Obituaries

Paul Bloom passed away on April 14, 2020 at the age of 97 from complications due to Covid-19. His beloved wife Phyllis Bloom was by his side for 61 years, until her passing in November. He was also predeceased by his brother Robert. He is survived by sister Nancy Billard; daughter Susan Murphy and her husband Tom; son George Bloom and his wife Margot; and son Peter Bloom. He leaves behind five grandchildren: Sean & Karen Murphy; Samantha, Jessica, & Jennifer Bloom. Paul graduated from Durfee High in Fall River & went on to the Wharton School for 3 years before enlisting in the Army. During WWII he served as an aviation meteorologist in North Africa, providing guidance for aviation missions. He then went on to attend Bentley, graduating under the GI bill. He started the Paul Bloom Insurance Agency and over a 50 year career achieved membership of the Million Dollar Round Table numerous times. He greatly enjoyed spending time with his family and taking care of a menagerie of pets. Services are private. Donations in Paul’s memory can be made to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation in appreciation of the efforts of all first responders.

David Gladstone passed away in his home surrounded by family on Monday, April 13, 2020 after a long battle with Parkinson’s. Born in Lynn, MA on May 31, 1934, he was the son of the late Benjamin and Mary Gladstone. He was a graduate of Bordentown Military Institute and Suffolk University.

David worked for over 45 years for Metropolitan Life.  He will be remembered for his deep generosity, love of life and family, and his infectious sense of humor.  He enjoyed spending his winters in Arizona, attending Red Sox games and above all else, he loved gathering with family and friends.  He spent his free time playing tennis and bowling.

He is survived by his wife Marjorie, his daughters Cheryl and Stephanie, his brothers Harvey and Irving Gladstone, and many nieces and nephews and extended family.  He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

On Thursday, April 16, 2020, Alida J. Cohen, loving wife of Harris; mother of Charlotte and son-in-law, Neil Sheer; Eileen and Barbara Cohen; and grandmother of Hannah and Haley Cohen, passed away two weeks short of her 89th birthday.

Alida was born on April 28, 1931 in Boston, MA to Charles and Henrietta Kosky.  On January 16, 1949, she married Harris and their 71-year journey together began.  She was at his side through many business ventures, but her commitment to her children always took priority.  She will be forever admired for the unending support she provided to Barbara through her life’s challenges.

Alida was extremely creative – her incredible hand-knit sweaters, beautiful paintings, and hand-made greeting cards will always be treasured.  She was an avid reader and was always up-to-date on the latest news and politics.  Alida took tremendous pride in her participation in the Holocaust Stamps Project, founded by her daughter Charlotte, trimming and counting thousands of stamps over the course of many years.  She always enjoyed daily phone calls from Eileen during her commute to and from work.  In recent years, she found tremendous joy being “Nana” to Hannah and Haley, and sharing with them her love of cooking, flower gardening and holiday traditions.

A private graveside service will be held at Sharon Memorial Park.  Remembrances in memory of Alida may be made to the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund, Temple Sinai of Sharon, 25 Canton St., Sharon, MA 02067 or to the Sharon Public Library, 11 North Main St., Sharon, MA 02067.

George Houston Berry of Somerville, MA, beloved husband of Ellin Reisner and loving father of Alison Jean Berry of Dobbs Ferry, NY and Amy Berry Brockbank of Oakland, CA passed away from Covid 19 on April 13, 2020 at the Belmont Manor Nursing Center.    George was born in El Paso, TX to Col. O. Jay Berry (USAF) and Georgia Landrum Berry.

George will be remembered for his kindness, great sense of humor, intellectual curiosity and creativity.  He graduated from Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA and was a National Merit Scholar.  He received his BS from MIT with a degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.  For more than 25 years he was a Professor of Computer Science at Wentworth Institute of Technology and was the Computer Science Department Chair for many years.  He loved teaching and referred to himself as the Professor of Interesting Stuff.  George also enjoyed playing and improvising on the piano, long bike rides, writing fiction and traveling.

George served in the US Navy as a lieutenant in the Engineering Corp during the Viet Nam War.  He is also survived by his ex-wife, Jean Berry of Cambridge, MA.  Services at Temple Israel Cemetery will be private.  A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. Remembrances in memory of George may be made to the Welcome Project, 530 Mystic Ave., Somerville, MA 02145 or online at https://www.welcomeproject.org/donate or the Animal Rescue League online at arlboston.org.

Ingrid Kisliuk (Inge Scheer) of blessed memory passed away from COVID-19 on April 13, 2020 at Orchard Cove in Canton, MA. For fifty-eight years a resident of Newton, she was born on 1/11/1930 in Austria to Saly Scheer (Zalme Szeer) and Helene (Cohen) Scheer. As a child she witnessed out her window Hitler’s hideously triumphant welcome into Vienna. She and her family escaped to Brussels, where she became “Irène” in an attempt to hide her origins. The war followed them into Belgium where they were forced into hiding, moving from place to place until Liberation Day. Ingrid lost many friends and family to Nazi deportation and murder, including her beloved sister Herta, who was lured away and murdered in Auschwitz at age 19. After several months in Argentina — where her older brother Ernst fled before the war — Ingrid and her parents landed in Lorain Ohio. As a traumatized 17 year-old who spoke five languages, she had little in common with local teenagers. While studying in Cleveland she met Roy Kisliuk, a graduate student in biochemistry, on the 4th of July 1954. They were married that Thanksgiving. Ingrid was a devoted mother, grandmother and great grandmother, and also a gifted scholar. Studying French Literature at Tufts University when her daughters were still young, she earned a Masters degree in 1971, a Doctorate in 1976, and taught at Tufts for over twenty years. In the late 1980s, with encouragement from family and from a new international organization of former hidden children, she began her memoir. This decade-long process involved reliving the horrors of her childhood, which gave her vivid nightmares. She published Unveiled Shadows: The Witness of a Child in 1998. From Trauma to Trepidation (2008) followed; in-depth interviews with adult children of former hidden children. She and Roy celebrated their 65th anniversary in November 2019. Both died in April 2020, eleven days apart. Ingrid is survived by her daughters Claudette Beit-Aharon and Michelle Kisliuk, grandchildren Nathan, Noah, and Miriam Beit-Aharon and Max Mongosso, great grandchildren Leila and Simon Beit-Aharon, and nieces Silvia Duchovny and Viviana Levinson. Donations in Ingrid and Roy’s memory can be made to two of their favorite charities, the ACLU and the Union of Concerned Scientists. The April 16th funeral was restricted to 10 local attendees. For remote shiva schedule and link, please send inquiries to this address: roy.l.kisliuk@gmail.com.

Bernard “Bernie” David Seckler (Feb. 14, 1925 – Apr. 10, 2020), son of Samuel Seckler and Anna Wucher, died peacefully after a short bout of coronavirus complications in Newton, MA. Together, he and Evelyn (Jan. 11, 1926 – Apr. 13, 2020), his devoted wife of 67 years, raised their family largely in Great Neck, NY. He leaves behind daughter Judy (Peter Nomura); son Stephen (Jenny Gamson) and adored grandchildren Gilad, Ari, and Maya. Bernie’s family of East European immigrants survived the Depression with their sights on accomplishment and stability. He and his three older siblings lived and worked shifts at their parents’ Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 24-hour candy store. Armed with a Master’s in mathematics from Columbia University and a PhD in mathematics from New York University, Bernie began his teaching career at Pratt Institute and spent his later years as a math professor at C.W. Post in Brookville, Long Island. He supplemented the family income for twenty-five years by translating Russian math textbooks into English after teaching himself to read Russian.For 20 years, he was a math reader at Recordings for the Blind and received an award for his service. He loved movies, animals, opera, fine art, good food, puns, baseball and playing and watching tennis. No Sunday was complete until he had finished a New York Times acrostic puzzle in pen in record time. He also spent many hours on his prized stamp collection, researching fine art on stamps at New York’s largest libraries. A private burial and virtual memorial will be held Thurs. Please contact info@brezniakfd.com for more details. Donations in Bernie’s memory may be made to: aspca.org; wiesenthal.com, or nypl.org

Evelyn Alda Seckler (Jan. 11, 1926 – Apr. 13, 2020), daughter of Leopold Mehler and Tillie Friedman, passed peacefully from coronavirus complications three days after her devoted husband, Bernie. Together, they raised their family in Great Neck, NY. She leaves behind daughter Judy (Peter Nomura); son Stephen (Jenny Gamson) and adored grandchildren Gilad, Ari, and Maya.Life began for Evelyn on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, an area overflowing with Jewish immigrants. With her two older brothers, she lived in the back of her father’s dry goods store. Her life was full of classes, religious school and music lessons on piano and mandolin. Relatives lived close by and the family escaped to the Catskill Mountains during summers. Evelyn’s life can be measured by the many milestones she accomplished: she was the first person in her family to graduate from college (Brooklyn College), and later earned a Master’s in psychology. She and Bernie married in 1953. They left Brooklyn for Queens in 1964, and as her children grew, she and Bernie sang in the local chorus, attended performances at the Metropolitan Opera and live theater on Broadway. Evelyn had a rewarding career as a school psychologist for the New York City Board of Education. She also took pride in her daughter’s design studies at Cornell University and her son’s Northeastern law degree. She never lost her love of the mountains, her grandchildren, visiting friends and relatives in far-off places, talk radio, Tanglewood concerts and bargain shopping at garage sales.  A private burial will be held Thurs. and a virtual memorial will take place Sat. Please contact info@brezniakfd.com for more details. Donations in Evelyn’s memory may be made to: democrats.org; cancer.org, and pbs.org.

Betty Levin-Of Chestnut Hill, on April 11, 2020.Beloved wife of the late Melvin H. Levin. Private graveside services will be held.

Barbara Soreff-Of  Framingham On April 10, 2020.Beloved daughter of the late Sidney and Ida(Segal).Dear sister of the late Patricia Soreff Clouse. Services are private

Stan Fleischman was born in The Bronx NY on August 11, 1940 and grew up with his brother Jack Fleischman and Marsha Schoenfeld (deceased) in Williamsburg NY. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School, and got a degree in Math from Brooklyn College in 1962. Within two weeks of graduation, Stan married his college sweetheart, Jackie, and took his first job as a computer programmer with NASA where he helped to develop the first power propulsion system.
Within a year, Stanley and Jackie moved to Newton, MA where he completed a masters’ degree in Math from Northeastern and where their marriage continued for over half a century.
They have two daughters, Marilyn Brown, married to Ross Brown, and Marcella Pixley married to Steve Pixley. Stan has recently written that his daughters “have three incredibly talented sons, Marc Brown, Joshua Pixley and Benjamin Pixley.”
Stan helped develop an early Time Sharing utility cited as “best in the nation” by Data Nation magazine, and helped develop The National Software Works, an extension of the ARPNET, which later evolved into the internet.
After retirement in 2004, Stanley became an activist for J Street, an organization advocating for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. He also began studying Jewish History and literature. A number of folks besides family joined his household over the years, which broadened and deepened relationships between individuals from numbers of countries and social backgrounds.
Stan is survived by his beloved wife, Jackie Fleischman, his daughter Marilyn Brown, son in law Ross Brown and Grandson Marc Brown, His daughter Marcella, son in law Steve and grandsons Joshua and Benjamin. Stan is also survived by his dear brother Jack Fleischman. He remained, throughout a lifetime, open to exploring and contributing to the positive life-experience of others. He shall be greatly missed by friends and relatives alike. In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a donation in his name to J Street or to the Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, in Newton MA.