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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