24 | AUGUST 24 • 2023 

said. “Could he have had a blood clot? 
Could he have had an embolism? A prior 
heart issue we didn’t know about? All 
those are questions we’re just not going to 
know the answers to. Ultimately, he’s gone. 
And we didn’t feel like we needed to do 
anything to his body to find out more.”
Tamarack’s follow-up went above and 
beyond, Simon’s parents said, with camp 
leadership being available and in constant 
contact with the family in the hours, days 
and weeks following Simon’s death. 
An integral part of that was a call 
in the middle of the night with Lee 
Trepeck, Tamarack CEO, and Andy 
Belsky, Tamarack CFO, after his parents 
were originally told it was going to be 
at least two weeks until they got Simon 
home. That was not OK with them, 
understandably, on any level. 
The Mirkes family were given directions 
to call a specific medical examiner and a 
specific funeral home in Alaska, Janssen’s 
Evergreen Memorial Chapel of Anchorage, 
that dealt with Jewish traditions. They 
made those calls, which helped get the ball 
rolling in getting Simon home.
As plans were being made, the Chabad 
Lubavitch Jewish Center of Alaska also got 
involved and played an instrumental role 
following Simon’s death. 
Rabbi Yosef Greenberg and the Chabad 
knew the Mirkes family didn’t want the 
autopsy and simply wanted Simon home. 
They had the family’s backs through the 
entire process and made sure the family’s 
wishes were met. As Simon was being 
transported from the funeral home to the 
medical examiner and from the Chabad 
to the airport, they never left his side and 
made sure he got on the plane home to his 
family. 
A mini funeral service on Zoom was 
also organized by the Chabad while plans 
were being made, with Simon’s family 
present in the effort of making sure he 
wasn’t alone.
It was an incredible, collective effort 
from the Jewish community, both in 
Alaska and Metro Detroit, that allowed 
for the follow-up of a tragedy to be treated 
with the compassionate, tender loving care 

the situation called for and to get Simon 
home as soon as possible.
“They said it was the fastest anybody’s 
ever gotten out of Alaska from the 
medical examiner’s office,” Scott said. 
“Simon passed on Monday and was home 
Wednesday night.”
Michelle added: “It would not have 
happened without these calls from 
Tamarack, these calls from the rabbi and 
all the involvement the Jewish community 
had.” 
The Chabad also took care of the rest of 
the campers on the trip while plans were 
being made — housing them, feeding 
them and much more before the decision 
was made to cancel the rest of the trip, 
which brought the campers home. 

THE COMMUNITY’S EMBRACE
The support from the Jewish community 
and beyond has been “overwhelming, 
unbelievable and unfathomable” to the 
Mirkes family, who are grateful for all 
of it.
In the days following Simon’s funeral, 
the Mirkes’ home was filled with wide-
ranging love from school principals, 
Simon’s teachers from middle school 
and elementary school, friends, family 
and more. The local church did a service 
for the community in honor of Simon. 
Endless donations and tributes came 
from all over. 
“There’s not always so much kindness 
in this world on a daily basis,” Michelle 

said. “Sometimes people are in a rush 
with their lives and they forget to say, like 
Simon, hello, goodbye, have a good day. 
“Sometimes I took Simon to the 
grocery store, and he’d see someone 
elderly struggling to reach the top shelf 
or get back in their car, and I’m like, 
‘Simon, just leave that person alone, 
maybe they don’t want to be bothered.’ 
He would respond, ‘but maybe they need 
help.’ 
“You don’t see that everyday anymore,” 
Michelle continued. “But this helped, 
for me, to show this kindness still 
exists, from some people we don’t even 
know. And maybe that’s partly Simon 
doing this, maybe it’s Simon bringing 
everything back around. 
“I’m going to probably stop and help 
more people in the grocery store than I 
ever have in my life. It matters how we 
treat others and what we do for others. 
Making this world a better place for people 
to live in is what Simon would do if he was 
here, and what he would continue to want 
people to do.”
Simon Mirkes’ death is a tragedy. He 
should have lived a long life of learning, 
growing and helping others. 
But his family, and the entire 
community that’s put their arms around 
them in the face of this tragedy, can take 
solace in Simon’s own words. 
In Simon’s final days, he was having the 
time of his life, not regretting anything — 
not even for a minute. 

Simon and his dad, 
Scott, in 2019

continued from page 22
OUR COMMUNITY

