42 May 16 • 2019
jn
soul
of blessed memory
H
is six children called
him Siegfried the
Dragon Slayer, a
name he embraced. His
13 grandkids knew him as
Grandpa Ziggy. His beloved
wife, Luba, called him
Freddy.
Fred earned all those appellations
and more, leading a life of courage,
compassion, charisma and love.
His heart, crushed by the loss of his
parents during the Holocaust but
repeatedly replenished by the family
he created, finally failed him.
Fred was born on Dec. 4, 1930, the
third of five children, three boys and
two girls, in Cologne, Germany. His
parents, Wolf David Findling and
Etla (Gottsediener), were Orthodox
Jews with little education. His father
was an itinerant worker. The family
was poor but tightknit; the children
shared a single bed.
The 1930s were a difficult time
to be Jews in Germany. Fred and
his siblings were often taunted and
terrorized. When he was 8, his par-
ents decided that the situation in the
country had become too threatening
and sent the four oldest to Belgium. It
was the start of a journey that would
lead to the brothers, Joe, Fred and
Martin, hiding in a French forest; the
sisters, Fanny and Regina, were con-
cealed and abused in convents; the
parents were murdered by the Nazis.
The boys, unaware that they’
d soon
become orphans, ultimately were
able to escape to the United States in
1941 aboard the Serpa Pinto, a rescue
ship arranged by Hebrew Immigrant
Aid Society and the Jewish Defense
League. Fred, deeply grateful to be
an American, was placed in a fos-
ter home in Michigan. He had to
confront new challenges, fighting
through continuing poverty, anti-im-
migrant attitudes, the need to learn a
new culture and navigate a complex
educational system. It was a child-
hood forged by loss, loneliness and
bottomless hurt.
Rather than becoming bitter,
though, Fred turned this painful pas-
sage into unrelenting optimism and
faith in people; a deep commitment
to his remaining family, including
distant relatives who had been scat-
tered by World War II, and for whom
he was an emotional and some-
times financial anchor; a lifelong
sympathy for the underdog,
which included fighting along-
side African Americans in the
1960s Civil Rights Movement;
and a desire to succeed the
American way, through honest
hard work, education, intellect and
no small amount of chess, guitar,
ping-pong and tennis playing. He
carried his heavy past with a lightness
that shined on everyone he encoun-
tered.
Fred became a lawyer, wielding the
rule of law on behalf of injured and
bankrupt clients. He built a practice
and an approach to life that three
of his four sons, David, Daniel and
Darren, would ultimately join. It was
among the proudest of his achieve-
ments: having his sons close by, a part
of what started as a family law firm,
developing thriving legal businesses
of their own. Hardly a day passed
in which he didn’
t express great joy
in his other children: Debbie, who
found where his father was buried in
Poland; Tamara, a practice manager;
and his youngest son, Tim, a market-
ing expert.
His greatest love, though, was for
his wife of 25 years, Luba. Together
they raised Tamara and Tim, trav-
eled the world and extended his
compassionate support to an entirely
new extended family, which grew to
adore him. With Luba, Fred fought
intermittent battles with severe heart
disease, which threatened to kill him
multiple times; his internal emotional
reconciliation became his memoir,
Siegfried, The Dragon Slayer.
His absence will be felt by his
many grateful legal clients and tennis
partners. His presence will be pro-
foundly missed. It renders a small
tear in the fabric of the universe.
Fred is survived by Luba; his chil-
dren; his grandchildren; his brothers,
Joe and Martin.
Interment was at Machpelah
Cemetery. Contributions may be
made to Send a Kid to Tamarack,
Tamarack Camp, 6735 Telegraph
Road, Suite 301, Bloomfield Hills,
Mi 48301, tamarackcamps.com/
giving/send-a-kid-to-tamarack.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel. ■
Undaunted By Life
Fred S. Findling, 88, died April 30, 2019.
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