OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY
R
eliable volunteer,
conscientious board
member and former
judge, Deborah “Debbie” Tyner
was not one to sit back. Instead,
she brought formidable gifts of
time, intellect and philanthropy
to improve both the Jewish and
general communities in Metro
Detroit. She also protected and
cared for her loving family.
Sidelined in recent years with
the debilitating disease enceph-
alitis, former Oakland County
Circuit Judge Tyner, 66, of
Franklin, died peacefully in her
sleep on Sept. 7, 2022. Temple
Israel of West Bloomfield
Rabbis Paul Yedwab and Harold
Loss, and Cantor Neil Michaels
officiated at their former board
member’s funeral service.
Born in Detroit on June 28,
1956, to Suzanne and Herbie
Tyner, Deborah moved with her
family to Birmingham when
she was 2. Known to boss her
sisters around, she was also
their biggest defender.
Deborah was “strong and
tough on the outside but inside
she was sentimental,
” Loss said.
She organized her family’s mile-
stone events and “never forgot a
birthday or anniversary — and
this was an incredibly busy
person.
” Deborah “was a rock”
through her father’s serious
illness.
Trailblazing Oakland County
Circuit Judge Alice Gilbert
spoke to Deborah’s class
at Covington Junior High,
inspiring the ninth-grader to
proclaim, “I’m going to be a
judge someday.
” Sixteen years
later, her dream became a real-
ity. First, Deborah graduated
from Birmingham’s Seaholm
High School and University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor, major-
ing in history and obtaining a
teaching certificate.
Next came Wayne
State University
Law School, pass-
ing the Michigan
bar exam and
working as an
attorney.
Former Judge
Edward Sosnick,
Deborah’s col-
league on the
Oakland County
Circuit Court, first
met her through
family connec-
tions. Telling him
she intended to run for judge,
Sosnick suggested it was a lit-
tle late at that point to collect
enough petition signatures to
be placed on the ballot. But
she surprised him. Her family
and friends worked tirelessly to
collect signatures. They cam-
paigned and raised funds for
her. Deborah was elected judge
on the slogan: “Tough Justice.
”
Handling both civil and
criminal cases, “this was a
woman who loved to work; she
was smart and she was fair,
”
Loss said. Attorneys knew they
needed to come prepared to her
courtroom. Retired Oakland
Circuit Judge Barry Howard
called his former colleague “a
great team player. She was pop-
ular with the other judges.
”
Leaving in 2006 after 16 years
on the bench gave Deborah
an opportunity “to see and
do different things in her life,
”
said attorney Richard “Rick”
Herman, her “surviving best
friend” husband.
Trained to lead tours of
Zekelman Holocaust Center
in Farmington Hills, Deborah
wrote in her July 2020 essay,
“Why I Am a Docent,
” that she
was grateful to “assist others
in understanding this evil, but
complex period of
history, and per-
haps help prevent
similar situations
from ever occur-
ring again.
”
Deborah was
a board member
of Beaumont
Foundation in
Royal Oak, Jewish
Federation of
Metropolitan
Detroit and its
United Jewish
Foundation
Executive
Committee in Bloomfield
Township and advisory com-
mittee of Gesher Human
Services in Southfield.
Observing her on the Temple
Israel board, Loss said Deborah
“offered cogent answers to com-
plex problems and others fol-
lowed. She was never uncom-
fortable taking a position that
others hadn’t thought of.
”
Loss described Deborah
and Rick as “partners in an
engaging relationship based
on love, appreciation and
respect.
” Rick’s friend set him
up with Deborah, a young
widow. Married since Dec. 10,
1983, Rick said, “I had a good
life with her.
” They traveled,
enjoyed winter and Up North
homes and raised their chil-
dren, Jacqueline and Brandon.
After Deborah contracted what
doctors call a “one-in-a-million”
disease, the couple adopted a
simpler lifestyle. Rick provided
her with constant, devoted care.
In his eulogy, Yedwab
referred to that week’s Torah
portion, Ki Teitzei (“When you
go out to war”) Deuteronomy
2:10-25:19, and said that in such
a situation, “the person I would
want in my foxhole is Debbie
Tyner. She was brilliant, dedi-
cated, insightful and fierce.
” He
attributed the strength, determi-
nation and passion of his dear
friend to possessing “the biggest
heart and the most caring soul I
have ever encountered.
”
“She was Mom,
” Brandon
Herman said, “but she was real-
ly my role model and my best
friend. She offered support with
love.
”
Deborah Tyner was the
beloved wife of Richard
Herman and the late Scott
Raderman; mother of
Jacqueline (Matt) Herman and
Brandon (Meghan) Herman;
and grandmother of Herschel,
Xander, Michael and Damian.
She was the daughter of
Suzanne Tyner (Jack Schwartz)
and the late Herbert Tyner, and
is also survived by her siblings
and spouses, Cynthia (Nelson)
Dobbins, Karen (Douglas)
Rouff and David (Gael) Tyner;
mother-in-law and father-
in-law, Arlene and Morton
Herman; brothers-in-law and
sisters-in-law, Ron (Sharon)
Herman, Jim (Brenda) Herman,
Gregg (Cathy) Herman and
Michael Herman; nieces, neph-
ews, cousins, colleagues and a
world of friends.
Interment was at Clover
Hill Park Cemetery.
Contributions may be made to
Zekelman Holocaust Center,
28123 Orchard Lake Road,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334,
(248) 553-2400, holocaust-
center.org; Temple Israel,
5725 Walnut Lake Road, West
Bloomfield, MI 48323, (248)
661-5700, temple-israel.org/
tributes; Beaumont Foundation,
3711 W
. 13 Mile Road, Royal
Oak, MI 48073, (248) 551-5330,
foundation.beaumont.org, or
to a charity of one’s choice.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman
Chapel.
Former Judge, Community Activist
ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Judge Deborah Tyner
104 | SEPTEMBER 22 • 2022