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MI 48334, www.mpi-mps.org/
get-involved/donate; Fisher 
House, 12300 Twinbrook 
Pkwy., Suite 410, Rockville, 
MD 20852, www.fisherhouse.
org; or Jewish Federation 
of Detroit, 6735 Telegraph 
Road, Suite 260, P.O. Box 
2030, Bloomfield Hills, MI 
48303, jewishdetroit.org/send-
a-tribute. Arrangements by 
Ira Kaufman Chapel.

LIYA 
TRAKHMAN, 
73, of Henderson, 
Nev., passed away 
on Feb. 24, 2024. 
She was born 
on Feb. 22, 1951, in a small 
village in Moldova, former 
USSR. 
Liya was the beloved wife of 
Gregory Trakhman; the loving 
mother of Arthur Trakhman 
and Ann Trakhman. She is 
also survived by her brother, 
Fima Milter.
Liya will be deeply missed 
by her family, friends and 
all who had the pleasure of 
knowing her. May she rest in 
peace, pain-free.

D

R. MARGARET E. 
WINTERS, age 76, of 
Grosse Pointe, a dis-
tinguished professor and pro-
vost at Wayne State University 
(ret.), died on 
Feb. 26, 2024. 
 Margaret 
Esther Winters 
was born in 
Brooklyn, N.Y., 
April 29, 1947, 
to Dorothy and 
Joseph Winters. Eleanor, her 
only sister, was born in 1948. 
 Margaret attended New 
York City public schools and 
went to the local Sholem 
Aleichem Folkshul in 
Brooklyn, where she learned 
to read and write Yiddish, a 
treasure that she cherished 
all her life. She received her 
BA in French from Brooklyn 
College. 
 She married Richard Epro 
in 1968. They divorced in 
1981. She received her MA 
in French from University 
of California, Riverside in 
1970, and later moved back 
east to Philadelphia where 
she was awarded one of the 
last doctorates in Romance 
Philology from the University 
of Pennsylvania. 
 After several years of 
part-time teaching at vari-
ous universities, she landed 
a tenure-track job in 1977 
as a professor of French at 
Southern Illinois University 
Carbondale, Illinois. In 1980, 
she met Geoffrey Nathan, and 
they married in 1984, almost 
exactly 40 years ago. 
 In the late 1980s, Margaret 
was asked to be chair of 
the Department of Foreign 
Languages and Literatures, 
where she served until 1994, 
when she became Associate 

Vice Chancellor for Academic 
Affairs. Shortly thereafter, she 
was named university provost. 
 Despite her busy career as 
an administrator, she contin-
ued to work and publish in 
philology and later in more 
prototypical linguistics. She 
became one of the first lin-
guists to apply the emerging 
theory of Cognitive Grammar 
(a challenge to Chomskyism) 
to Historical Linguistics. 
 Her textbook, Introduction to 
Historical Linguistics, is widely 
used in colleges and universi-
ties worldwide, as is Cognitive 
Linguistics for Linguists, which 
she and Geoff co-authored, 
 While at Carbondale, Geoff 
introduced her to Shotokan 
Karate. She rapidly advanced 
to the level of Second Degree 
Black Belt. During their years 
in Carbondale, she and Geoff 
ran an independent Karate 
school; she also taught classes 
in women’s self-defense. She 
continued to train with Geoff 
until very recently. 
 In 2002, Margaret was 
asked to become Associate 
Provost for Academic Affairs 
at Wayne State University. She 
and Geoff moved to Detroit, 
where they built a new life 
with a wide circle of friends 
and many new interests. After 
several years, she stepped 
down as Associate Provost, 
but was subsequently asked 
to combine four indepen-
dent language departments 
in order to create the Wayne 
State Department of Foreign 
Languages and Literatures. 
 She served as chair for 
several years and was even-
tually asked to return to the 
Associate Provost position, 
and later served for several 
years as Provost and Vice 

President for Academic 
Affairs under President Roy 
Wilson. 
 Margaret and Geoff 
became involved with the 
Sholem Aleichem Institute in 
Detroit, eventually becom-
ing co-chairs of its Board. In 
2023, she and Geoff arranged 
a merger of the Institute with 
the Jewish Historical Society 
of Michigan, where they 
helped to create the Sholem 
Aleichem Institute Yiddishkeit 
Programming Fund. 
 In addition, she and Geoff 
became strong supporters of 
the Detroit Opera and the 
Detroit Symphony, where she 
served as a trustee. Especially 
dear to her heart was the 
Detroit Chamber Winds and 
Strings, where she and Geoff 
served as chairs of the board; 
Geoff will continue in that 
capacity. 
 Margaret and Geoff 
were avid travelers, both by 
themselves and on cruises. 
Their most recent cruise 
from Buenos Aires to Rio 
in January of this year was a 
great joy to them both. 
 She is survived by her hus-
band, Geoffrey Nathan; her 
sister, Eleanor Winters; and 
her brother-in-law, Knights 
Order of Orange-Nassau, 
Leendert van der Pool. 
 Following Jewish tradition, 
in lieu of flowers, donations 
can be made to the Detroit 
Chamber Winds and Strings 
or the Sholem Aleichem 
Fund of the Jewish Historical 
Society of Michigan.
A funeral service took 
place at Hebrew Memorial 
Chapel. Interment was held 
at Hebrew Memorial Park. 
Arrangements by Hebrew 
Memorial Chapel. 

Distinguished Professor 
and Provost

Dr. Margaret 
E. Winters

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