Philip Schlussel Isidor Strom Morris Tatelbaum Lena Brenner Pearl Daniels Ida Kaplan Anna Pollak Ptryfiss Singer-attis Ete Fischer Solomon Rosiland Weisberg 8 ]Ii= .kose 23, 2009 Joseph David Finley Joseph Kaplan Joseph Miller Phillip Miller Jacob Natow Dave G New manlsaac Rosner Mort Sandles Lee E. Segal Ira I. Sonnenblick Louise Bloch Dollie Greenblatt Mae Klee Sarah Levin Augusta Memielstein Clara Ordin Jennie \Nal kon 9 Iknoz .1* 1, 2809 Louis Berkower Mendel Gordon Charles Klavons Harry Pollack Morris S. Wayne Philip Yaker Eugene M. Zack Mary Berman Anna Godfrey Ethel Goldberg Miriam Haas Fay Goldman Levy Lillian Doris Viedrah 10 113nur Jrly 2, 2009 Maurice Bordelove Benjamin Chemoff Hyman David Dorman Bernard Glazer Edward Levitt Jack Rosenberg Anna Berent My Bumstine Fannie Gross Bertha Harbor Hannah Karim! Bertha Kashtan Sylvia H Samuels Fannie Slosberg Rose Stoler 11 EWER .may 3, 2049 Albert Armon Samuel Aronoff Sol Nathan Bloch Norman Jacob Block Samuel Goren Sandor Grunwald Nathan Korman Sam Morris Nelson Lester Rosenthal Max Rtrzumna Dave Stein Nathan Zabludovsky Sarah Greenbaum Jennie Levin Marcia Masserman Sophia Saulson Margaret Selik Miriam Werzberger Rachel Wrotslays4 12 Emu July 4, 2009 Louis Fox Said Levine Hyman Mandelbaum Jonas Morgenrotti Nochum Rosenberg Joe Rott Harry Schumann Jack Silverman Chaim Strauss Florence Eglar Anna Ginsberg Reba Glass Mrs. Sarah Kozolchyk Marion Laven Sandra Frances Medler Sylvia Schneider Celia Terebelo Send a tribute in memory of a loved one -- www.DetroitYeshiva.org/JNtributes HOSPICE HEROES THE I Dr. Gela Pala, the medical director for Beaumont Hospice, credits Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network for enriching the quality of life for the many Jewish patients enrolled in Beaumont Hospice, and for teaching her hospice staff about the spiritual component to end-of-life care. "It is a top model for ethnic, patient- centered care that should be replicated by all communities," Dr. Pala says. "The whole Southeast Michigan community, Jewish and non-Jewish, is benefiting from their work." . The JEWISHOSPIC E ' Dr. Gela Pala is one of the Hospice Heroes who keeps the promise so that No Jew Is Ever Alone CHAPLAINCY NETWORK - 6555 W. Maple Rd. • VVest Bloomfield, MI 48322 248.592.2687 • www.jewishhospice.org 1E.12 - 20 _ Shiva dinners, Fish trays, Deli trays Delivered 248-855 9463 Jewishcatering.corn • ler•I C30 June 25 • 2009 Obituaries The Sweet Voice Of The Downtown Synagogue Esther Aliweiss Inqber Special to the Jewish News T he song "My Way" recorded by Neil Barris was the first sound mourners heard at the cantorial soloist's funeral June 17 at Hebrew Memorial Chapel in Oak Park. Although he was not yet an ordained cantor, he filled that role to great acclaim at Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit. To his con- gregants, he was indeed Neil Barris "Cantor Barris!" Neil David Barris, 44, of Walled Lake, died June 15, 2009. Mr. Barris, who had been in good health, contracted the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, and died after a brief illness. He was one of only a handful of people in Michigan to succumb so far to the global outbreak. "Neil was blessed with a glori- ous voice — he was truly the sweet singer of the Downtown Synagogue," said Dr. Martin Herman, synagogue officer and ritual director. Herman, a professor emeritus of humanities at Wayne State University in Detroit, described Mr. Barris' voice as "lovely and power- ful." While attending Wayne State, Neil was the president and a soloist in its award-winning Men's Glee Club, which won first prize in an international competition in Wales. "He was a very accomplished sing- er," said Herman. Neil showed up one Shabbat at the shul and Herman, recognizing his talent, immediately put him to work chanting Ivlusaf, the conclud- ing service that morning. The aspiring cantor did not attend a Conservative seminary although he had apprenticed toward gaining ordination under former Downtown Synagogue Cantor Usher Adler, who died two years ago, and longtime local Cantor Sholom Kalib, who has since left the area. Many remember Cantorial Soloist Barris as the leader of the Downtown Synagogue's High Holiday services the past three years. The free ser- vices, open to the community, attracted 500-600 worshipers each year at venues in Southfield. In addition to his synagogue duties, he officiated at funer- als, led home-based shivah services and helped conduct the shul's annual second- night seder. The cantor worked fulltime as a sales associate at Michael Rosenfeld's Rose Jewelry & Exchange in Redford. Talented Daughter Those who knew Neil say music meant everything to him, but still placed second to Olivia Barris, the 14-year-old daughter he was rais- ing with his mother, Marge Parr. He had sole custody of Olivia after his divorce, and with help from his mother and sister Amy Rosender he's raised Olivia —"a normal teen," according to Grandma. "Olivia was his whole life — the sun rose and set with her," she said. Olivia, soon to enter Walled Lake Western High School, apparently inherited her father's singing abil- ity and shows talent in the dramat- ic arts. Contributions to a school fund in Olivia's name (see below) will be used to send her to college, perhaps to pursue studies in music. As a child, Neil announced his ambition to become a cantor upon starting Hebrew school. Always good at singing, he taught him- self to play piano at age 3 and is also self-taught on guitar. He was a bar mitzvah at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park and a 1982 graduate of Oak Park High, where he sang in the school choir and won a music scholarship to