56 April 25 • 2019
jn

O

n the surface, Jonathan 
“Jon” Paley Wolman exem-
plified the classic newsman 
of a bygone era, an exacting editor 
who sought the truth and wasn’
t 
afraid of its consequences. Beneath 
that exterior was a kindhearted and 
compassionate husband 
and father, a loyal friend 
and a generous mentor. 
Jon, editor and publish-
er of the Detroit News, 
died April 15, 2019, at age 
68 of complications from 
pancreatic cancer.
He grew up in Madison, 
Wis., with his par-
ents, Anne and Martin 
Wolman, and his four 
siblings. He was born 
into the newspaper busi-
ness; his father was publisher of the 
Wisconsin State Journal, where Jon 
started as a young newsboy. 
Jon attended the University of 
Colorado and transferred to the 
University of Wisconsin. After grad-
uation, he was hired as a reporter 
at the Associated Press (AP) bureau 
in Madison. When he called home 
to announce his new position, his 
father literally beamed with pride.
That job was the start of a 31-year 
career with the AP that included 
a two-year stint in Detroit before 
joining the AP Washington bureau. 
Over the next 23 years, he rose to 
the position of bureau chief before 
he was promoted to the AP’
s New 
York bureau, where he eventually 
became executive editor.
Along the way, Jon met his future 
wife, Deborah Lamm, in Tucson. 
She was working at an event Jon had 
been assigned to cover, the annual 
meeting of the U.S. Conference of 
Mayors in Tucson. Happily, both 
were living in D.C. at the time, and 
their relationship quickly blos-
somed. They were married in 1978 
and spent the next 40 years in a 
marriage that reflected their deep 
love and mutual respect. 

Their three children, Sophie, 
Emma and Jacob, were the lights 
of Jon’
s life, and their happiness 
was paramount. Speaking at the 
funeral service, his daughter Emma 
described her father as a purpose-
ful person who took everyone and 
everything seriously. 
“He was remarkably 
uninterested in status,” she 
said. “He was difficult to 
impress and unflinchingly 
honest.” 
His son, Jacob, remem-
bers his father always mak-
ing time for the family and 
providing invaluable guid-
ance in a variety of areas 
ranging from finances to 
career choices to tennis.
“Everything that made 
him a great reporter, editor, man-
ager and publisher carried over to 
his relationships with family and 
friends,” Jacob said. 
Jon left the AP to become edito-
rial page editor at the Denver Post 
in 2004. Three years later, he moved 
to Michigan to become editor and 
publisher of the Detroit News. He 
steered the paper through challeng-
ing economic times and provided 
guidance for such important stories 
as the city’
s bankruptcy and the 
Flint water crisis. 
Throughout his career, his pas-
sion was politics. He loved covering 
presidential campaigns and helped 
spearhead the AP’
s coverage of the 
terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Jon was ahead of his time as an 
advocate for diversity and opportu-
nities for women in the newsroom. 
He was known as an encouraging 
but firm mentor who challenged 
his employees to become their best 
selves. 
“I became better at what I did 
because Jon made me fight for what 
I wanted to say,” said Nolan Finley, 
Detroit News editorial page editor. 
Jon was an avid reader, a man 
who was quiet but social. While 
he enjoyed a good celebration, he 

avoided the limelight, preferring 
to mentor others and watch them 
succeed.
“He would collect family and 
friends and never let them go,” 
Emma said. 
Like other print journalists of his 
time, he preferred casual shirts and 
Dockers to suits and ties. He carried 
a well-worn book bag and typed 
with two fingers. When he sat down 
to edit a story, he would pull down 
his suspenders, roll up his shirt-
sleeves and stick a pen in the corner 
of his mouth. 
“Jon was a giant of journalism 
and one of the most religious people 
I ever knew, not so much in ritual 
observance but in values, principles, 
ethics, decency and love,” said Rabbi 
Daniel Syme of Temple Beth El, 
where the Wolmans were members. 
 
 
 
Jon is survived by his beloved wife 
of 40 years, Deborah Eve Lamm; 
cherished children, Jacob Wolman, 
Emma (Ian Irvine) Wolman and 
Sophie Wolman; loving siblings, 
Natalie (David Fulker) Wolman, 
Ruth (Bruce) Henderson, Lewis 
(Eletise) Wolman; dear brother-in-
law, Richard (Cindy Levine) Lamm. 
He was the devoted son of the 
late J. Martin and the late Anne 
Wolman; brother of the late Jane 
Wolman. Jon is also survived by 
many loving nieces, nephews, cous-
ins and friends. 
Interment took place in 
Wisconsin. Contributions in mem-
ory of Jonathan Paley Wolman 
may be directed to the Committee 
to Protect Journalists, 330 7th 
Ave., 11th Floor, New York, NY 
10001, (212) 465-1004, cpj.org; the 
University of Wisconsin School 
of Journalism, 821 University 
Ave., Madison, WI 53706, (608) 
263-4898, journalism.wisc.edu; 
Jewish Family Service, 6555 W. 
Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 
48322, (248) 592-2300; jfsdetroit.
org or a charity of one’
s choice. 
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman 
Chapel. ■

 
A Quintessential Newsman 

RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

soul

of blessed memory

DR. MATTHEW L. 
BURMAN, of 
Southfield, passed 
away April 15, 2019. 
He was an ophthal-
mologist who prac-
ticed in Detroit and 
the metropolitan area for more than 
40 years. He served his country in 
the U.S. Air Force. 
Dr. Burman is survived by his 
wife, Estela Burman; daughters, 
Gabriella (Adam Kaplan) Burman, 
and Naomi (Jonathan) Shanke; his 
grandchildren, Ayelet, Maayan and 
Ilanit Kaplan, and Daniel, Sam, 
Orly and Lilly Shanker. 
He was predeceased by his grand-
daughter, Michaela Kaplan.
Interment took place in Bet 
Shemesh, Israel. Contributions 
in his memory can be made to 
Friendship Circle, Yad Ezra, the 
Kollel Institute of Detroit or a char-
ity of your choice. Arrangements by 
Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

SIMI CUTLER, 93, of 
Ann Arbor, died April 
15, 2019. 
She is survived by 
her husband of 72 
years, Aaron Zelig 
Cutler; daughter 
and son-in-law, Elana and Ronald 
Sussman; son and daughter-in-
law, Dan Cutler and Chris Merrill; 
grandchildren, Mira Sussman 
and Doron Yitzchaki, Ari and 
Jaimie Sussman, Eitan and Joanna 
Sussman, Naomi and Grant Barton, 
and Sadie Cutler; great-grand-
children, Matan, Ishai and Judah 
Sussman-Yitzchaki, Samuel and 
Anna Sussman, Nava and Ilan 
Sussman, and Nora and Phoebe 
Barton; other loving relatives and 
friends here and in Israel. 
Mrs. Cutler was the loving sister 
of the late Sidney and the late Sylvia 
Bernstein; the dear sister-in-law of 
the late Basha and the late Morton 
Shalev. 
Interment was in Beth Israel 
Memorial Garden at Arborcrest 
Cemetery. Contributions may be 
made to University of Michigan 
Hospital Palliative Care, 300 N. 
Ingalls, Room 901, Ann Arbor, MI 
48109-2007, medicine.umich.edu/
dept/dgpm/palliative-medicine-
university-michigan; Arbor Hospice 
Foundation, 2366 Oak Valley Drive, 

Jonathan Wolman