and Laura Pollak of Greensboro, N.C.;
nephews, Jonathan and Mathew Petrinitz;
uncle and aunt, Marcel and Maggie
Thirman of West Bloomfield; cousins,
Mark Thirman and family of Boston,
Mass., Dr. Michael Thirman and family of
Chicago.
He was the son of the late Alexander
Petrinitz.
Contributions may be made to
Congregation B'nai Moshe, 6800 Drake,
West Bloomfield, 48322; or the Holocaust
Memorial Center, 28123 Orchard Lake
Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48334.

JEAN FINKELSTEIN
SEGAL, 95, was born on
April 6, 1917, in
Brooklyn, N.Y., and
passed away peacefully
on Aug. 22, 2012, in
Rockville, Md.
She leaves behind
Segal
countless individu-
als who were profoundly affected by her
extraordinary, singular capacity to con-
nect with them, to empathically see them,
to accept them for who they were and to

leave them with more faith in themselves
by virtue of her astute and non-judging
mirroring of their best selves.
Mrs. Segal wrote celebratory poems for
all sorts of special occasions and elegant
poems that reflected her rich inner private
life, many of which are only now being
discovered by her loving family. She led
book groups, taught creative writing to
seniors and enjoyed volunteer work with
children with special needs. She was strik-
ing in her emotional intelligence, her hon-
est, no-nonsense responses to people and
situations, and her passions — for classical
music, literature of all sorts, basketball
and tennis, politics (a die-hard liberal), for
flowers and birds, for children and youth,
for humankind and for the mysteries of
life on this earth.
Nicknamed "Jean pro-teen" by the son
of two of her closest friends, she was an
advocate and support for her children, her
children's friends and her grandchildren.
Numbers of people of all ages described
Jean as their "second mother" or "surro-
gate mother" She was unaffected, genuine,
spunky and vibrant. A woman of deeply
held values, she saw through and couldn't

abide hypocrisy, materialism and injus-
tice. Youthful all of her days, she was a
sharp-witted good sport, an optimist, a
straightforward, life-loving huge presence.
She summarized her later years beauti-
fully when she wrote, "I'm having spring
fever in the autumn of my life." May her
memory be for a blessing.
Mrs. Segal was a fiery partner and wife,
a passionate and loving mother, a playful
and sassy grandmother and was blessed to
see the births of three great-grandchildren.
She graduated from the University of
Michigan in 1937 and married Rabbi
Jacob E. Segal in 1942. He became the
founding rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Detroit, where they lived until his death
in 1975.
Mrs. Segal is survived by her four
children, Jonathan (Denise Perme) Segal
of Silver Spring, Md., Deborah (Larry)
Fine of Amherst, Mass., Jeremy Segal
of Irvine, Calif, and Rebecca Segal of
Chicago, Ill. She will also be deeply missed
by her grandchildren, Ariel Segal, Elan
Hichenberg, Shira (Noah) Hichenberg,
Kerren Segal, Rabbi Jacob (Julie) Fine,
Rabbi Aaron (Emily) Fine, and Jacob, Liza,

and David Segal; her great-grandchildren,
Meira, Nessa and Emet Fine. She is also
survived by Ann Hichenberg, Jan Segal,
and many other friends and relatives, as
well as the loving and caring aides and
other staff members of the Hebrew Home
of Greater Washington, where she spent
her last years.
This announcement was placed at the
family's request by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

MIKLOS WASSERMAN, 78, of Dearborn
Heights, died Oct. 18, 2012.
He is survived by his wife, Pnina
Wasserman of Dearborn Heights; daugh-
ter, Sylvia Wasserman of Dearborn
Heights; sisters, Anush Itskovitz of Israel
and Ibi Pollach of Hungary.
Mr. Wasserman was the beloved brother
of the late Andor Wasserman, the late
Imre Wasserman and the late Sandor
Wasserman.
Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial
Park Cemetery. Contributions may be
made to Salvation Army, 26700 W. Warren,
Dearborn Heights, MI 48127, www.usc.
salvationarmy.org/dearborn . Arrange-
ments by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

Obituaries on page 106

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