APRIL 4 • 2024 | 63
JOSEPHINE
BRISKIN, 96, of
Haverford, Pa.,
formerly of West
Bloomfield, died
March 27, 2024.
Mrs. Briskin is survived
by her sons and daughters-
in-law, Robert and Laurie
Briskin, Gary and Nancy
Briskin, and Kenneth and
Jill Briskin; grandchildren,
Perrie, Jamie, Lauren, Dana,
Greg, Noah and Andrew;
great-grandchildren, Gavin,
Bennett and Mason.
She was the beloved wife
of the late Ben Briskin.
Interment was at Adat
Shalom Memorial Park.
Contributions may be
made to Jewish Senior Life
of Metropolitan Detroit,
6710 W. Maple Road, West
Bloomfield, MI 48322,
jslmi.org. Arrangements by
Ira Kaufman Chapel.
RICHARD
EDGAR, 88, of
Bingham Farms,
died on March
25, 2024.
Mr. Edgar
was a wonderful husband
to Myrna (Glicker) for
67 years. They were high
school sweethearts at
Mumford High who went
on to marry in 1957 and
have four children. They
had lots of close friends and
loved entertaining.
Mr. Edgar was a loving
and generous father and
grandfather. He was fun-
loving, loading the kids in
his latest car for a foray to
get hot fudge cream puffs,
building a treehouse in the
backyard, taking them on
bike rides and weekends in
New York City. He would
buy the latest Beatles and
Stevie Wonder records for
his kids. Among his favorite
things were violin and
piano concertos, sailing,
cinema and fine food,
along with cars and dogs.
He loved conversation
and tended toward the
philosophical.
As a grandfather, Papa Dick
was most happy bringing
everyone together at home
or away. He’d rent a boat and
take everyone out tubing on
Lake Charlevoix. He’d happily
travel to Chicago and Arizona
to babysit his grandchildren.
Spending a week at Camp
Michigania was a high point
in his year.
Mr. Edgar was a graduate
of the University of
Michigan. He practiced as a
CPA at various accounting
firms throughout his career.
He retired at the age of
82 from Grant Millman
& Johnson, PLC. He was
valued by his clients and
loved what he did.
His survivors are his wife
Myrna; children, Cary and
Stacie, Julie, Marla Horwitz,
and Joan and David Evans;
brother and sister-in-law,
David and Ruth Edgar;
grandchildren, Zach Edgar,
Andrea and Scott Unger,
Robert and Rachel Edgar;
Alexann Greenstone, Joey
Evans, Jonathan Evans,
Daniel Sklar and Lev Sklar;
great-grandchildren, Casey,
Bran, Tessa and Dalia.
Mr. Edgar was preceded
in death by his sister Joy
Vronsky.
Interment was at Clover
Hill Park Cemetery.
Contributions may be
continued on page 64
where his longtime support-
ers, particularly the hard-core
Democrats who had support-
ed him over the years, could
no longer defend him,
” Marvin
Lender, who raised money for
Lieberman in 2006, recalled
in 2011.
After the election, Obama
made it clear that he wanted
Lieberman to stay on his side.
That meant Lieberman main-
tained his chairmanship of
the Homeland Security com-
mittee while caucusing with
Democrats.
He still had a bridge or
two left to burn: On health
care reform — a signature
issue for Jewish Democrats —
Lieberman equivocated until
the last minute, ultimately
casting his vote in favor.
His relationship with
Obama remained cordial but
tense. Lieberman took the
lead in criticizing Obama’s
approach to Israeli-Palestinian
peacemaking as overly con-
frontational when Obama met
last May with Jewish lawmak-
ers.
Lieberman maintained his
fierce independence until the
end. His career cap was a nod
to his more liberal sensibilities,
when, in the final weeks of
2010, he earned kudos from
liberals for enabling repeal in
the Senate of the “don’t ask,
don’t tell” rule that had made
it impossible for gays to serve
openly in the military. Gay
activists did not fail to notice
that Lieberman stuck out the
vote, even though it was on
Shabbat.
Yet, that also was a bridge
burner of sorts. When
Lieberman a few nights later
attended a Republican Jewish
Coalition party celebrating the
GOP’s win of the U.S. House
of Representatives, at least one
GOP donor to Lieberman’s
2006 campaign buttonholed
him and said he would never
again give him money because
of his success in leading the
“don’t ask” repeal.
Lieberman smiled, said he
had to do what he had to do
and left the party.
Last year, he became a
founding co-chair of No
Labels, an independent group
laying the groundwork to put
a centrist “unity ticket” on the
2024 presidential ballot. After
he wrote a Wall Street Journal
op-ed “No Labels Won’t Help
Trump,
” few Democrats were
persuaded.
Following his retirement
from the Senate, Lieberman
returned to practicing law,
and joined the conservative
American Enterprise Institute
think tank as co-chair-
man of their American
Internationalism Project. He
also held the Lieberman Chair
of Public Policy and Public
Service at Yeshiva University,
where he taught an undergrad-
uate course in political science.
In August 2015, Lieberman
became chairman of United
Against Nuclear Iran, a group
fiercely opposed to efforts by
the Obama administration to
broker a deal with Iran over its
nascent nuclear program.
Lieberman was married
twice. He and his first wife,
Betty Haas, were married in
1965 and had two children,
Matt and Rebecca; the couple
divorced in 1981. In 1983, he
married Hadassah Freilich
Tucker, who was previously
married to Rabbi Gordon
Tucker, the former senior rabbi
of Temple Israel Center in
White Plains, New York. He is
survived by his wife and their
daughter, Hana Lowenstein;
Matt Lieberman and Rebecca
Lieberman and a stepson,
Rabbi Ethan Tucker.