28 | OCTOBER 24 • 2019 

E

arlier this month, I had the privilege to witness 
brothers Carl, 85, and Sander Levin, 88, enjoy a 
touching reunion with a handful of their Durfee 
Intermediate School classmates, class of 1949. It was 
made even more emotional because it took place in a 
beautiful refurbished hallway of the architectural gem 
they called their educational home on Collingwood in 
Detroit, just south of Central High School.
This was no ordinary reunion, nothing like the ones 
usually reserved for a suburban hotel banquet hall. It 

was a planning meeting and prelude to a much larger 
reunion and event scheduled for Nov. 7 at the school, 
now called the Durfee Innovation Society (DIS). DIS, 
through a partnership with Detroit-based nonprofit 
Life Remodeled, began breathing life into the shuttered 
school in 2017, billing it as a “hub of opportunity for 
children, students and adults.” 
The Jewish News, along with CKC Agency and Star 
Trax Valet, are partners in the upcoming fundraising 
event.

Alan 
Muskovitz

Back 
Home at 
Durfee

Greatest Generation members 
draw on their past to help today’
s 
Detroit kids succeed.

Jews in the D
on the cover

Durfee Intermediate School alums relive school days through mem-
orabilia: Aaron Krieger, Carl Levin, Winnie Krieger, Herb Saperstein, 
Martin Magid, Sander Levin and Ruby Fridson.