R

ule of comedy: Never 
follow Estelle Seltzer on 
stage after she’
s done 
shtick. I tried at a Purim Shpiel 
at the Jewish Community 
Center of Greater Ann Arbor 
a few years ago and learned 
what it must 
have been like 
to follow Jackie 
Mason.
Estelle always 
delivered her 
jokes with 
impeccable tim-
ing in an exag-
gerated Jewish 
accent. It was the same way 
she entertained fellow resi-
dents and staff as the in-house 
comedienne, poet and life of 
the party at her Fleischman 
residence in West Bloomfield 
where she lived until her pass-
ing on April 20 at age 88.
Estelle will be affectionately 
remembered along with some 
“other famous” comediennes 
when the FRIENDS of Jewish 
Senior Life (JSL) host its 

annual event, Lives Well Lived. 
celebrating the lives of older 
adults. 
The inspiring evening will 
feature the Emmy-nominated 
documentary If You’
re Not 
in the Obit, Eat Breakfast. 
Proceeds will support cultural, 
educational, social and spiritu-
al programming to JSL’
s 800-
plus residents.
In the HBO-produced film, 
Carl Reiner tracks down sev-
eral celebrated nonagenarians, 
and a few others over 100, to 
show how the twilight years 
can truly be the happiest and 

most rewarding.
If Reiner had known Estelle 
Seltzer, there’
s no doubt he 
would’
ve included her in his 
film, along with participants 
Mel Brooks, Norman Lear, 
Betty White and Dick Van 
Dyke, to name a few. 
As our Jewish community 
well knows, Jewish Senior Life 
is far more than a place to live; 
it’
s a place to thrive. Its mission 
echoes the inspiring message 
that is captured in the docu-
mentary. 
Within six residences in two 
safe and supportive commu-
nities in West Bloomfield and 
Oak Park, residents actively 
engage with one another 
through creative programming 
and services. As a result, they 
remain active in mind, body 
and spirit. It’
s the energy that 
Estelle cherished and gave back 
in return during her nearly 
four years at Fleischman. 
 “Estelle was a comedienne, a 
poet and a friend to everyone,” 
said FRIENDS of JSL director 

Leslie Katz. “She personified 
joy in the characters she would 
create and in her everyday life, 
so fully well lived.”
Estelle displayed the same 
humor and vigor at her “day 
job” as a customer liaison for 
15 years, working for her son, 
retired advertising executive 
Michael Seltzer of Franklin. 
Despite the huge void left by 
the passing of his mother, 
Michael still volunteers at 
Marvin’
s Bistro at the residence 
in West Bloomfield.
In eulogizing his moth-
er, Michael shared that his 
mother “loved, loved living at 
Fleischman. You could always 
find her holding court at a 
round table in the front lobby.”
In her final hours, he 
recalled how Estelle rallied 
from hospice care for one 
more memorable interaction 
with family who had gathered 
by her bedside. Up into her 
final moments, Estelle vol-
unteered to write a poem for 
an upcoming wedding and to 
teach her grandchildren how 
to play Rummikub. 
Fitting that in her poem 
“Blessings,” Estelle wrote:
Now is the only time there is, 
it’
s important to make the 
 most of every minute,
Living our lives in the now, 
 while continuing our journey
Blessing everything in it.
Estelle would most certainly 
include JSL among her greatest 
blessings.
Tickets for Lives Well Lived
at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 
13, at the Maple Theater, 4135 
W
. Maple Road, Bloomfield 
Hills, are $50 per person. 
Sponsorships are available, 
which include an afterglow. 
For more information and to 
purchase tickets, contact Katz 
at (248) 592-5062 or lkatz@
jslmi.org. 

26 | NOVEMBER 7 • 2019 

Alan 
Muskovitz
Contributing 
Writer

Lives 
Well Lived
FRIENDS of JSL to celebrate 
Estelle Seltzer and lives of older adults.

Jews in the D

Estelle Seltzer 

Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks appear in If 
You’
re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast

COURTESY OF FRIENDS OF JSL

