Obituaries

Irma Sherman, 90, of Abbey Delray, Delray Beach, FL, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 11, 2014 (11 Iyar, 5774) of natural causes, in her sleep. Irma is survived by her sister Anita, of Los Angeles, CA, her 2 sons, Michael, of Lake Worth, FL and David, of Jupiter, FL. She will also be lovingly remembered by her 2 daughters in law, Paula & Wendy, her grandchildren Scott, Joy, Benjamin, Matthew Ruth, & Meryl, and great-grandchildren Leilani & Farrah, as well as many nieces, nephews, friends and others who loved her dearly. A graveside funeral service is planned for Wednesday, May 14^th, at 12:45pm, at Sharon Memorial Park, in Sharon, MA. A tribute will be held at the Abbey Center at Abbey Delray, Lowson St., Delray, FL, on Sunday, May 18^th from 11 – noon, and the family will also sit shiva on Monday, May 19^th from 5 – 7pm (with a shiva service @ 6:30pm) at Temple Beth Am, 2250 Central Blvd., Jupiter, FL 33458. Irma would have appreciated donations in her memory be made to St. Jude’s Hospital, Make-a-Wish Foundation or the Palm Beach Association of Firefighters & EMT’s. Irma would have been 91 this coming Friday, May 16^th. She will be missed.

Andrew Rosenberg, 63, of Milford, Massachusetts, formerly of Natick, passed away due to complications of congestive heart failure and stage 4 cancer on Monday, May 12,2014.

He was a member of the Montgomery Lodge of Masons in Milford. He was a graduate of Northeastern University and Antioch University of Ohio, Keene New Hampshire campus, where he received his Masters in the Arts of Clinical Counseling Psychology.

He was the only son of the late Harry and Liesel Rosenberg, formerly of Claremont,New Hampshire. He is survived by his wife, Cheryle (Sims) Rosenberg of 42 years of marriage,  his sons Matthew and Michael (formerly of Natick,),and his grandsons Sam and Eli. He is also survived by his brother in law Leslie Sims and his wife Nancy Thompson, his cousin Ann Marie Kaufmann, Dr. Joel Schindler and his wife Gayle and their children; Bob and Brenda Turecek, and Morton Brown. Services on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at 11:oo am at The Wilson Chapel, 234 Herrick Rd.,  Newton Centre,(on the campus of  Hebrew College).Following the service, memorial observance will be at his residence until 8pm Wednesday, and Thursday 1-8pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made  to the American Cancer Society or Camp Takodah,55 Fitzwilliam Rd., Richmond, NH 03470.

Michael Foster Rosenberg passed away on Saturday, May 10, 2014 at the St. Lucie Medical Center  in Port St. Lucie Florida. He was 59 years old. He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts to Shayla and Edwin Rosenberg. He is survived by his brother Jeffrey Rosenberg and his wife Marilyn of Monroe, Connecticut,  his sister Peri Lamb and her husband Marty of Holliston, Massachusetts, his sister Robyn Pulte and  her husband Michael  of Boston, Massachusetts  and by beloved companion Suzanne Hoehn. He is also survived by his nieces Samantha and Jocelyn Rosenberg and Elissa and Simma Lamb. Services will be held graveside on Tuesday May 13, 2014 at 1:45 pm at Sharon Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers please donate to the charity of your choice in Michael’s memory.

of Framingham, on May 11, 2014. Beloved wife of the late Simon H. Shapiro. Devoted mother of Ellen Silver and her late husband Richard and Susan Gold. Dear grandmother of Andrew Silver and Jonathan Gold. Loving sister of Irving Pransky. Graveside services at Lindwood Memorial Park, 497 North St., Randolph, on Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers remembrances to a charity of your choice.

KATZ, Karen, Of Beverly, MA, on May 4, 2014. Cherished and beloved daughter of Gloria (Zalcman). Loving sister of Fonda Lecuona of FL. Beloved niece of Jean and Harvey Karp and Jack Zalcman. Services will be private. Remembrances may be made to Angell Memorial Hospital, Boston, MA. Karen was a beautiful and spiritual girl who died too soon. She will be missed by all.

Hyalie (Cohen) Miller, age 84, died Friday, May 9, 2014, in West Hyannisport, MA.

Her husband, Leonard S. Miller, died in 2003. She leaves two daughters, Nancy Greenberg of Worcester and Donna Miller of West Hyannisport, with whom she lived, and two grandsons, Joshua and Max Greenberg.

She was born in Worcester and lived in West Hyannisport for 25 years.

Funeral services  at 11:00 am, Monday, May 12, 2014, at Temple Emanuel Sinai, 280 May St., Worcester. Burial at B’Nai Brith Cemetery, Worcester.

Memorial Observance will be held through Monday evening at the residence of Nancy Greenberg, 255 May St., Worcester and Tuesday and Wednesday at Hyalie’s residence, 98 Seventh Ave., West Hyannisport, MA.

Lawrence Levy served the Kennedy administration.

Amid the Cold War boom in defense contracts and frenzied research into aeronautics and space travel, Lawrence Levy launched Concord-based Allied Research Associates Inc. when he was a 28-year-old instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The company mushroomed from three men in 1951 to more than 225 employees worldwide in eight years, catapulting Mr. Levy to the forefront of national defense designs, diplomacy circles, and later, solar energy development.
The Kennedy administration sent him to live in Paris and advise Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara on Europe and North Africa. He was also named defense minister to Thomas K. Finletter, the US ambassador to NATO.

At cocktail parties in those days, Mr. Levy was known as a handsome, charming raconteur who loved to tell a good joke, but never spoke much about his work because most of it was classified, according to his family.

Mr. Levy, whose company was later acquired by Boeing Corp., died of pneumonia May 7 in Massachusetts General Hospital. He was 90 and had lived in Framingham.

“He always said he wanted to live to be 100 and get shot by a jealous husband,” said his oldest daughter, Madelyn Renee, an opera singer who lives in Milan.

The line captured Mr. Levy’s joie de vivre during a lifetime spanning his service in World War II as a flight engineer in what was then Burma to work in his 80s as a management consultant for a firm he started called Northern Ventures Corp. in Cambridge.
After his death, his family began uncovering surprising details of his career from boxes of personal papers and yellowed newspaper clips tucked away at his home.

In a 1959 article from the Boston Sunday Herald, Mr. Levy offered prescient remarks about the future of space travel. “Lunar Landing in less than 10 years, Newton scientist forecasts,” the headline read.

“Who knows what we’ll discover — new metals; perhaps a new source of energy, heating and lighting homes and factories for a small cost; things to make life on Earth better,” Mr. Levy told the paper. “And when man arrives on the moon, it’ll be a stepping stone to other planets.”

Through his papers, his family also learned about his work on secret postwar nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. From 1949 to 1951, Mr. Levy was a project director working on a military program created to determine the effects of atomic blasts on planes delivering the bombs.

His papers also revealed he managed research programs for NATO in computers, electronics, and operations and helped formulate Raytheon’s sale of Hawk missiles to Saudi Arabia in the 1960s as a vice president of the company.

Meanwhile, his Allied Research briefly became a subsidiary of the Boeing Corp. at the end of 1950s. Then in 1965, Mr. Levy made news when he was rehired by his old company and named president. He formed a British affiliate called Allied Systems and found success selling the aircraft known as the Harrier, a vertical take-off attack jet, to the Marines.

By the late 1970s, Mr. Levy shifted his focus from war machines to solar energy. He became president of Northern Energy Corp. with its Solar Energy Center, one of four regional centers created by the US Department of Energy to promote solar applications.

“Larry could pick up the phone and speak to any congressman, any senator on the Hill at that time,” recalled Joanne Luongo, who began as a secretary for Northern Energy 37 years ago and climbed the ranks. She was still working with Mr. Levy at Northern Ventures when he died.

“He was my teacher, my mentor, my best friend, and a gentleman at all times,” she said.

Mr. Levy always wore a suit and tie, and liked to work at “warp speed” each day, Luongo recalled, “but he didn’t stand over you with a bat. He was always pleasant. In 37 years that man never raised his voice to me, never. He gave you credit for having a mind. He was a teacher in his own inimitable way.”

A New York City native, Mr. Levy was the oldest child of Anna and Albert Levy, who was an accountant.

A bright student, he graduated from high school at 15, and received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from New York University. He was in ROTC in college and joined the Army Air Force during World War II, serving as a lieutenant.

After the war, he went to MIT under the GI Bill and graduated with a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1948.

His marriage to Jacqueline Friedman ended in divorce. They had three daughters.

Mr. Levy was married for 43 years to Ruthe McClenon.

In addition to his wife and daughter, he leaves two other daughters, Janice of Ithaca, N.Y.; and Sharon Loeff of Scottsdale, Ariz.; a grandson; and two granddaughters.

A service was held and burial was in Sharon Memorial Park.

Mr. Levy held a pilot’s license for most of his life and was a lifelong lover of photography. Among his cameras was a Rolleicord he bought in China that had once belonged to a Japanese general, he told his family.

His daughter Janice, who is a professor of photography and cinema at Ithaca College, said she has begun sifting through his negatives dating back to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in the 1930s.

As young girls, Mr. Levy’s daughters sometimes became annoyed at his ever-present camera, Janice said. Now she can see the artistry he brought to those snapshots.

“I realized, once I became a photographer, there was a real vision there,” she said. “He was very charismatic and fun.”

J.M. Lawrence can be reached at jmlawrence@me.com.

WORCESTER – Leah (Rafer) Witkes, 88, of 39 Ellis Drive, died  Thursday, May 8,2014 at St. Vincent Hospital. She leaves her husband of 60 years, Irving Witkes; two sons, Howard Witkes and his wife Alice of Boston and Neil Witkes and his wife Ann of Gladwyn, PA; a brother, Gerson Rafer and his wife Maris of Cape Cod, two sisters, Beverly, wife of Milton Rothstein of Framingham and  Naomi Caplin of West Palm Beach, FL, and four grandchildren, Samantha, Jason, Alex and Michael Witkes. She was predeceased by her sisters, Ruth Siegel and Sylvia Young.

She was born in Fitchburg and was a daughter of Arthur and Dora (Solomon) Rafer. she lived in Worcester for 60 years. She was a member of Beth Israel Synagogue and The Jewish Healthcare Center.

FUNERAL SERVICES  AT 3:00PM ON FRIDAY, MAY 9,2014, AT BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE, JAMESBURY DRIVE.  Burial at B’Nai Brith Cemetery.

Memorial observance  on Friday afternoon and 2-6 pm on Sunday, May 11, at her residence,  39 Ellis Drive.

Memorial contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s Association or  Jewish Healthcare Center, 629 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609.

Kenneth David Schneid, age 51, of Medway, MA,passed away surrounded by his loving family, on May 6, 2014. Devoted and Beloved husband of Paula (Poillucci) Schneid. Loving son of Carol Sparber and the late Morton Schneid. Loving brother of Mark Schneid and his wife Susan, and Dana Simmons. Dear son in law of Catherine (Antonellis) and Lewis Poillucci. Cherished uncle of Austin and Zachary Simmons, Michael and Corey Schneid, Nicole, Brittany and Alysa Poillucci, Ross and Jordan Cooperstein. Dear great uncle of Anthony Joseph Poillucci. Kenny was an extraordinary man who was taken from us much too soon. He loved and lived life to the fullest. We will honor Kenny with a celebration of his life on Saturday, May 10, 2014,from 1-4pm, at 29 Sudbury Restaurant, 29 Hudson Rd., Sudbury, MA. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Boston Strong, New York Tough Fundraiser, c/o The Greg Hill Foundation, PO Box103, Hopkinton, MA 01748.www.sharingcounts.com/events/231-boston-strong-new-york-tough

Melvin Fox, 91, of 770 Salisbury St., died on Wednesday, May 7,2014, at his residence after a long illness.He leaves his wife of 67 years, Rosalyn (Pulda) Fox; two sons, Alan Fox and his wife Lynne, of Westboro; Richard Fox and his wife Dr. Ann Merritt, of Worcester; a daughter, Renee, wife of Marshall Gould, of Northboro; five grandchildren, Eric Gould and his wife Crystal of Boylston, Marni, wife of Joshua Payne of Newton, Dr. Rachel Grace, wife of Daniel Grace of Wellesley, Daniel Fox of Cambridge, and Dr. Adam Fox of Atlanta; five great-grandchildren, Brady Pane, Dilan Payne, William Grace, Peter Grace and Zia Mei Gould. He was predeceased by his two brothers, Arnold Fox and Daniel Fox.

Mel was an entrepreneur who loved the challenge of business. He owned and operated Quality Seafoods and Worcester Quality Foods, both of Worcester, Mr. G’s Fashions in Randolph, A & G Electronics of Worcester, was a principal in Fair Furniture in Auburn and was also involved in several restaurants.

He was born in Chelsea and was a son of Meyer and Ida (Cohen) Fox. He lived in Worcester for 67 years.During WWII he served in the Army Airforce in Guam and in Okinawa.He attended Northeastern University before going into the Army Airforce.

He was a member of Congregation B’Nai Shalom of Westboro, formerly a longtime member of Beth Israel Synagogue, The President’s Club of The Jewish Healthcare Center, Yeshiva Achei Timimim, Level Lodge of Masons, and formerly was a member of Mount Pleasant Country Club in Boylston.

FUNERAL SERVICES  AT 12:00 NOON ON FRIDAY, MAY 9,2014 AT BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE,  JAMESBURY DRIVE,  WORCESTER.  Burial will be at Holy Society Cemetery, Leicester.

Memorial Observance will be held Friday afternoon May 9th at Beth Israel Synagogue, and at the residence of Marshall and Renee Gould,  41 West St., Westboro, 7- 9pm on Saturday, May 10 and 1- 4pm on Sunday, May 11.

Memorial contributions may be made to Jewish Home Hospice, 629 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609 or  Congregation B’Nai Shalom, 117 East Main St., Westboro,MA 01581.