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March 07, 2024 - Image 58

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2024-03-07

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

MARCH 7 • 2024 | 61
J
N

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

OBITUARY
CHARGES

The processing fee for
obituaries is: $125 for up
to 100 words; $1 per word
thereafter. A photo counts as
15 words. There is no charge
for a Holocaust survivor icon.
The JN reserves the right
to edit wording to conform to
its style considerations. For
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.

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