44 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020
SOUL
OF BLESSED MEMORY
continued from page 43
YEARA HOUVRAS (née
Gorfinkel), 81, died on Dec. 10,
2020.
She was born on Kibbutz
Kinneret, on the shore of the
Lake Kinneret on June 16,
1939. Yeara’s parents traveled
to Israel in 1935 from Riga,
Latvia, to participate in the
second Maccabiah Games. Like
other athletes in the Maccabiah
II, they were escaping rising
antisemitism in Europe and
they made a permanent home
in Israel.
They moved to Ramatayim
(Hod Hasharon), where her
father was a physical education
teacher. Yeara was the eldest of
three daughters and was drawn
to studying biology and chem-
istry. She attended the New
School in Tel Aviv and was a
medic in the Israeli Army.
In 1962, Yeara traveled to the
United States to attend Wayne
State University in Detroit.
She was warmly taken in by
the Jewish community as were
many Israelis of her genera-
tion in Detroit. Yeara studied
chemistry and worked at the
Michigan Cancer Foundation,
where she made contributions
to the study of protein bio-
chemistry.
She met Nick Houvras, a
native Detroiter, married and
started a family. After raising
her children, Yeara returned to
work as a scientist in the poly-
mer chemistry industry, where
her work led to several patents.
She returned to Israel many
times and family remained the
center of her life.
In recent years, Yeara read
fiction in Hebrew, loved to
watch movies with her hus-
band and delighted in talking
to friends and family. She took
immense joy in the lives and
milestones of her children and
grandchildren.
This winter, the family
learned that Yeara had pancre-
atic cancer; after a brief hospi-
talization, she passed away.
Mrs. Houvras is survived by
her husband, Nick; her daughter
and son-in-law, Irit and Rainer;
her son and daughter-in-law,
Yariv and Judy; their children,
Noa, Aitan and Ezra.
Contributions in Yeara’s
memory to support pancreatic
cancer research may be made to
the Karmanos Cancer Institute,
karmanos.org/giftofhope.
DAVID ALEX OPPENHEIM,
77, of Medfield, Mass., died
Dec. 11, 2020, in Boston with
his beloved wife and daughter
beside him.
David was born in Detroit,
the son of Joseph and Florence
(Elconin) Oppenheim. Oak
Park High School classmates
remember him as a valued
friend and an excellent clari-
netist.
A University of Michigan
graduate, Dave earned M.A.
’s
in mathematics and computer
science from the University of
Wisconsin. A software engineer
by profession, he was an accom-
plished amateur photographer
and chef.
Mr. Oppenheim leaves his
wife, Judith Kruntorad; his
daughter, Cheryl Mazzoli