26 July 25 • 2019
jn

L

iving to age 95 is quite a feat, 
but Mary Blitz is doing it 
with good health and a zest 
for life that few can match. 
Months before her 
95th birthday on June 
6, daughter Beverly 
Tepper Wallace of West 
Bloomfield asked her 
mother if she wanted a 
party to celebrate.
Blitz said, “No, I want 
to see the U.S.A. in my 
Chevrolet.” Wallace was surprised 
but agreeable, responding “OK, 
Dinah Shore.” (Singer Dinah Shore 
popularized the “See the U.S.A” 
song for Chevrolet during the 
1950s).
So, Wallace planned a road 
trip for her mother, along with 
Wallace’
s two brothers — Andrew 
of West Bloomfield and Dennis 
of Chicago. In June, they drove 
to South Bend, Ind., to visit Blitz’
 
niece and her family. Then they 
traveled to Louisville to visit Blitz’
s 
younger brother, David Olshansky, 
and his family.
But this trip was just the latest 
of Blitz’
s travels. In 2017, Wallace 
decided to take her mother on a 
“Legacy Tour.” 
“I wanted her to see her legacy. I 
wanted her to see how her children 
raised their children and how they 
raised her great-grandchildren,” 
Wallace says. “She is No. 1 in all of 
her children’
s and grandchildren’
s 
lives.”
Over 18 months, they traveled 
to San Francisco, Denver and San 
Antonio to visit some of Blitz’
s 
nine grandchildren and 16 great-

grandchildren.
“I’
m thrilled they turned out 
so well,” says Blitz, whose family 
nickname is “President O’
mama.”
Originally from San 
Antonio, Blitz lived in the 
Detroit area with her late 
husband, Louis, for most of 
her life. After her children 
were grown, she worked in 
the Tamarack Camps office 
and was an active volunteer 
for B’
nai B’
rith Women and 
Children Unlimited, serving as its 
president. 
Blitz has lived at Meer Jewish 
Apartments since 2010. She served 
as president of the residents’
 board 
for two years and is a member of 
the Meer Choir. Wallace and Blitz 
volunteer together at the Meer 
boutique once a week and recently 
modeled in the Jewish Senior Life 
Senior Fashion Show.
Blitz is very healthy, other 
than arthritis requiring the use 
of a cane or walker. Her health is 
“God-given,” she says. “I eat junk 
food and no vegetables, except 
occasionally a salad.”
Recently, Blitz prepared for July 
4 by having her nails embellished 
with a bright flag pattern. Some of 
her Meer friends disapproved but it 
didn’
t bother her. “This way I don’
t 
have to carry a flag,” she says. 
Wallace enjoys Blitz’
s “dry 
sarcasm” and says that she is 
“totally with it and fun to be with.”
Blitz will be on the road again 
this fall when she returns to San 
Antonio for her great-niece’
s bat 
mitzvah. “I’
m extremely grateful for 
a close, healthy family,” she says. ■

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

jews d
in 
the

‘Legacy Tour’

Family road trip celebrates a local
great-grandmother’
s 95th birthday.

ABOVE: Mary Blitz 

with daughter Bev 

Tepper Wallace, 

granddaughter Jodi 

and with great-grand-

daughters Laila, Tatum 

and Harper in Menlo 

Park, Calif.

 

 

 

 ADHD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

248-669-9500