obituaries

KAREN BERDY, 69, of Oak Park, died
Aug. 25, 2015.
She is survived by her husband, Remy
Berdy; sons and daughter-in-law, Geoffrey
and Dina Berdy of Berkley, Marcus Berdy
of Oak Park; daughter, Rebecca Berdy
of Ferndale; brother, Larry Loberman of
Farmington Hills; sister and brother-in-
law, Ruby and Dr. Richard Kushner of
Farmington Hills; grandson, Lev Berdy;
uncle, Harry Loberman of California; aunt,
Kitty (the late Phillip) Charns of Oak Park;
many loving nieces and nephews.
Contributions may be made to Yad
Ezra, 2850 W. 11 Mile Road, Oak Park,
MI 48237; or American Cancer Society,
20450 Civic Center Drive, Southfield, MI
48076. Interment was held at Hebrew
Memorial Park, Radomer Couples Section.
Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial
Chapel.

JULIUS BRITMAN, 97, of Livonia, died

Aug. 26, 2015.
A World War II Army veteran, he par-
ticipated in the invasion of Normandy.
Mr. Britman is survived by his sister,
Reva Joseph; nieces and nephews, Marc
and Linda Joseph, Jill and Mike Fried,
Jaye Joseph, Bonnie and Dave Kiselewski,
Linda Britman; other loving relatives and
friends.
Mr. Britman was the dear brother and
brother-in-law of the late Ben and the late
Estelle Britman, the late Seymour Joseph.
Contributions may be made to a char-
ity of one's choice. Services and interment
were held at Hebrew Memorial Park.
Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial
Chapel.

MYRON B. CHARFOOS, 76, of West

Bloomfield, died Aug. 28, 2015.
He is survived by his beloved wife,
Roberta "Bobbi" Charfoos; daughters and
sons-in-law, Dr. Deborah Charfoos and
Dr. Hamid Banooni, Sandra Charfoos-
Woolman and Dr. Richard Woolman;
brother and sister-in-law, Lawrence and
Jane Charfoos; grandchildren, David,
Justin and Daniel Banooni, Tyler and Julia
Woolman; many loving nieces, nephews,
other family members and friends.
Interment was held at the Adat Shalom
Memorial Park in Livonia. Contributions
may be made to St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital, the LUNGevity
Foundation or to a charity of one's choice.
Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

SALLY FLUSTY, 85, of
West Bloomfield, died
Aug. 24, 2015.
Mrs. Flusty is sur-
vived by her son and
daughter-in-law, Dr.
Richard and Wendy
Flusty of Farmington
Flusty
Hills; daughters and
sons-in-law, Carole and Howard Satovsky

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of West Bloomfield, Marla and John Crane
of West Bloomfield; grandchildren, Brent
Flusty, Laura Flusty and her fiance, Jake
Smilovitz, Jodi and Stuart Solomon, Dr.
Ryan Satovslcy, Dana and Jordan Bushman;
great-grandchild, Noa Reese Solomon;
brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Luisa
Levinson; her loving dog, Cody; her care-
givers, Ivy, Leticia and Bernice.
Mrs. Flusty was the beloved wife of the
late Norton Flusty; the cherished sister
of the late Phyllis and the late Joseph
Hertzberg; the devoted daughter of the
late Nathan Levinson and the late Rose
Levinson.
Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial
Park. Contributions may be made to
Temple Israel, 5725 Walnut Lake Road,
West Bloomfield, MI 48323, www.temple-
israel.org; or a charity of one's choice.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

HARRY GOLD, 87, of

Troy, died Aug. 28, 2015.
Harry, a Ph.D., was
professor emeritus/
professor of sociology
at Oakland University.
He worked for the
Detroit City Planning
Gold
Commission and the
Washtenaw County Planning Commission.
Mr. Gold received his undergraduate
degree from Wayne State University and
his master's and Ph.D. from the University
of Michigan.
He worked for the American Institute
of Planners in Washington, D.C. He also
taught at Rutgers University, Southern
Illinois University and Oakland University.
In addition, he taught courses at MIT,
University of Michigan, Central Michigan
University and University of Michigan-
Dearborn.
Mr. Gold was a Korean War veteran, was
on the board of the Southfield Symphony
and wrote the program notes for the con-
certs. He also wrote three textbooks on
urban sociology, which were used at many
colleges and universities in the United
States, Canada, Scotland and other coun-
tries.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years,
Patricia Michael Gold; son, David Michael
Gold; brother, Jack Gold; nieces and neph-
ews, William and Gail Gold, Patty and
Andrew Freedman.
He was the loving brother of the late
Robert Gold, the late Herman and the late
Fran Gold; the dear brother-in-law of the
late Shirley Gold.
Interment was at Oakview Cemetery.
Contributions may be made to National
Kidney Foundation, 1169 Oak Valley
Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, www.nkfm.
org; American Cancer Society, 20450 Civic
Center Drive, Southfield, MI 48076, www
cancer.org; or a charity of one's choice.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

Obituaries on page 66

Soul Of The Shul

David Sachs

Senior Copy Editor

F

or 52 years, Rev. Joseph
Mermelstein was the ritual
director at Congregation Beth
Abraham in Detroit and its successor,
Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield.
Rev. Mermelstein, of New York, who
retired from the synagogue on his 85th
birthday in 2007, died on Aug. 23, 2015,
at age 92.
A prodigious scholar
who memorized the
Tanach (Bible) by age 9,
he was a persistent but
patient teacher of thou-
sands of b'nai mitzvah
throughout the com-
munity. Affectionately
known as "Joe" or
"Yossel," he was also an
exuberant prayer leader,
an unabashed kibbitzer
and a warm, engaging
Rev. Joseph
friend.
Mermelstein
And for a remarkable
half-century, Joe and his
wife, Ruth, were the glue that
held their shul together. Joe led
the daily services, read Torah,
assisted mourners at shivahs
and at the Beth Abraham
Cemetery in Ferndale and
basically helped keep the
synagogue running day to day.
Ruth assisted, providing refreshments for
every minyan and Kiddush.
The Mermelsteins arrived at the Beth
Abraham on Linwood in Detroit in 1955.
Since both Joe and Ruth were Holocaust
survivors who lost most of their own
families during the war, they embraced
the congregation as their new family and
the congregation returned their love in
kind.
In their years serving the synagogue,
the couple also created their own fam-
ily of four children, which now extends
across the country to include many
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Joe specialized in teaching b'nai mitz-
vah their maftir portions and haftorot.
Despite his heavy accent, Joe's high-spir-
ited and unrelenting personality struck
a chord with students. It's estimated he's
shepherded about 3,500 children into
adulthood. He had the ability to work
with all kids, especially those with learn-
ing disabilities and special needs.
"I had students in all the synagogues:'
Joe told the JN when he retired. "I had
space in Birney School in Southfield and
Norup School in Oak Park. I had whole
blocks of kids who came to me to learn.
There were bar mitzvahs all over town.

Obituaries

There were times I was teaching from
noon till 10 at night. I never turned
down anybody for teaching a bar mitz-
vah:'
The loss of Ruth in an automobile
accident in 2006 left a huge void in his
life. Ruth was a survivor of Bergen-
Belsen concentration camp in Germany.
Joe, a native of Czechoslovakia, describes
his own survival as a series of miracles.
Once, as a slave laborer, the Germans
would not shelter him in
a bunker during an Allied
bomb attack so he dove
into a ditch. The bunker
then received a direct hit,
leaving Joe the only survi-
vor. Another time, he was
scheduled to be executed the
next morning but survived
by switching identities with
a man who had died dur-
ing the night. Still later, he
survived during a time when
bunkers were being built by
fooling the Germans into
thinking that he was a mas-
ter carpenter.
In 1945, Joe wound up in
Mauthausen death camp in
Austria. "There were more dead
people than alive:' he told the JN
in 2007. "We had no food, and
I was dying, too. Then, we were
freed by the Americans in May
1945:'
Joe's faith never wavered during his
ordeal in the labor and death camps. "I
put my tefillin on every day, very fast —
when we traveled to work, we davened. I
did the best I could:' he said.
"He treasured every moment of
said son Rabbi Benzion Mermelstein,
speaking at the funeral at Hebrew
Memorial Chapel. "He fought until the
very end:'
Rev. Joseph Mermelstein is survived
by his son and daughter-in-law, Rabbi
Benzion and Freyda Mermelstein of
Richman Hill, N.Y.; daughters and
sons-in-law, Helen and Tzvi Rosenberg
of Brooklyn, N.Y., Judy and Sheldon
Klein of Silver Spring, Md., Esther and
Elliot Gutow of Cleveland; brother and
sister-in-law, Andrew and Judy Martin;
many loving grandchildren and great-
grandchildren.
Rev. Mermelstein was the beloved hus-
band of the late Ruth Mermelstein.
Contributions may be made to Bais
Chabad Torah Center, 5595 W. Maple,
West Bloomfield, MI 48322, or to a char-
ity of one's choice. Interment was held
at Beth Abraham Cemetery in Ferndale.
Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial
Chapel.

❑

JN

September 3 • 2015

65