60 | AUGUST 10 • 2023 

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

continued from page 59

Summer, Miriam Hecht and 
Ivan Zackheim, and Deborah 
Hecht and Joseph Falik. She 
is also survived by Erwin 
Simon’s children, Mary and 
Alan Loesberg, Judy and 
Richard Cooper, and Richard 
and Sandra Simon; 12 grand-
children; 10 great-grandchil-
dren. 
She was predeceased by a 
beloved granddaughter. 
Contributions may be 
directed to Detroit Institute 
of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., 
Detroit, MI 48202, dia.org/
support/donate; or any Jewish 
charity. Arrangements by Ira 
Kaufman Chapel.

MICHAEL 
“MICKEY” 
SISSKIND, 82, of 
West Bloomfield, 
passed away 
peacefully on July 
27, 2023. 
He was born on Sept. 8, 
1940, to Charlie and Lillyan. 
He attended Detroit Central 
High School and, while 
in high school, ushered at 
Tigers Stadium so that he 
could watch baseball games. 
He attended Wayne State 
University for his undergrad-
uate degree. He then had a 
brief hiatus as a blackjack 
dealer in Las Vegas with 
his two best friends Murray 
and Ray before his mother 
enrolled him at the Detroit 
College of Law without his 
knowledge.

Michael was diagnosed 
with kidney disease at a 
young age and, in 1992, 
Susan, his wife, donated a 
kidney to him. He always 
said that he was living on 
borrowed time and was not 
going to waste any of it. They 
didn’t waste a moment and 
traveled the world, collecting 
art everywhere they went. 
He enjoyed the arts, theater, 
reading, dance, the DSO, DIA 
and so much more.
He spent many years being 
a board member on the 
National Kidney Foundation 
of Michigan because he 
considered their work as 
a core reason that he had 
a new lease on life, and he 
recognized that it was an 
opportunity that his mother, 
who also had kidney disease, 

was not offered; this made 
him grateful every day that 
he had.
He was an attorney who 
would tell everyone he knew 
that everyone should go 
to law school, but no one 
should practice. He excelled 
at commercial real estate. He 
loved the art of the deal and 
was very successful in every 
endeavor. 
Michael was a fantastic 
poker player. He won the 
World Series of Poker in 
1995. He also played with 
his friends in a weekly game, 
which continued even in 
recent years.
Mr. Sisskind is survived by 
his loving wife of 54 years, 
Susan; his children, Liza and 
Ed Hennessy, Jaime Sisskind, 
and Ari and Heather 

