community

soul

of blessed memory

Bais Chabad Sets Dinner

A

ndrew and Andrea Feuereisen
and Pinchas and Cindy Wolf
will be honored at the 43rd
annual dinner for Bais Chabad Torah
Center of West Bloomfield at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, June 21, at Young Israel of
Oak Park, 15140 W. 10 Mile Road.
Featured speaker will be the
Honorable Richard Bernstein, a
Michigan Supreme Court justice.
The Feuereisens will receive the
Crown of Distinction Award. They are
ardent supporters of Bais Chabad.
Andy is a Shabbat regular and enjoys
Torah study classes several times a
week. Andi is a longtime active mem-
ber of the Torah Center board. They
have three children and one grand-
child.
The Wolfs will be honored with the
Community Service Award. Pinchas
began composing music at age 10 and
still composes a new nigun (Chasidic
tune) every Shabbat. He has two
recordings of original compositions.
He is affiliated with Congregation
Dovid Ben Nuchim and has trans-
formed his shul with his nigunim.
About 27 years ago, Cindy came to
a Singles’ Shabbaton at the Torah
Center and shortly after met Pinchas
at a Shabbat lunch.
Dinner chairman is Neal Craft, with
Alan Zekelman serving as honorary
chairman.
Cost of the dinner is $300 per
couple. Hors d’oeuvres begin at 6 p.m.,
with dinner at 6:45 p.m. For ticket
information or to participate in the
souvenir journal, contact the Torah
Center at Bctc770@aol.com •

Crohn’s Colitis
Walk June10

Max Charlip, 12, of Farmington Hills
is participating as an Honored Hero
in the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s
Metro Detroit’s Take Steps Walk at 9
a.m. Saturday, June 10, at Meininger
Park in Royal Oak.
Max has Crohn’s disease, which,
along with ulcerative colitis, are
painful, debilitating digestive dis-
eases affecting more than 1.6 million
American adults and children, includ-
ing an estimated 80,000 patients
under age 18.
Max was diagnosed with Crohn’s
just over a year ago. His parents
reached out to the Foundation for
more information and to learn how
they can help support a cure. Now,
Max’s twin brother, Aidan, was diag-
nosed with Crohn’s disease, making
the efforts to raise funds for a cure
doubly important to their family.

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June 1 • 2017

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No Regrets

RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Andrew and Andrea Feuereisen

Pinchas and Cindy Wolf

Richard Bernstein

The Take Steps Walk is the nation’s
largest event dedicated to finding
cures and raising awareness for diges-
tive diseases. To learn more, visit
www.cctakesteps.org or contact Sarah
Arminiak at (248) 737-0900 ext. 6.

Free Community
Health Talk

Dr. James Relle of the Michigan
Institute of Urology in West
Bloomfield will host a free health
education seminar at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, June 7, about enlarged
prostate and an FDA-approved
treatment option for symptom relief
that doesn’t require major surgery
or ongoing medication.
It will be held at the Beaumont
Medical Building, Suite 101, at
6900 Orchard Lake Road in West
Bloomfield. Space is limited. RSVP
to (855) 564-9722.

S

andra “Sandy” Stark was a lov-
ing wife, a devoted mother, a
proud grandmother, a loyal
friend and a dynamic community
volunteer. Sandy passed away on
May 21, 2017, at age 70, after a val-
iant battle with multiple myeloma.
Born in New Orleans and raised in
Detroit, Sandy Yanitz graduated from
Henry Ford High School and earned
a bachelor’s degree in elemen-
tary education from Wayne State
University.
She met Jay Stark, her loving hus-
band of almost 50 years, when a
fraternity brother asked him to take
Sandy to a party. The couple married
in August 1967, and began a five-
decade journey of love, world travel
and happy family times that included
Friday night dinners and festive holi-
day meals.
Their two sons, Eric and Michael,
were raised with fierce motherly
devotion and unconditional love.
Sandy and Jay welcomed Julie and
Danielle as the daughters they never
had. Granddaughters Morgan and
Sloane were her greatest pride,
spending treasured summers at
“Camp Grammy and Papa” and shar-
ing fun trips to Disneyworld and
Washington, D.C.
“She owes us nothing; she gave us
everything; she had no regrets,” said
Sandy’s son, Rabbi Eric Stark, who
gave the eulogy. “She changed the
world for so many in so many posi-
tive ways.”
Devoted members of the syna-
gogue where they began their mar-
ried life, the Starks were referred to
as “the heart and soul” of Temple
Israel by Rabbi Paul Yedwab, who
officiated the funeral service.
Sandy taught kindergarten in Ann
Arbor while Jay earned a Ph.D. at the
University of Michigan. She eventual-
ly transitioned to the role of full-time
volunteer when the family moved to
Farmington Hills.
“She was genetically incapable
of getting involved in an organiza-
tion and not running it,” said Eric,
enumerating some of the many proj-
ects where Sandy held leadership
roles: Cub Scouts, ORT, the Jewish
Community Center board of direc-
tors, the JCC book fair, Bookstock
and the Channel 56 auction, where

Sandy Stark

she used her tenacity to convince
Henry Ford II to donate a new
Lincoln Continental to the cause.
Later, she decided to obtain a
master’s degree in adult education
from U-M Dearborn, graduating
with honors and using her newfound
skills to help General Motors expand
its interactive distance learning pro-
grams.
She had an eye for design, over-
seeing the renovation of the family
home and a magazine-quality gar-
den, which was completed in time
for her to enjoy it.
Never defined by her disease, she
was a supportive friend and role
model for other cancer patients.
Sandy is survived by her beloved
husband, Jay Stark; children, Rabbi
Eric ( Julie Elfand) Stark and Michael
(Danielle) Stark; granddaughters,
Morgan and Sloane Stark; sisters-in-
law, Hilary (Scott Mullennix) Wilson
and Francine (David) Hundiak;
brothers-in-law, Robert Stark and
Eliot (Pauline) Stark; nephews,
Aaron and Jon Stark. She is also
survived by Barbara Weintraub. She
was the adored daughter of the late
Lawrence and the late Jane Yanitz.
Arrangements by the Ira Kaufman
Chapel. Contributions in memory
of Sandy Stark may be directed to
Temple Israel, Stark Family Fund,
5725 Walnut Lake Road, West
Bloomfield, MI 48323, www.temple-
israel.org, (248) 661-5700. Interment
at Beth El Memorial Park. •