Persons name 
from pay equity to 
sexual harassMo-
luptas imincieni 
utecte cullatem 
volor minusapis et 
earum eniminvel earum et et 
que modit reictium earum 
ratque vollorunt labo. Ut 
repello ratur, optat.
Obissitiorum natioreius 
nosanih illatet uritis etur?
Luptius nonsequi des maio
Et debis eium excerum laut 
vent as et laut dit porestrum, 
et plaborporunt as eatquae-
pelit pro bearum, a volorpos 
estias dolupie ndenduciatem 
consequ istiis quam, ipicilit 
volupti oribusam fuga. Menis 
vent doluptatem et earchil 
licatibus.
Uga. Ut eum volo cor ad 
quam nulliquo tem facea dip-
idel enieniant 
| 

Persons name 
from pay equity to 
sexual harassMo-
luptas imincieni 
utecte cullatem 
volor minusapis et 
earum eniminvel 
earum et et que modit reic-
tium earum ratque vollorunt 
labo. Ut repello ratur, optat.
Obissitiorum natioreius 
nosanih illatet uritis etur?
Luptius nonsequi des maio
Et debis eium excerum laut 
vent as et laut dit porestrum, 
et plaborporunt as eatquae-
pelit pro bearum, a volorpos 
estias dolupie ndenduciatem 
consequ istiis quam, ipicilit 
volupti oribusam fuga. Menis 
vent doluptatem et earchil 
licatibus.
Uga. Ut eum volo cor ad 
quam nulliquo tem facea dip-
idel enieniant 
 
 

 

Persons name 
from pay equity to 
sexual harassMo-
luptas imincieni 
utecte cullatem 
volor minusapis et 
earum eniminvel earum et et 
que modit reictium earum 
ratque vollorunt labo. Ut 
repello ratur, optat.
Obissitiorum natioreius 
nosanih illatet uritis etur?
Luptius nonsequi des maio
Et debis eium excerum laut 
vent as et laut dit porestrum, 
et plaborporunt as eatquae-
pelit pro bearum, a volorpos 
estias dolupie ndenduciatem 
consequ istiis quam, ipicilit 
volupti oribusam fuga. Menis 
vent doluptatem et earchil 
licatibus.
Uga. Ut eum volo cor ad 
quam nulliquo tem facea dip-
idel enieniant 
 

Persons name 
from pay equity to 
sexual harassMo-
luptas imincieni 
utecte cullatem 
volor minusapis et 
earum eniminvel 
earum et et que modit reic-
tium earum ratque vollorunt 
labo. Ut repello ratur, optat.
Obissitiorum natioreius 
nosanih illatet uritis etur?
Luptius nonsequi des maio
Et debis eium excerum laut 
vent as et laut dit porestrum, 
et plaborporunt as eatquae-
pelit pro bearum, a volorpos 
estias dolupie ndenduciatem 
consequ istiis quam, ipicilit 
volupti oribusam fuga. Menis 
vent doluptatem et earchil 
licatibus.
Uga. Ut eum volo cor ad 
quam nulliquo tem facea dip-
idel enieniant

continued from page XX

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

A

s women’s issues 
— from pay equity 
to sexual harass 
Moluptas imincieni utecte 
cullatem volor minus apis et 
earum enim invel earum et 
et que modit reic tium earum 
ratque vollorunt labo. Ut 
repello ratur, optat. vollorunt
Obissitiorum natioreius 
nosanih illatet uritis etur?
Luptius nonse qui des 
maioEt debis eium excerum 
laut vent as et laut dit por-
estrum, et plabo rporunt as 
eatquaepelit pro bearum, 
a volorpos estias dolupie 
ndendu ciatem consequ 
istiis quam, ipicilit volupti 
oribusam fuga. Menis vent 
doluptatem et earchil licati-
bus vent dolupt atem.Uga. Ut 
eum volo cor ad quam

THIS IS A SUBHEAD
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et offictu sandit eium qui 
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quiae as aut hil iumquam 
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earum de plias et offictu 
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Name this is LincolnProxima Nova 

Bold Italic 8/10 information is Lincoln 

Proxima Nova light italic 8/10

Deck 14/15 
Lincoln Proxima Nova/Regular

Special Obit 
Headline

WRITERS NAME CONTRIBUTING WRITER

continued on page XX

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.

MARCH 17 • 2022 | 61

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

S

everal weeks have passed since 
Robert “Rob” Wachler, 68, died in 
his Pleasant Ridge home on Feb. 21, 
2022, of an auditory nerve tumor. In that 
time, his mother, Barbara Wachler, said she 
hasn’t stopped “hearing love stories from 
anyone, males as well as females, who ever 
had any contact with him. People are say-
ing, ‘He changed my life.
’” That’s because, 
for all his accomplishments in business and 
charitable work, Rob found his biggest suc-
cess in life through his human relationships. 
Professionally, Rob had a long career as 
a haberdasher. For more than 25 years, he 
was associated with Nashville-based clothier 
Tom James Company in Southfield. 
Earlier, Rob worked in the Wachler fami-
ly’s former Osmuns and John Kent clothing 
stores, and as a manager at the former 
Jacobson’s store in Birmingham. 
His retailing and relationship-building 
abilities served Rob well as board chair of 
Threads for Success. The nonprofit orga-
nization he founded in 2006 has mentored 
more than 1,000 young men graduating 
from high school. The culmination is each 
graduate receiving a top-quality, custom-fit-
ted suit, complete with shirt and tie, to look 
his most professional at business and aca-
demic interviews.
Rob was born in Detroit on May 26, 
1953, to Barbara and the late Norman 
Wachler, a longtime executive of the non-
profit agency JARC. Rabbi M. Robert Syme 
officiated at Rob’s bar mitzvah at Temple 
Israel in Detroit. The Wachlers later moved 
to Huntington Woods. 
Karen Wachler adored her big brother. 
“From as long as I could remember, people 
of all ages were always so drawn to Rob,
” 
she said. “I felt like the luckiest person in 
the world because it was like living back-
stage with a rock star!” 
Prior to college, Rob joined the Peace 
Corps. He met his future wife and fellow 
volunteer, Judy Coomes of Chicago, flying 
from New York to Tunisia in North Africa. 
They taught English before returning to 
Detroit in 1977. Their wedding day was 

Dec. 16, 1978.
“Throughout our 45 years together, 
we were often surprised and delighted by 
each new stage of loving each other,
” Judy 
Wachler said. “I feel that we reached a pin-
nacle in our last year as Rob’s disease pro-
gressed. As his life was drawing to a close, 
we spoke often of this pure and intense love 
we had discovered in those sad yet beautiful 
days.
”

DEVOTED TO FAMILY
The Wachler daughters, Sarah and Amy, 
were born during the family’s 11 years in 
Huntington Woods. The family’s final move 
was to Pleasant Ridge in 1990. Judy, a teach-
er, said she and Rob were active parents at 
their daughters’ schools.
Amy Wachler said her father “worked 
hard but was always present.
” They shared 
a bond as marathon runners. “This January 
in Houston, I reached a goal I had worked 
hard at — running a marathon under 3 
hours,
” Amy said. “He was so excited seeing 
me run the race of my life. Dad was (virtu-
ally) with me every step.
” The next day he 
told her he was starting hospice.
Both daughters hold fond memories of 
watching their dad at his clothing stores. 
“He sold some of the finest clothing in the 

world,
” said Amy. “But my dad didn’t just 
help people get dressed for work; he helped 
them get ready for life. With Threads for 
Success, he helped students get dressed for 
their future with confidence.
”
“Dad felt like a lighthouse to my fami-
ly — me, my sister and my mom,
” Sarah 
Wachler Philip said. “He was always the 
steady beacon you could go to for advice or 
to ask questions.
”
Sarah had an opportunity during a sum-
mer college break to work at a guest ranch 
in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Her “unparalleled 
dad” quickly decided to “take a week out of 
his life and drive out west with me.
” Staying 
another five days, they took overnight 
backpacking trips. When Sarah felt scared 
for him to leave, Rob said, “‘You need to 
do this on your own. You’re going to have 
an adventure. You’re going to be fine.
’” The 
“nudge” he gave “built confidence that I 
could handle different situations.
”
Her children, ages 13, 11 and 8, always 
got a week alone with their grandparents 
each year. “Dad took my oldest son, Jack, 
then 11, to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 
Cooperstown, N.Y.,
” Sarah said. “He’
d play 
Spiderman on the floor with his youngest 
grandson, Miles, and they would go sled-
ding.
” As for his granddaughter Sam — “she 
was his princess.
” It was special for the family 
in January when, in spite of his illness, Rob 
participated in Jack’s bar mitzvah in Ohio.
Rob Wachler is survived by his wife, 
Judy; daughters, Sarah (Ben) Philip of 
Columbus, Ohio, and Amy (fiancé, Francis 
Sams) Wachler of Boston; grandchildren, 
Jack, Samantha and Miles Philip; mother, 
Barbara Wachler; and sister, Karen (Charley 
Stern) Wachler.
He was the son of the late Norman 
Wachler and brother of the late Judith Ann 
Wachler.
Memorial contributions may be designat-
ed to Threads for Success at 
threadsforsuccess.org. 
A private funeral gathering took place 
Feb. 22. A celebration of his life is being 
planned for Memorial Day Weekend. 

He Dressed Others for Success

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rob Wachler

