obituaries

Lie. Through His Lens

Esther Allweiss Ingber
1 Contributing Writer

B

ob Benyas and his camera docu-
mented the history of Jewish
Detroit.
"Bob loved this community, and I
came to believe he knew almost everyone
in it" said Charlotte Dubin, who relied
upon his talents for decades in her jobs
at the Detroit Jewish News and Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
"The evidence of that contribution is
in the archived Detroit Jewish News and
in his photo collection at Federation's
Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community
Archives" she said.
Indeed, at his funeral April 30 at Ira
Kaufman Chapel, the lobby was lined
with dozens of portraits representing the
memorable career of an enduring and
beloved photographer.
"He connected. He cared. Each encoun-
ter ... meant something" said Rabbi
Norman Roman of Temple Kol Ami, who
spoke at the funeral.
Robert "Bob" Benyas, 90, of West
Bloomfield, died unexpectedly but peace-
fully on April 28, 2014.
Mark Benyas said his father lived a "full
and rich life as a people photographer and
photo-journalist:'
Bob was honored with a plaque for tak-
ing pictures of every author at the Jewish
Community Center's Jewish Book Fair
for 57 years. The regular photographer
for Jewish Senior Life's "Eight over 80"
tribute luncheon, he himself became an
honoree in 2012.
Other Jewish organizations he docu-
mented included American Jewish
Committee, Holocaust Memorial Center
and Michigan Jewish Historical Society.
For many years, he photographed the
Michigan Sports Hall of Fame Banquet at
Cobo Hall; United Way, Catholic League,
Alzheimer's Association were other non-
Jewish clients.

SHIRLEY ARSHT, 77,
of Farmington Hills,
died April 28, 2014.
A life member of
Hadassah, Mrs. Arsht
was also a past member
of Congregation B'nai
Moshe's sisterhood.
Arsht
She is survived by her
husband of 56 years, Saul Arsht; daugh-
ters and sons-in-law, Michelle Stiennon
of West Bloomfield, Lynn Teri and Bharat
Gandhi of West Bloomfield, Stacy and
Michael Fox of Bloomfield Hills; grand-
children, Nisan Stiennon, Jonah Stiennon,
Sarah Stiennon, Max Kopnick, Lilly
Gandhi, Isabelle Fox, Elijah Fox, Goldie

In addition, Bob helped the Yiddish-
focused Sholem Aleichem Institute in
numerous ways, including serving seven
years as president. He invited children to
receive pieces of honey cake for a sweet
year at the organization's Rosh Hashanah
assembly.

Gift Of A Camera
Bob was the first child of Pearl and Saul
Benyas, born Oct. 12, 1923, in Omaha,
Neb. His siblings were born during the
1930s in Detroit.
An uncle gave Bob his first camera as a
bar mitzvah gift. When asked to babysit,
Bob would "wake us up after our parents
had gone and pose us for pictures" said
brother Don Benyas. Their
kid sister, Ettagail Shatz, trea-
sures Bob's photo of her in
Shirley Temple-style curls.
In his eulogy, son Eddie
Benyas said Bob attended
Central and Northwestern
high schools before enrolling
at Wayne University.
A year later, he was drafted
into the U.S. Army. A touch-
ing letter to his mother was
Bob Benya
published in the former
Detroit Times on Mother's
Day 1944. Pfc. Benyas, an aerial photog-
rapher stationed at Greensboro, Colo.,
reassured her, "Remember, Mom, I'm in
the best darned army in the whole world.
There is NOBODY who can lick us ... We
will win this war — soon — and I'll come
home to the most wonderful Mom a fella
ever had"
Bob served in the China-Burma-India
Theater with the Army Air Corps. Honor
guards at Bob's interment presented a
folded American flag to his wife, Shirley.
The G.I. Bill helped Bob attend the
Institute of Design in Chicago, where he
became friends with Jack Kaufman of
Detroit and graduated in 1949. Jack, liv-
ing in California, was enticed to return

Fox; sister-in-law, Sandra Stahl.
Mrs. Arsht was the dear sister of the late
Judith Morales and the late Bernard Stahl.
Contributions may be made to a char-
ity of one's choice. Services were held at
the Oppenheim Chapel at Machpelah
Cemetery in Ferndale. Interment was held
at Machpelah Cemetery. Arrangements by
Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

CHARLOTTE BEIGEL, 89, of West
Bloomfield, died April 23, 2014.
She and her husband, Bernie, were
the owners of Charlotte's Knit Shops and
All that Glitters. They worked side by
side for the 68 years they were married,
retiring just last year. Charlotte and her

home after Bob said he'd made $600
doing photography in his basement.
In 1951, the young men started Benyas-
Kaufman Photography Studio with $300.
Their 800-square-foot studio was on
Linwood, two blocks north of West Grand
Boulevard. Eight years later, Benyas-
Kaufman relocated to Oak Park, with
spacious digs of 4,000 square feet on Nine
Mile Road at Rosewood. They remained
partners for 44 years.

Family Portrait

The year 1951 was also momentous
because Bob married the former Shirley
Zaft on March 18 at Temple Israel in
Detroit. They met the previous August
at their mutual friend Ben
Glicker's art studio, across
Woodward from the old
Vernor's factory, which
turned out to be the site of
the couple's first date.
Shirley, a 30-year music
teacher in the Detroit Public
Schools, is best known
locally as an opera singer
and actress. She appreciated
her husband's encourage-
ment.
"Bob never objected to
me doing my thing — performing in the
theater, singing in concerts and going to
endless rehearsals. He was pleased that I
was doing it:'
Throughout their long, close marriage,
"It was always Bob and Shirley," she said,
calling it beshert (meant to be) that she
returned to Detroit the summer they met
instead of staying on at a Catskills, N.Y.,
resort.
Bob taught their sons Mark and Eddie
to play ball and coached Little League.
Eddie said his dad was "the Pied Piper of
the neighborhood" nurturing and men-
toring several generations of children, like
Bob's great friend Mike Morris.
"Following the activities of his sons,

family left Frankfurt,
Germany, one night
after Kristallnacht.
She was the loving
mother of Barbara
(Howard) Leshman
and Sharon (Andrew)
Collins; grandmother
of Scott (Nicole)
Leshman, Jaclyn
(Neil) Rosenzweig,
Zachary and the late
Seth Michael Collins.
She leaves great-
grandchildren, Jolie
and Chase Rosenzweig;
sister, Eva (the late Geri)

Obituaries

daughters-in-law and grandchildren was
what he liked to do most" Eddie said.

A Humane Eye
Bob's famous photo subjects included
Israeli leaders Golda Meir and Moshe
Dayan, musicians from Leonard Bernstein
to the Beatles, sports legends from Tom
Harmon to Mark "The Bird" Fidrych (for
a New York Times Magazine cover story),
as well as Presidents Johnson, Ford,
Carter, Reagan and Clinton.
Bob had a memorable photo in an
exhibition about the 1967 Detroit riot. As
granddaughter Dana Benyas told it in her
eulogy, "In the midst of chaos and hate,
he chose to portray ... two young boys —
one black, one white — with arms around
each other"
A groundbreaking 16-page spread in
Coronet, a national magazine, was taken
at the state prison in Jackson. Eddie said
Bob joined the "prisoners in a chow line
to put them at ease with him, resulting in
unique candid photographs of prison life:'
"Dad always looked for the good,
humane side of people he met, which he
showed in his photos" Mark said.
Bob Benyas is survived by his wife
of 63 years, Shirley Benyas; sons, Mark
(Dorothy) Benyas, Edward (Kara) Benyas;
grandchildren, Jordan, Dana, Gabriela
and Maya Benyas; brother, Don Benyas
(Florine Mark); sister, Ettagail (Jack)
Shatz; and nieces, nephews, cousins and
friends.
He was the son of the late Saul and the
late Pearl Benyas.
Interment was at Clover Hill Park
Cemetery. Contributions may be made
to Sholem Aleichem Institute, 5600 W.
Maple, #D405, West Bloomfield, MI
48322, 248-423-4406; or Jewish Senior
Life of Metropolitan Detroit, Benyas-Zaft
Music Fund, 6710 W. Maple Road, West
Bloomfield, MI 48322, 248-661-1836,
www.jslmi.org . Arrangements were by Ira
Kaufman Chapel.

❑

Wertheimer; brother and sister-in-law,
Otto and Marilyn Schiff; three nieces; one
nephew.
Mrs. Biegel was the wife of the late
Bernie Beigel; the daughter of the late
Paul and the late Annie Schiff.
Interment was held at the Clover
Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham.
Contributions may be made to Seth
Michael Collins Memorial Grove at the
Jewish National Fund, to the Holocaust
Memorial Center or to a charity of one's
choice. Arrangements by Dorfman
Chapel.

Obituaries on page 74

JN

May 8 • 2014

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