A

viva Sandler (neé 
Thatch) died 
peacefully at home, 
surrounded by family, on 
June 1, 2022.
Born during the 
Holocaust on March 4, 
1942, to parents Benesch 
and Riva Tkatsch (later 
Thatch), Aviva spent the 
first two years of her life 
in a few cramped rooms in 
the Kovno Ghetto (Kaunas 
Lithuania) with seven addi-
tional family members. 
When the SS would come 
to inspect, Riva and baby 
Aviva would hide in a hole 
dug in the dirt beneath lay-
ers of sofa, rug and floor, 
where she was trained to be 
silent. 
Two years later, fearing 
what was to come, her 
parents made the difficult 
decision to smuggle her 
out of the ghetto. A plan 
was hatched. Sedated by a 
Jewish doctor, she was bun-
dled into layers of clothes, 
padded with hay, wrapped 
in a distinctive blanket from 
her father’s textile import 
business and dropped 
from a wagon under cover 
of darkness at a pre-de-
termined spot on a road, 
where a gentile woman had 
agreed to take her to safety.
Shortly thereafter, the 
ghetto was liquidated and 
Aviva’s family was trans-
ported to the concentration 
camps: Shtuthoff for the 
women, Dachau for the 
men. Thankfully, both par-

ents survived the war. In a 
movie-worthy twist of fate, 
Aviva’s original rescuer was 
unable to safely keep her 
and, when approached, was 
unable to name the second 
rescuer. It was 
Aviva’s sharp-eyed 
grandmother 
who spotted a 
woman in the 
village square 
wearing a shawl 
made of Aviva’s 
unique blanket 
that enabled the 
reunification 
of the family in 
spring of 1945 after 
the liberation. Aviva’s 
personal experience of 
kindness and hope at 
such a young age was 
reflected in her kind-
ness toward others and 
in her lifelong optimistic 
outlook.
Aviva enjoyed a long 
career as a clinical social 
worker in the Detroit area, 
helping hundreds of clients 
piece together the puzzles 
in their lives. It was a career 
to which she was well-suit-
ed and one that she loved.
A generous hostess, 
Aviva loved nothing more 
than filling her home with 
friends, flowers and family, 
serving an abundance of 
food that tasted as scrump-
tious as it looked. Her 4th 
of July parties were legend-
ary, as were her Passover 
seders.
An adventurer, Aviva 

traveled with her husband, 
Bob, all over the world: 
Egypt, Morocco, Italy, 
England, Mexico, Brazil, 
Turkey, Africa, Cuba and 
Colombia, among others. 
She enjoyed ski-
ing and SCUBA 
diving excursions.
An artist, Aviva 
created beautiful-
ly knit clothing, 
wool-felt art, 
fused glass and 
handmade paper 
3-D artworks. Her 
gardens were liv-
ing art through-
out the seasons.
Aviva amassed 
legions of lifelong 
friends with whom 
she enjoyed life’s 
adventures. Her life, 
bookended between 
the most horrific of war-
time experiences and an 
international pandemic and 
the heartless war between 
Ukraine and Russia, nev-
ertheless was filled with 
love, beauty, gratitude and 
adventure.
Mrs. Sandler is survived 
by a host of beloved rela-
tives: her loving husband 
of 60 years, Robert; her 
devoted children, Elizabeth, 
Eric and Jennifer Sandler-
Bowen; her son-in-law, 
Lance Bowen; her treasured 
grandson, Ian Sandler-
Bowen, who loved his Uma; 
her best friend and sister, 
Rhoda (Michael) Kamin; 
loving brother, Dr. Leonard 

Thatch; sister-in-law, Susan 
(Isidore) Bass; nieces and 
nephews, David (Megan) 
Bass, Michael (Edit) Bass, 
David (Jolene) Kamin, 
Carrie (Christopher) Swan; 
loving cousins, Gloria 
Zimet, Jefferey and Lisa 
Mark, and Dr. Polina 
Davidson; Gloria’s children 
and their partners, Yaniv 
(Sivane), David (Antonio) 
and Noam (Coleen) and 
little Eli. She was a great-
aunt to Naomi, Clara, Aron, 
Lainey, Henry, Laurel, 
Francis and Emma.
She was the cherished 
daughter of the late Benesch 
and the late Riva Thatch; 
treasured granddaughter 
of the late Emma Frank; 
niece of the late Samuel and 
the late Rose Mark; sister-
in-law of the late Marshall 
and the late Judith Sandler; 
cousin-in-law of the late 
Natan Zimet.
Interment was at Clover 
Hill Park Cemetery. 
Contributions may be made 
to HIAS, Development 
Dept., 333 Seventh Ave., 
16th Floor, New York, NY 
10001, hias.org; Freedom 
House Detroit, 1777 N 
Rademacher St., Detroit, MI 
48209, freedomhousede-
troit.org; Together Rising, 
800 W. Broad St., Suite 
6409, Falls Church, VA 
22040, togetherrising.org/
give, or to a charity of one’s 
choice. Arrangements by Ira 
Kaufman Chapel. 

A Lifelong Optimist

JUNE 9 • 2022 | 69

Aviva Sandler