JUNE 8 • 2023 | 61

FLORA 
WINTON, 106, 
of Bloomfield 
Hills, died May 
27, 2023. 
She is survived 
by her daughter, 
Susan Winton-Feinberg. 
She is also survived by her 
caregivers, Dejela, Violet, 
Bruna, Monda, Ilida and 
Alda, and many loving 
friends. 
Mrs. Winton was the 
beloved wife of the late Frank 
Winton, and the adored 
daughter of the late Peter 
Miller and the late Rosa 
Miller. 
Interment was at 
White Chapel Cemetery. 
Contributions may be made 
to Jamie Daniels Foundation, 
3011 W. Grand Blvd., Suite 
218, Detroit, MI 48202, 
jamiedanielsfoundation.

org. Arrangements by Ira 
Kaufman Chapel.
(Look for a remembrance 
of her life in next week’s issue.)

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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.

Linda Gail (Olen) Ruby

When she lived in Southfield, back when all her 
children still lived at home, she took the bet of-
fered by her husband: run across the backyard, 
touch the tree in the neighbor’s yard, and run 
back. In the pouring rain. For $50. She took 
the dare and returned to the house, soaked to 
the bone and $50 richer. She was never one to 
back down from a challenge, and certainly not 
when it questioned her sense of adventure. The 
world is a bit quieter without her engaging in it. 
In the early hours of March 7, 2023, Linda Ruby 
unexpectedly passed away.
Linda was born in Detroit, Michigan. She was the younger daughter of Ruth and 
Jules Olen, three years younger than her sister, Marlene (Reider). The family owned 
a men’s clothing store, and the sisters and their cousin spent many hours working 
there, waiting on customers and wrapping gifts. Linda graduated from Mumford 
High School in 1957 before starting at the University of Michigan in the School of 
Education. She spent her freshman year in Ann Arbor before coming back to Detroit, 
and her future husband, Bob, to finish her undergraduate degree at Wayne State 
University with a Bachelor of Arts in Education. She and Bob were married in 1960.
Her first teaching job was in the Detroit Public Schools, which was interrupted 
when she, Bob, and baby Alan moved to Granite City, Illinois, where Bob was sta-
tioned after graduating from dental school and joining the U.S. Army. They spent two 
years on an army base, where Lisa was born in 1964, then found themselves back 
in Michigan just in time for Jill’s arrival in 1966. Once Jill started kindergarten, Linda 
reentered the work force, substitute teaching in Southfield and Birmingham. It soon 
became clear that though she loved teaching, she also wanted to learn, and she re-
turned to college in 1977, earning a Master of Arts in Guidance and Counseling from 
Oakland University. During this time, she also volunteered at the Oakland County 
Juvenile Court and Common Ground Crisis Agency. 
After obtaining her master’s degree, Linda found herself a rather unique job – 
teaching at the Academy of Education in Brownstown Township, Michigan. The 
school was housed inside an ice rink, where Olympic hopefuls spent half their day 
on the ice and half in the classroom. Linda was the teacher-director in charge of 
all administrative work, planning and implementing lesson plans for students from 
grades 4 -12. Due to the small number of students, she was able to evaluate and 
accommodate the individual needs of each student. Although she was always cold in 
her classroom there, she loved being able to take coffee breaks and watch the young 
skaters and their coaches. It’s hard to say which came first, this job or her love of 
skating, but her love for the sport never wavered. 
After the Academy closed, Linda started working at Community High School in 
Walled Lake, where she would retire from. She was the director of the Teen Mom 
program there, working with pregnant and parenting young women, acting as both 
a teacher and counselor. It was a perfect fit. Linda was devoted to her students, or-
ganizing a prom every year which was funded by her weekly bagel and coffee sales. 
She treasured her relationships with both her co-workers and students, who would 
return to the school as adults to share their successes with her. Often she would see 
former students in the community, remembering each one and asking about their 
children. She was drawn to at-risk youth and spent her career supporting them in any 
way she could. Even after she retired from Community, she continued to substitute 
teach until her late 70s. She was proud of her accomplishments but never boasted. 
Linda’s vision and values guided her in all things, personal and professional. She 
was the mom and grandma everyone wanted for their own. She attended all of her 
grandkids’ events, from tennis and lacrosse games to concerts and recitals. She 
loved animals, especially her Golden Retrievers, and developed a fondness for cats. 
A little-known fact is that she had quite the sweet tooth, including Sander’s Hot Fudge 
Cream Puffs or Dairy Queen as an acceptable dinner option. She and Bob traveled, 
taking cruises to the Caribbean and trips to England, Florida, New Mexico, California, 
Maine and Vancouver. She loved getting away for a weekend up north. She played 
the piano, if you asked her enough times. She loved her flowers and watching them 
grow. Her life was her garden.
Linda wanted the best for everyone she cared about, and she cared deeply and 
generously. She was the first person to make a phone call or send a card, never 
standing on principal; if she wanted to reach out, she did. She collected greeting 
cards, sending them out for every occasion, and she never forgot a birthday. She 
spoke her mind with both logic and emotion. She was quiet in a large group, but she 
was always listening, and you knew she always had your back. She was our rock, 
and she will be completely and eternally missed.
Linda is survived by her husband of 62 years, Dr. Robert Ruby; her children, Dr. 
Alan (Leslie) Ruby, Lisa (Lisa Carico) Ruby, and Jill Maynard; and her grandchildren, 
Jayme Ruby, Jacob (Molly) Ruby, Lauren Ruby, J.D. Maynard, Julianna Maynard, 
and Jonas Abrams Ruby, as well as her sister, Marlene (Leonard, deceased) Reider 
and her nieces and nephews.

Hundreds of thousands of 
mourners crowded into Bnei 
Brak May 30 for the funeral of 
Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, head 
of the Lithuanian Ponevezh 
Yeshiva and one of the most 
influential religious leaders in 
Israel.
In addition to 
running the yeshi-
vah, one of the most 
prestigious in the 
haredi Orthodox 
world, for more 
than two decades, 
Edelstein was the 
spiritual leader of 
Degel HaTorah, a faction of 
Israel’s United Torah Judaism 
political party that played a key 
role in the formation of the 
current government.
In the last year of his life, 
after the death of Rabbi Chaim 

Kanievsky at 94, Edelstein was 
awarded the title of “gadol 
hador,
” or “greatest of the gen-
eration.
” He had succeeded 
Kanievsky as the leader of 
Israel’s non-Hasidic haredi 
community, and his death is 
seen as leaving that 
community without 
a clear leader for the 
first time.
“Rabbi Edelstein 
was a spiritual 
leader of enormous 
stature whose great-
ness in Torah and 
devout greatness 
influenced our generation and 
will influence generations to 
come,
” Israeli President Isaac 
Herzog said in a statement on 
Twitter. “This is a great loss 
to the yeshivah world and the 
entire nation of Israel. 

Revered Israeli Haredi 
Leader Dies at 100

JACKIE HAJDENBERG (JTA)

AHARON KROHN/FLASH90

