Creative Caterer Extraordinaire
Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News
W
ith Passover just weeks
away, Paul G. Kohn's Quality
Kosher Catering has been
sending out brochures and e-mails to
prospective customers, advertising in
newspapers and gearing up for one of
its busiest times of the year. But for
many people, this or other holidays just
won't seem the same any more.
Mr. Kohn, 63, of Southfield, the for-
mer teacher who became one of the
Detroit area's most prominent kosher
caterers, died of congestive heart fail-
ure March 23, 2011, at Royal Oak's
Beaumont Hospital, where he had been
for a month. His funeral was held at
Hebrew Memorial Chapel in Oak Park
on March 24, and then he was buried
March 27 in Eretz Hachaim Cemetery
in Beit Shemesh, Israel, with many fam-
ily members in attendance.
Mr. Kohn had been in ill health off
and on since 2009 when he contracted
altitude sickness, a debilitating malady,
while vacationing in Colorado. A medi-
cal plane flew him back to Michigan
where he recuperated before returning
to work.
"He was okay for a while; but in
recent times, he would enter the
hospital for a few days, then bounce
back, then go in for a few days again,"
said Sanford Singal, Quality Kosher
Catering's sales and office manager.
"But this time he just didn't bounce
back."
ELEANORE M. DEMAK, 80, of Monroe
Township died March 23, 2011, at the
University Medical Center at Princeton, N.J.
Born in Detroit, Mrs. Demak was a for-
mer resident of Oak Park.
She is survived by her husband of 59
years, Leonard S. Demak; son, Richard
Demak and his wife, Brenda Breslauer of
New York City; daughter, Michele Epstein
and her husband, Jeffrey Epstein of
Plainsboro, N. J.; grandchildren, Zachary,
Adam, and Nathan Epstein, Ella and Nora
Demak; survived by her sister, Ruth Vosko
of Farmington; brother, Albert Yendick of
Livonia.
Mrs. Demak was the daughter of the late
Rose and the late Joseph Yendick.
A private graveside service was held at
Floral Park Cemetery, Deans. Donations
may be made to Jewish Family and
Staff To Carry On
The catering operation, which handles
about 700 to 800 orders each Passover,
will carry on with its staff of nine full-
time employees and, at times, almost 100
part-time workers, according to Singal.
"Paul always had a smile; he always
had a story; and he always had a
plate of mini hot dogs:' recalled Brian
Hermelin of Bingham Farms, presi-
dent of Congregation Shaarey Zedek
in Southfield. Mr. Kohn moved Quality
Kosher Catering to Shaarey Zedek in
1981, where there is the capacity to host
1,600 people.
"Paul's catering busi-
ness always has played
an important role in
the lives of our member
families and for the
many Jewish organiza-
tions in the community,"
said Hermelin. "I'm
confident that Paul's
great team will perpetu-
ate his excellent, highly
creative work at Shaarey
Zedek and in the rest of
Paul Kohn
the community."
Hermelin and his
mother, Doreen Hermelin, also of Bingham
Farms, are two of Mr. Kohn's biggest cus-
tomers."I can't remember any social event
that my parents gave where Paul wasn't
there to take care of the refreshments;'
said Brian Hermelin. "For many longtime
Shaarey Zedek members, he was almost
like part of the family."
Added Tobye Bello, the synagogue's
program director: "Paul gave incredible
parties that were very creative, and he was
a wonderful man. For me, he did three bat
mitzvah parties, one bar mitzvah and three
weddings — and they all were beautiful."
For a few years, Mr. Kohn also operated
an upscale kosher parve and dairy restau-
rant in West Bloomfield, La Difference.
Children's Services of Greater Mercer
County, www.jfcsonline.org/giving.htm
Arrangements by Orland's Ewing
Memorial Chapel, 1534 Pennington Road,
Ewing Township, Trenton, N.J.
William A. Ellmann; the loving grand-
daughter of the late Joseph and the late
Rose Frenkel and the late James and the
late Jeannette Ellmann.
Interment at Machpelah Cemetery.
Contributions may be made to Goodwill
Industries, 3035 Prairie Street SW,
Grandville, MI 49418, website:
www.info@goodwillgr.org . Arrangements
by Ira Kaufman Chapel.
CAROL ELIZABETH
ELLMANN, 52, of
Kentwood, Mich., died
March 24, 2011.
She was an artist.
Ms. Ellmann is sur-
vived by her mother,
Sheila Ellmann; broth-
Ellmann
ers and sister-in-law,
c. 1976
Douglas and Claudia
Ellmann of Ann Arbor,
Robert Ellmann of Prague; nephews, Ben
Ellmann and Liam Ellmann.
She was the beloved daughter of the late
'A Very Bright Man'
Mr. Kohn was born in Hungary, but fled
the country with his mother and little
brother in 1956 during the Hungarian
uprising against Communist occupation.
"Our father died when Paul was 9, but we
pulled the family together to
start a new life in New York,
then Detroit:' said his broth-
er, Rabbi Elimelech "Tommy"
Kohn of Riverdale, N.Y.
He said Paul attended high
school in Detroit and also at
yeshivah schools in New York
and Chicago. He received a
bachelor's degree in biology,
then a master's in education
from Wayne State University
and taught science at Detroit's
Central High School, Marian
High School in Bloomfield
Township and Yeshiva Beth Yehudah in
Southfield in the early 1970s."He was a
very bright man',' said Tommy Kohn.
Mr. Kohn launched Quality Kosher
Catering in 1978, taking over the cater-
ing business from his mother, Elizabeth
(known as Etta), who founded Royal
Kosher Catering in 1966. Her trademark
was delicious kosher food with a home-
Fuller
RUTH L. FULLER,
86, of Southfield, died
March 25, 2011.
She is survived by
her daughters and
sons-in-law, Caryn and
Dr. Henry Hirsch of
Bloomfield Hills, Sandy
and Joseph Gruca of
Ob it trld nes
made flavor and character. Mr. Kohn
always pointed out that his mother was
the benchmark by which he judged his
business success.
At the funeral, which lasted more than
two hours, all of Mr. Kohn's seven children
or their spouses related anecdotes about his
love for his family, Judaism and his peerless
work that earned him the unofficial title of
caterer to the Jewish community.
Officiating at the funeral were Rabbi
Yisroel Menachem Levin of Beth Tefilo
Emanuel Tikvah Synagogue in Southfield;
Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Levin of Chicago;
Mr. Kohn's brother, Rabbi Elimelech Leib
Kohn of New York, and his father-in-
law, Manny Mittelman of Southfield, a
Holocaust survivor.
Mr. Kohn is survived by his wife of 38
years, Leah Kohn; children, Ely and Henny
Kohn, Rebekah and Shmuel Dembitzer,
Sara Aliza and Herschel Scheinberg,
Dovid and Ayala Kohn, Devorah and
Meshulem Martin, Daniel Kohn, Avi
Kohn; brother, Rabbi Elimelech Leib and
Chana Leah Kohn; grandchildren, Chana
Kohn, Atara Kohn, Estee Dembitzer,
Yehoshua Dembitzer, Leora Dembitzer,
Avi Noam Dembitzer, Akiva Yitzchok
Dembitzer, Fliezer Ben-Zion Scheinberg,
Meir Scheinberg, Rusi Scheinberg, Malka
Scheinberg, Esther Scheinberg, Yosef
Scheinberg, Eliezer Kohn, Esther Hadassah
Kohn, Orah Nava Kohn, Chananya Martin,
Dovid Yeshaya Martin.
Donations may be made to a charity
of one's choice. Interment was at Eretz
Hachaim Cemetery in Beit Shemesh, Israel.
Arrangements, Hebrew Memorial Chapel. I I
West Bloomfield; brother and sister-in-
law, Leonard and Rita Newman of New
Jersey; grandchildren, Amy (Todd) Gers,
Rikki (Amit) Ofek, Stacey Hirsch (fiancé,
Brian Jeffries), Ryan (Lori) Hirsch; great-
grandchildren Jacob and Ethan. She is also
survived by her loving caregivers, Jennifer
Fenderson, Kyondria Williams and Sonia
Diggs.
Mrs. Fuller was the beloved wife of the
late Sidney A. Fuller; sister-in-law of the
late Henry Fuller and the late Charlotte
and the late Martin Gurwin.
Interment at the Temple Israel Gardens
of Beth El Memorial Park Cemetery in
Livonia. Contributions may be made
to the Feldman Komisar Fund at JARC.
Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.
Obituaries on page 74
March 31. 2011
73