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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
metro
Ann Newman's mail-order prescription business is
bringing jobs to Novi. See page 18.
New JN columnist "Big Al" Muskowitz
>> cover story
Finding Joy
Amid Sorrow
Gary Weinstein
with a portrait
of the family
he lost six
years ago
The car crash that killed his family
shattered Gary Weinstein's world
... yet he lives each day with
passion and presence.
Ronelle Grier I Contributing Writer
he day began like any other. A Tuesday in early May. Gary
Weinstein kissed his wife, Judy, and their two sons, Sam,
9, and Alex, 12, goodbye and headed off to work. Judy was
planning to pick the boys up later for a 3:45 appointment with
their orthodontist. An ordinary day.
Then the unthinkable happened. A Yukon Denali SUV, traveling
down 12 Mile Road at 70 miles per hour, slammed into the back of
Judy's red Honda Accord waiting to make a left turn into the park-
ing lot of the orthodontist. Judy, 49, and Alex were killed instantly.
Sam was thrown from the car and taken to Royal Oak Beaumont
Hospital, where he died soon after his arrival.
The driver of the Denali, Thomas Wellinger, was taken to the
same hospital, where testing revealed that his blood alcohol level
was .43, more than the five times the state legal limit for operating
a vehicle.
Within hours, the news ricocheted through the community.
Every local news station, as well as some national broadcasts, car-
ried the story of the mother and two young sons whose lives were
ended so abruptly on an otherwise routine afternoon. Wellinger
was arrested and subsequently convicted of three counts of
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
» arts
American
Idol Chutzpah
Singer/musician
Casey Abrams
brings his grit and
growl to the Joe.
9
1942 - 2011
Covering and
Connecting
Jewish Detroit
Every Week
Abrams talks of his Jewish
STORY ON PAGE 38
08805
93363 5
roots and his wild side.