An Accomplished
Woman

A Vibrant
Community Member

I

da Joyrich, 86, of Franklin,
died Feb. 1, 2018.
She survived some of the
most notorious camps dur-
ing the Holocaust (Majdanek,
Plashov, Auschwitz-Birkenau).
Ida and her hus-
band, Dr. Myron (Ron)
Joyrich, first met at the
old Michigan Central
Station when she and
her mother came to the
U.S. from Sweden, via
New York. He and his
family came to greet
Joyrich
them. He was 15 years
old and she was 16.
From that point on,
they were nearly insepa-
rable. He helped her
learn English, taught
her to drive, helped her
with her classes in high
school and even taught
her mother to drive.
They both loved the
theater and music, and they
ushered at theaters and con-
cert halls.
The couple married at the
end of his junior year in medi-
cal school and bought a small
house in Oak Park. where they
began their reputation for
fabulous entertaining.
Ron and Ida had a remark-
able marriage, which lasted
for 60 years. They loved to
travel and filled the house with
souvenirs from each trip. They
were extremely close to their
family, who always came first.
They adored their children,
Richard, Lynne, Wendy and
Nomi. They had wonderful
family bonds, which expanded
when Nomi’s husband, Cory,
joined the family. Their family
sustained them throughout
their lives. In their later years,
their grandchildren, Eden
and Ava, became the most
important part of Ida and Ron’s
world and filled them with joy.
Ida’s interests also gave her
much pleasure. She was a won-
derful gourmet cook and host-
ess; her dinner parties were
legendary. A voracious reader,
she was usually in the middle
of at least two books at any

given time. She was a politi-
cal junkie, able to discuss the
political situation and the state
of the world in detail.
A member of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek for more than
50 years, she sat on
the congregation’s
board and was social
action chair of the
Sisterhood of Shaarey
Zedek.
Ida was very active
in causes on behalf
of Israel and was a
member of AIPAC.
She was an associ-
ate and life member
of Hadassah as well
as being its educa-
tion vice president.
A member of the
Detroit Committee
for Soviet Jewry, she
became the co-chair
of the committee,
and she was also a commit-
ted member of ACLU and of
Amnesty International.
She was a very creative
woman: She opened a bead
store, Bead Works, which gave
her an opportunity to use
her creativity in the design of
unique jewelry.
Mrs. Joyrich is survived by
her son, Dr. Richard Joyrich
of West Bloomfield; daugh-
ters and son-in-law, Dr. Lynn
Joyrich of Warwick, R.I., Nomi
and Cory Joyrich; grandchil-
dren, Eden Joyrich, Ava Joyrich.
She is also survived by Edith
and Marvin Kozlowski and
their family; the Bowman fam-
ily; the Pinkas family; loving
friends, including the Lunch
Bunch; and her dear compan-
ions, Livonia, Michelle, Mary,
Ida and Rochelle.
Contributions may be made
to Gleaners, P.O. Box 33321,
Drawer 43, Detroit, MI 48232;
Yad Ezra, 2850 W. 11 Mile,
Berkley, MI 48072; or ACLU,
action.aclu.org, American
Jewish World Service, 45 W.
36th St., New York, NY 10018.
Interment was at Hebrew
Memorial Park. Arrangements
by Hebrew Memorial Chapel. •

G

wen Kelman, 95, of Ann Arbor,
died Feb. 1, 2018.
She grew up in Detroit, the
youngest of eight, with a span of 23
years between Gwen and her eldest
brother, Bill.
When she was 11, she walked to the
Detroit Institute of Arts and
watched Diego Rivera paint
the Detroit Industry Murals
on the museum’s walls. “He
was a large man, wearing a
big white coat,” she said.
Years later, she walked
across the street to Wayne
State and completed an art
degree. “She would put on
classical music and draw us
early in the morning before
rushing off to school,” a niece Kelman
remarked. She could draw
like crazy. At school, she met
her husband, Paul, whose
family was as tall as hers was short.
After a few years as an art instruc-
tor, Gwen married Paul and had five
rambunctious, medium-sized kids. They
moved to a house, “like a palace,” said
Gwen, “with air conditioning,” said Paul,
in Oak Park in 1956. Then, they taught
all their children about honesty and
integrity and made sure they did their
homework and went to good schools.
Gwen loved animals. There were
turtles, fish, an alligator, parakeets and
dogs in the house at various times
Her favorite TV show was Jeopardy.
Gwen’s bedtime story each night was a
New York Times crossword puzzle. She
was a whiz with these puzzles and with
the many games of Scrabble she played
with her family.
When her youngest was 9, and Gwen
was 50, she decided to learn computer
science. She was at the top of her class
in programming Cobol, a business lan-
guage. This training seeped into her
everyday life. One day, her new stove
did not respond. She unplugged it and
plugged it back in and grinned when it
started to work.
Gwen and Paul traveled to Israel more
than 17 times, visiting relatives on both
sides of the family.
The neighbors often sought her
advice. Gwen was wise in many areas
and adverse to gossip. She was the
stand-in grandma for a large family,
two-doors down, whose real grandma
was in Australia. She adored those kids.
They often invited her over for Shabbat
lunch. She would send a bowl of fruit to

them in advance and they prepared a
fruit salad for her. She ate no sugar, salt,
or fat.
When Paul became ill with Parkinson’s
disease, Gwen became his caretaker for
more than 20 years. Sometimes, when
Paul was really ill, she came up with
solutions that his physicians
had not thought of. Later,
when Paul was gone and the
children had grown up, Gwen
lived by herself and did her
own cleaning and cooking.
She rarely sat down.
When two dogs needed a
yard, a Bichon Frise and a
Standard Poodle, Gwen was
delighted to take them in.
“Aren’t you afraid that they
will bite you?” one of her
relatives asked. “No, I am the
alpha dog,” Gwen declared
with glee. She lived in this
fashion and was an active member of
her community until she was 89, when
she suffered a stroke and moved to Ann
Arbor.
Mrs. Kelman is survived by her daugh-
ters and sons-in-law, Janet Kelman
and David Rein of Ann Arbor, Deborah
Kelman and Rabbi Marvin Goodman
of Foster City, Calif., Miriam Kelman of
Palo Alto, Calif.; sons and daughters-
in-law, Dr. Charles and Simone Kelman
of Agoura Hills, Dr. David Kelman
and Dr. Leah Robin of Atlanta, Ga.;
grandchildren, Rena and Jonathan
Mizrachi, Naomi Goodman, Julianne
Kelman, Katie and Mark Perryman,
Jacob Kelman; great-grandson, Ayden
Mizrachi; sisters-in-law, Nettie Stein,
Beatrice Kelman and Miriam Kelman;
many loving nieces, nephews, cousins
and friends.
She was the youngest daughter of the
late Samuel and the late Ida Adelson;
the beloved wife of the late Paul Kelman;
dear sister-in-law of the late Sol Stein,
the late Dr. Jerome Kelman, the late Eva
Radin and the late Nathan Kelman.
Contributions may be made to
Paul Kelman Ethics Fund at Wayne
State University Mike Ilitch Business
School, 5475 Woodward Ave., Detroit,
MI 48202; Hospice Compassus,
30665 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 150,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334; or Young
Israel of Oak Park, 15140 W. 10 Mile
Road, Oak Park, MI 48237. Interment
was at Beth Tefilo Emanuel Cemetery
in Ferndale. Arrangements by Hebrew
Memorial Chapel. •

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