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