40 | DECEMBER 24 • 2020
SOUL
OF BLESSED MEMORY
c. 1956
PRISCILLA
“PRISSY”
BACHAIOV, 84,
of Farmington
Hills, died Dec.
11, 2020.
She was a very
talented person: a singer,
actress, comedian and artist.
Priscilla was a warm, lov-
ing, welcoming and fun indi-
vidual; she cooked fabulously
and loved to feed her family
and friends great Jewish and
Bukharian dishes. She was
also a talented singer and
actress, who loved to laugh
and entertain her family
and friends. In addition, she
taught bar and bat mitzvah
classes at Temple Kol Ami
and Hebrew at Congregation
Beth Ahm and Congregation
Beth Achim.
Mrs. Bachaiov is survived
by her children, Claire and
Jeff Past Epstein of West
Bloomfield, Mark Bachaiov
of West Bloomfield, Abby
and Randy McBride of Van
Nuys, Calif., Sherri and Dr.
Jerry Nosanchuk of West
Bloomfield; brother and
sisters-in-law, Haskell and
Barbara Adler of Southfield,
Sandy Adler; brother-in-law,
Shlomo Duben; grandchil-
dren, Aaron and Kristina
Ratajczak Epstein, Chad
Epstein, Carli Epstein,
Jacob Taft, Ruthy McBride,
Charley McBride, Max
Nosanchuk; great-grand-
children, Elizabeth Epstein,
Alana Epstein; many nieces,
nephews, cousins, friends and
many others who called her
“Bubbie” out of love.
Mrs. Bachaiov was the
devoted daughter of the late
Cantor Hyman Adler and the
late Ruth Adler; dear moth-
er-in-law of the late Alan
Epstein; loving sister and
sister-in-law of the late Shana
Duben, the late Usher Adler.
Contributions may be
made to Hebrew Benevolent
Society, a charity of one’s
choice, or Chabad of
Commerce. A graveside ser-
vice was held at B’nai Israel
Memorial Gardens in Novi.
Arrangements by Hebrew
Memorial Chapel.
STEVEN BENJAMIN
BAKER, 52, of Bedford,
Texas, died Dec. 13, 2020.
He was known as the
“Cookie Man” for his baking
gourmet cookies and his dis-
tribution of them to friends
and teachers at Marsha and
Robert’s school.
Mr. Baker is survived by
his wife of 25 years, Marsha
Baker; son, Robert Ross;
brothers and sisters-in-law,
Brian and Barbara Baker,
Michael and Rachel Baker;
mother-in-law, Elaine Beresh.
He was the loving son of
the late David and the late
Ruth Baker; dear son-in-law
of the late Larry Beresh.
Contributions may be made
to The Shul, 6890 W. Maple
Road, West Bloomfield, MI
48322; or Jewish Senior Life,
6710 W. Maple Road, West
Bloomfield, MI 48322. A
graveside service was held
at Adat Shalom Memorial
Park Cemetery in Livonia.
Arrangements by Hebrew
Memorial Chapel.
SALLY ANN
(ROSENBLOOM)
BELSON, of
Delray Beach, Fla.,
formerly of
Southfield/
Bloomfield Hills, passed away
peacefully on Dec. 9, 2020,
with her loving family and
friends by her side.
Sally grew up in Southfield,
attended Southfield High
School, Eastern Michigan
University, University of
Michigan and Wayne State.
earning bachelor of arts and
master’s in social work.
She met and married the
J
udge Alice Lee Gilbert, 88,
of Bloomfield Hills, died
Dec. 9, 2020.
“Trailblazer” is the most fitting
moniker attributable to Judge
Alice Lee Gilbert. Her trailblazing
cut across many paths, and the
paths she blazed are more aglow
now than ever. Back when the
glass ceiling was made of marble,
she smashed all gender barriers.
Growing up in the Chicago
area, she resolved that she would
attend the best college possible
and moved across the country.
Majoring in political science and
economics, she attended Wellesley
College, leaving in her last year
for Northwestern Pritzker School
of Law. Judge Gilbert was a life-
long learner, and her post-grad-
uate studies included work at
the Harvard Graduate School
of Public Administration (now
Harvard Kennedy School), Wayne
State University Law School
(Go Warriors [then Tartars]!),
University of Detroit Law School,
University of Michigan (Go
Blue!) and several courses at the
National Judicial College at the
University of Nevada, Reno.
Her trailblazing continued in
law school, where she was just one
of two women. She was a bright
and determined lawyer who
resolved to make her mark and go
her own way. Bucking all custom,
when she married she maintained
her surname and in 1957 sued
to practice law under her given
surname rather than her married
name.
Out of the courtroom, she
was a founding member of the
Michigan chapter of the National
Organization for Women, the first
female member of the Oakland
County Bar Association and a
founder of the Oakland County
Women’s Bar Association. Judge
Gilbert became the third woman
elected as a circuit
court judge in the
history of the state
of Michigan and
the first in Oakland
County.
Over the course
of her career, she presided over
110,000 cases. As impressive a
resume as that is, it hardly reveals
the woman. She was a voracious
traveler, including climbing the
Andes Mountains and going on
expeditions to Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, England, France, Italy,
Egypt, Israel, Russia, China and
Africa.
She remarked to a newspaper,
“I started with a philosophy that
I have one goal — living my life.
That’s family and career. I never
divided it,
”
Judge Gilbert was the
beloved wife of the late Murray
P
. Greenblatt and the late Dr.
Herbert J. Bloom; cherished
mother of Gwen Gilbert, Greg
(Carolynn) Gilbert and Dean
(Christina) Greenblatt; loving
grandmother of Ariel Zekelman,
Leah Zekelman, Jonah Zekelman,
Andrew Gilbert, Jennifer
(Michael) McManus, Julia Gilbert,
Katherine Greenblatt, David
Greenblatt and Allison Greenblatt;
sister of the late Henry Gilbert;
daughter of the late Rebecca
and the late Alfred Gilbert. She
is fondly remembered by many
friends and colleagues.
Interment was at Machpelah
Cemetery. Contributions may
be made to Jewish Hospice
& Chaplaincy Network, 6555
W
. Maple, West Bloomfield,
MI 48322, jewishhospice.
org; or Holocaust Memorial
Center, 28123 Orchard Lake
Road, Farmington Hills, MI
48334, holocaustcenter.org.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel.
Leader in the Law
Alice Gilbert