MAY 9 • 2024 | 15
J
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Jewish Senior Life’s 31st annual Eight Over 
Eighty event celebrates special people.

PURPOSE-
DRIVEN 
LIVES

SHARON ALTERMAN
In 1965, Sharon Alterman 
of West Bloomfield was 
the director of a Thursday 
Night Social Group at the 
JCC for young adults with 
developmental needs. Her 
dedication to and compassion 
for her beloved group 
members led her to think 
about what their futures might 
look like when they got older. 
 She began working with a 
group of parents who became 
the founding members of 
the Parents Association for 
Jewish Residential Care, the 
precursor to JARC, which was 
founded in 1969. 
 Alterman became the 
nonprofit’s third president and 
remains active at JARC more 
than 50 years later, continuing 
her commitment to enabling 
adults with developmental 
disabilities to live full, 

meaningful lives. 
Alterman also earned a 
master’s degree in historic 
preservation and archival 
certification from Wayne State 
University. She established 
and worked at the Leonard N. 
Simons Jewish Community 
Archives at the Jewish 
Federation of Detroit for more 
than 20 years and continues to 
volunteer weekly. 
Handpicked by the late 
Hon. Avern Cohen, Alterman 
is presently participating 
in and planning the third 
volume of the History of the 
Jews of Detroit. She has proudly 
curated many exhibits for 
the Jewish community, 
including coordinating the 
development of the Camp 
Tamarack Charach museum 
and the Max M. Fisher virtual 
museum. 
Alterman is a past president 
of Congregation Beth Shalom, 
longtime member of the 
Saturday Luncheon Club 
(recently chairing its 100th 
anniversary celebration), 
active on the cultural 
committee of Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek, Shabbat 
luncheon volunteer and has 
completed 10 consecutive 
years of Torah study.

EDITH BROIDA
A lifelong learner and book 
lover, Edith Broida, dubbed 
the “Pied Piper of Book 
Talks,” presents and facilitates 
book talks in Florida and 
Michigan, most notably at 
Temple Israel. 
 As a founder and past 
president of the Palm Beach 
nonprofit Insight Through 
Education, she is passionate 
about its mission to inspire, 
educate and encourage 
kindness, acceptance and 
respect for all, using lessons 
from the Holocaust and other 
genocides to recognize and 
oppose antisemitism, hatred 
and bigotry. 
 A life member and board 
member of National Council 
of Jewish Women, Broida 
volunteers for Bookstock, 
Council ReISale and Back 
2 School store, is a docent 

for the Jewish Historical 
Society’s Hasting Street 
exhibit at the Detroit 
Historical Museum and is 
a member of WISDOM: 
Women’s Interfaith Solutions 
for Dialogue and Outreach in 
Metro Detroit.
Broida cofounded the 
multicultural “Museum 
Group,” whose members 
visited each other’s 
museums, galleries, houses of 
worship, ethnic restaurants 
and neighborhoods in a 
quest for knowledge and 
understanding of racial and 
religious differences. 
An inspiring educator, 
Broida was an English teacher 
and administrator for 35 
years in Madison Heights and 
Oak Park and was an author 
and consultant for Oakland 
Schools. Her 53-year-old 
book club, The Lit Group, 
was featured in Life magazine 
for its longevity. A resident 
of West Bloomfield, she 
continues to write and 
submit letters to the editor 
on topics that inspire spirited 
responses.

continued on page 16

HEADSHOTS: BRETT MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHY 

LEFT: FJA student Zachary 
Elbinger interviews Eight 
Over Eighty Honoree Paul 
Goldsmith. RIGHT: FJA 
student Sarah Krivishkin 
interviews Eight Over Eighty 
Honoree Nancy Kalef.

BRETT MOUNTAIN