NOVEMBER 18 • 2021 | 61
A
aron Feuerstein, who
became known as the
“Mensch of Malden
Mills” for continuing to pay his
workers even after the textile
factory he owned burned to the
ground, died at 95 on Nov. 4,
2021.
The devout Orthodox busi-
nessman died at his home in
Brookline, Massachusetts, after
being injured in a fall several days
earlier, the Boston Globe reported.
“He did not suffer,
” Feuerstein’s
son, Daniel Feuerstein, told
Boston 25 News. “He lived a
long, vibrant and exciting life. His
community was everything to
him; from his Jewish community
in Brookline, and equally import-
ant was the manufacturing com-
munity in the Merrimack Valley
[of Massachusetts].
”
Malden Mills was a textile
manufacturer in Lawrence,
Massachusetts, best known for its
line of synthetic fleece products
called Polartec.
In December 1995, the com-
pany’s redbrick factory complex
caught on fire, causing one of the
largest blazes in Massachusetts
history. Work for the factory’s
1,400 employees stopped but
Feuerstein kept paying them.
Feuerstein also bucked the
trend that saw industrial man-
ufacturing leave the area by
rebuilding the family-run factory.
At the time, the Globe quot-
ed Feuerstein as saying, “I’m
not throwing 3,000 people
out of work two weeks before
Christmas.
”
Feuerstein also explained after
the fire that he was guided by
Jewish tradition. “When all is
moral chaos, this is the time for
you to be a mensch,
” he said.
Feuerstein’s grandfather, Henry
Feuerstein, a Jewish immigrant
from Hungary, founded Malden
Mills in 1906, with grandson
Aaron taking over in 1956. The
company survived the fire of
1995, rebranded as Polartec,
and stayed in the family’s hands
until 2007. But by then the busi-
ness had seen a downturn and
Feuerstein took it into bankrupt-
cy.
A private equity firm then
bought the factory, shut down
and moved the brand’s manu-
facturing to Tennessee. In 2019,
industrial manufacturing compa-
ny Milliken acquired Polartec.
A graduate of Yeshiva
University, Feuerstein belonged
to the Brookline congregation of
Young Israel. Jewish teachings
informed how he treated his
workers.
“You are not permitted to
oppress the working man because
he’s poor and he’s needy, amongst
your brethren and amongst the
non-Jew in your community,
”
he said on 60 Minutes during an
episode titled “The Mensch of
Malden Hills” that aired in 2003.
Feuerstein’s wife, Louise, died
in 2013. They are survived by
their sons Daniel and Raphael
and their daughter Joyce.
‘Mensch of Malden
Mills’ Dies at 95
ASAF SHALEV JTA
OBITUARY
CHARGES
The processing fee for
obituaries is: $125 for up
to 100 words; $1 per word
thereafter. A photo counts as
15 words. There is no charge
for a Holocaust survivor icon.
The JN reserves the right
to edit wording to conform to
its style considerations. For
information, have your funeral
director call the JN or you
may call Sy Manello, editorial
assistant, at (248) 351-5147
or email him at smanello@
thejewishnews.com.
Interment was at Clover Hill
Park Cemetery. Contributions
may be made to Parkinson’s
Foundation, 200 SE First St.,
Suite 800, Miami, FL 33131,
parkinson.org. Arrangements
by Ira Kaufman Chapel.
SYLVIA G.
SHOLDER, 101, of
West Bloomfield,
formerly of
Ventnor, N.J., and
Cheltenham, Pa.,
died Oct. 14, 2021.
She was the cherished
mother of Michele (Morley)
Wassermann and the late
Jeffrey I. Sholder; lov-
ing grandmother of Evan
Wassermann. She is also sur-
vived by nieces, Ilene Master
and Gail Finnel.
Mrs. Sholder was the
beloved wife of the late
Frederic R. Sholder.
The funeral was held
graveside at Roosevelt
Memorial Park in Trevose,
Pa. Contributions may be
made to Yad Ezra, 2850 W.
11 Mile Road, Berkley, MI
48072, yadezra.org/donate;
or to a charity of one’s choice.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel.
ANDOR WEISS,
74, of West
Bloomfield, died
Nov. 9, 2021.
He is survived
by his beloved
wife, Vera Weiss; son and
daughter-in-law, Robert and
Amy (Nathan) Weiss; grand-
children, Saul and Theodore
Weiss; sister and brother-in-
law, Susanna and Michael
Berger; nephews, Albert
(Andrea) Berger and Edward
(Sarah Miller) Berger; many
other loving family members
and friends.
Interment took place at
Nusach Hari Cemetery in
Ferndale. Contributions may
be made to a charity of one’s
choice. Arrangements by
Dorfman Chapel.
HELEN WILEN,
89, passed away
peacefully at her
home in West
Bloomfield on
Nov. 8, 2021.
She is survived by her three
children, Steven Wilen, Toni
(Tom) Babineau and Roger
(Julie) Wilen; grandchildren,
Samantha Babineau, Adrian
Wilen, Ethan Wilen, Benjamin
Wilen and Alex Wilen; her
beloved niece, Julie Resnick
(Teresa Taylor); and son-in-
law Tom’s two older children,
Brooke Foguth and Brandi
Freeman.
Mrs. Wilen was predeceased
by her beloved husband of
61 years, Stan Wilen; and her
cherished twin sister, Evelyn
Resnick.
Interment was at Clover Hill
Park Cemetery. Contributions
may be made to Jewish
Hospice & Chaplaincy
Network, 6555 W. Maple, West
Bloomfield, MI 48322, jewish-
hospice.org. Arrangements by
Ira Kaufman Chapel.
Aaron Feuerstein, a factory owner
who was famously generous to his
employees, died at 95 on Nov. 4,
2021.
RICK FRIEDMAN/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES/JTA