DECEMBER 19 • 2024 | 61

BENJAMIN SANDERS, 
81, of Farmington Hills, 
died Dec. 6, 2024. 
He is survived by his 
wife, Judy Goodfriend; 
daughters, Alicia 
Sanders (Reshod), Rashawnda 
Sanders; stepdaughters, Debbie 
Kennedy (Scott), Marla Goodfriend 
(Terrill Spaight); grandchildren, 
Warren Turner, Blake and Ayden 
Sanders, Garrett and Jake Kennedy; 
many other loving relatives and 
friends. 
Interment took place at 
Oakview Cemetery in Royal Oak. 
Contributions may be made to 
the American Cancer Society, 
the American Heart Association 
or a charity of one’s choice. 
Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel.

ROSE WOLOK, 100, of 
West Bloomfield, died 
Dec. 8, 2024. 
Rose was born in 
Poland and came to the 
United States at the age 
of five.
At Wayne State University, she 
earned a bachelor’s degree with a 
major in English and Semitics, and 
a master’s degree in educational psy-
chology, specializing in reading and 
learning disabilities. For almost a 
quarter of a century, she was a read-
ing specialist, at first in the public 
schools. Then she had an office in 
Southfield for many years.
She was also a religious teacher in 
the school of Congregation Shaarey 
Zedek and Congregation B’nai 
Moshe. At Congregation Shaarey 
Zedek, she served on the education-
al committee, chairing several vital 
sub-committees. At Adat Shalom 
Synagogue, she was a chairperson of 
the Adult Study Committee and was 
a life member of the sisterhood. 
She was also a life member 
of Hadassah, which she joined 
in 1945. She was a president of 
P.N.A.I., a facilitator of the Opera 
Group for the Institute of Retired 

Professionals. She was one of the 
rare women of her generation who 
had it all: marriage, a career and 
volunteer work. Her beloved family 
was always her priority.
Rose is survived by her children, 
Phil and Fran Wolok, Deborah Levi, 
Dr. Davin and Carol Wolok; grand-
children, Haggai Levi, Leah and Guy 
Avital, Sarah and Alon Tirosh, Rina 
Wolok and Samantha Steinberg, 
Eric and Amy Wolok, Lauren and 
Corey Light; great-grandchildren, 
Eyal, Ariel, Yuval, Daniel, Jonah, 
Shiloh, Naomi, Louis, Brayden, 
Sophie. A special thanks is made 
to all that cared for Rose in her 
last years: caregivers, Nedra 
Stephen, Maickhale Mya McMurty; 
Fleischman staff, Kay, Aisha, Reesie, 
Jenene, Regine; and the dining room 
staff. 
Rose was the beloved wife of the 
late Emil Wolok; loving daughter of 
the late Morris and the late Fannie 
Stol; dear sister of the late Arthur 
Stol and the late Anne Leibman. 
Contributions may be made 
to Hadassah, hadassah.org; IRP 
Detroit, 14094 Ludlow, Oak Park, 
MI 48237; or to a charity of one’s 
choice. A funeral service was 
held at Hebrew Memorial Chapel. 
Interment took place at Adat 
Shalom Memorial Park in Livonia. 
Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial 
Chapel.

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D

r. Edward Malinowski, 
85, of West Bloomfield, 
died Dec. 12, 2024.
Dr. Malinowski was born in 
Warsaw, Poland, on May 14, 
1939, as Edward Mersyk, to 
Marek and Stefania Mersyk. Ed 
and his family were forced into 
the Warsaw Ghetto 
in 1940. Ed’s father 
returned to their 
tiny apartment in 
the ghetto to find 
it empty, so he ran 
to the train station 
where Jews were 
being moved to 
extermination at 
Treblinka and tried to 
rescue both his father 
and son, using loose 
diamonds secretly 
sewn in some clothes. His father 
managed to save Ed, but his 
grandfather was never seen again.
After the liquidation of the 
ghetto in May 1943, through luck 
and cunning, Edward, his mother, 
aunt and cousin survived in the 
outskirts and forests of Warsaw. 
After the war ended in 1945, 
Ed and other children helped 
rebuild Warsaw by hand, brick 
by brick. Since all documents 
were destroyed, the family name 
was changed to Malinowski, so 
that he and his mother could 
assimilate into Polish society and 
not be targeted as Jews.
Ed studied violin at the Music 
Conservatory and aspired to 
become a concert violinist 
but knew he would never be 
a world-class musician, so he 
“disappointed” his family and 
decided to become a doctor. At 
the Warsaw School of Medicine, 
he met his future wife, Jolanta 
Okuniewicz, who would stay by 
his side for 62 years.
While they survived the 
Holocaust, they could not survive 

the Communist antisemitism. 
With young daughter, Susan, in 
tow, they were stripped of their 
citizenship, their few possessions 
and moved around Europe until 
the Jewish Allied Campaign 
sponsored them to come to 
Detroit.
Ed and Jolanta studied English 
to take and pass the medical 
boards, complete their residencies 
and Ed became a respected 
cardiologist and Jolanta a brilliant 
dermatologist. Ed spent many 
years working at Sinai-Grace 
Hospital in Detroit, saving many 
lives and training scores of 
physicians to do the same. Even 
after he retired, he was constantly 
on the phone, offering advice 
on everything from medical 
treatments to 401(k)s. A lifelong 
learner, he had knowledge that 
transcended medicine and music 
to history, geopolitics, cars, 
aerospace and technology. He 
also returned to playing the violin 
again with the Detroit Medical 
Orchestra.
Ed was resolute that the 
Holocaust be remembered, and 
he served on the board of the 
Zekelman Holocaust Center in 
Detroit. His countless lectures 
on his experiences delivered 
a powerful message of hope, 
resilience and perseverance to 
thousands of students in the 
Detroit area.
He is survived by his beloved 
wife, Dr. Jolanta Malinowski; 
daughter and son-in-law, 
Dr. Susan (Gary Shapiro) 
Malinowski; grandchildren, Mark 
Jerome Malinowski Shapiro 
and Max Mersyk Malinowski 
Shapiro; many other loving family 
members and friends. 
Contributions may be made to 
the Zekelman Holocaust Center. 
Arrangements by Dorfman 
Chapel. 

Dr. Edward 
Malinowski

Sinai Cardiologist 
was Shoah Survivor

