Obituaries

Bello, Stanley M., of Delray Beach, FL, formerly of Canton, Stoughton and Randolph, passed away Oct. 2, 2022. Beloved husband of Phyllis (Sawyer) Bello for 72 wonderful years. Devoted father of Barbara Davis and her husband Barry, Janice Bello and Stuart Bello. Cherished grandfather of Joshua and Callie Davis, Steven Davis and Jacob Krause, and Amy and Etan Weiss. Proud great-grandfather of Nava and Ya’ara. Loving brother of Carole Young. Services at King Solomon Memorial Park (Centre St., West Roxbury) on Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Keshet, 284 Amory St., Boston, MA 02130.

Stephen Kaplan passed peacefully in his sleep on the morning of September 28,2022, one week shy of his 80th birthday.  He was home after a long illness with Hospice care. He was cared for by his long-time companion and wife, Dora. He leaves behind his son Craig, his brother Sheldon, his nephew, Monty, Dora’s son Josh, grandchildren Clive and Natalie.  Stephen came from a large wonderful family. His closest friends, Charles Durrah and Kenny from National Lumber were in contact with him during his illness. He kept his spirits up until the end.  His loyalty to National Lumber for over 25 years was outstanding.  Waking up at 4 am every morning- sun, sleet, snow, he never retired. He was the face of the company for many contractors during that period. As the gate guard he interacted with thousands of customers.  The family of National Lumber was his other family.  He was a kind, compassionate man.  A great story teller, he will be sorely missed by his loved ones, friends, and those who met him. A celebration of Stephen’s life is being arranged. Services are private.  Donations in his memory may be made to Care Dimensions.

Kenneth Lipman of Framingham, originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Tonawanda, NY and West Hartford, CT, age 96, on September 28th, 2022. Beloved husband of Leah Lipman for 70 years. Devoted father of Harriet, Alex (Julia) and Gail Lustig (Bruce). Proud grandfather of Nathan Fein (Emily), Adam Hood, Erin, Amy, Paige and Craig. Great-grandfather of Evelyn, Nora and William. Brother of Geraldine Yatzkan.

Ken (or Kenny to some) worked for many years at Westinghouse, and United Technologies. During his engineering career, he gained more than 20 patents relating to the invention of the fuel cell. Ken was president of his local B’nai Brith Chapter in Buffalo, NY, president of the Connecticut Society of Professional Engineers and long-time house chairperson for Temple Beth Hillel, Bloomfield, CT. He graduated from Carnegie Tech in 1946 and is proud to be a lifelong Tartan. Ken also obtained a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1952, His passions included the Red Sox, photography and his many computers. Leah and Ken moved to Massachusetts in 2005 to be closer to many of their grandchildren.

Graveside service at Framingham-Natick Jewish Cemetery, 40 Windsor Ave., Natick, MA on Sunday, October 2, 2022 at 11:00am. Shiva will be held at 669 Highland Avenue, Needham (formerly 3Squares) on Sunday, October 2nd, 2022 from 4:00 until 7:00pm. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Temple Beth Sholom, 50 Pamela Road, Framingham, MA 01701.

Rae Ginsburg passed away on September 27, 2022 in Boston, MA at the age of 97. She was the widow of William M. Ginsburg, and the mother of Alix, Robert and David. She left four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Rae was a Jewish community leader with positions on the National Board of Hadassah, HIAS and the Joint Distribution Committee. She served as President of the Women’s Division of CJP Boston and on the board of the Palm Beach Federation. She was New England Region President of Hadassah. She was a lifelong Zionist and an interfaith advocate. Service at Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward St., Newton, MA. on Friday, September 30, 2022 at 11:00 am. Interment to follow at Mishkan Tefila Memorial Park, 2633 Centre St. West Roxbury, MA.

To read the eulogies please click here.

Naomi Gordon, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, died on September 25, surrounded by her family, minutes before the start of the Jewish New Year.  She was born on July 25, 1930 to Eva and Samuel Merker, immigrants from Eastern Europe in the wake of World War I.  She grew up in Haverhill, Massachusetts, where her father had founded the Merker Counter Company, a maker of shoe components.

A precocious student, she entered Wellesley College at age 17, majored in philosophy, and graduated in 1951. At Wellesley, she met her lifelong partner Melvin Gordon on a blind date.  They married in 1950 and soon had three children, Andy, Betsy, and Billy. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Naomi worked energetically with the League of Women Voters and the Friends of the Newton Free Library, in what became a lifelong commitment to civic engagement.

Committed to learning, in the early 1960s Naomi earned a Masters degree in education from Northeastern. On that foundation she built a 28 year career of leadership and innovation in the Brookline Public Schools.  She began as a remedial reading specialist, and eventually rose to Director of Language Arts for Grades K-8.  She worked with colleagues to develop a new process-oriented approach for the teaching of writing. Their efforts bore fruit in a book she edited, Classroom Experiences: The Writing Process in Action (1984). She mentored generations of Brookline school teachers who carry on her legacy to this day.

Naomi’s thirst for knowledge led her back to school in 1979, when she earned a Certificate of Advanced Study from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  In 1985, she was awarded a Fulbright Teacher Exchange Scholarship to teach in an Oxford, England school district. She offered teacher training and supervision at Wheelock and Simmons colleges. With Naomi as co-director, Brookline Public Schools won three grants for National Endowment for the Humanities summer writing programs.  These drew teachers from across the country, the first time that a public school system was awarded these prestigious grants.

After retirement in 1995, she continued her lifelong commitment to education. She joined Teachers as Scholars (TAS) in 1996, a fledgling professional development program that offered K-12 teachers seminars led by university faculty. For 12 years Naomi’s critical leadership laid the groundwork for its continued success.  TAS came to include over 40 school districts and offer a wide range of classes in the arts, sciences, math and humanities as well as summer retreats, including a trip to Florence, working with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, to study its iconic art and architecture.  In all her professional roles, Naomi was beloved and respected for her listening skills, intelligent feedback, and her well-timed quiet humor.

Growing up in a religious home, her Jewish identity was strong, and it deepened in the last decades of her life, when she became an active member, and to the end of her life a board member, at Temple Israel.  There, she was one of the founders of the Temple Israel Lifelong Learning Institute, and she was active in the temple’s social justice programs.  In her late 80s, she volunteered at the Women’s Lunch Place, Planned Parenthood, a visiting program at a women’s prison, and the Arnold Arboretum.

Naomi’s thirst for learning went beyond her professional life. She and Melvin traveled through much of Europe as well as to Japan, Egypt, India, Israel and China.  She was a voracious reader and participated in two reading groups until the last two years of her life.  After Melvin died in 2015, she traveled with the Road Scholars program to Southeast Asia, Panama, and the Amazon River, and to Cuba with daughter Betsy.  Finally, on her own at the age of 90 she made a memorable visit to Petra in Jordan.

Naomi loved Cape Cod beaches and swimming and kayaking on Eastman Lake in New Hampshire, and shared these pleasures with her beloved husband until the end of his life.  At age 70 she started a birthday tradition of taking on new challenges with her family: whitewater rafting, ballooning, jumping off a rope swing, and more.  She was adoring and proud of her children and grandchildren, and she inspired in them an adventurous spirit of engagement with the world.

She leaves son Andrew and daughter-in-law Yoshie, daughter Betsy and son-in law Colin, and son William and his partner Rachelle; four granddaughters, Jennifer and husband Luke, Megumi and husband Michael, Melissa, and Conna; and three great grandchildren, Mia, Kaya and Rio. Naomi was predeceased in 1979 by her sister Diane and beloved daughter-in-law Marcy in 1998.

Service will be held at Temple Israel, 477 Longwood Ave., Boston (parking on the Riverway), Thursday, September 29 at 11 am.  Burial at Adath Jeshurun Cemetery, West Roxbury, followed by reception, 2:30-5:30, at the home of Joan Arbetter Rosenberg.  On Friday and Saturday, friends and relatives are invited to visit the family at the home of Andrew Gordon from 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm.

Donations in remembrance may be made to the Diane Merker Writing Scholarship Fund at UMass Boston.

Donations in remembrance of Naomi Gordon may be made to the Diane Merker Scholarship Fund online via this link: alumni.umb.edu/merkerfund.  

If making a contribution by check, please make checks payable to UMass Boston and include “Merker Scholarship” in the memo line.  Checks can be mailed to:

UMass Boston
Attn: University Advancement
Healey Library, 11th floor
100 William T Morrissey Blvd
Boston, MA 02125

Donald passed away Saturday, September 24, 2022 at the age of 90.

He resided in Framingham.  Don was born in 1932, in New Castle, Pennsylvania to his parents Marian and Louis Kulkin. Two younger brothers who predeceased him, Samuel and Hillard. His beautiful wife Myra of 64 years, also predeceased. They have two children, son Matthew (wife Carol) and daughter Joni (husband David). Four wonderful grandchildren Justin, Mariah, Harrison and Evan.

Donald was proud to have served in the US Army during the Korean War Conflict. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the 32nd degree Shriners. Don was most proud of the family he created with his loving wife Myra.

Don owned and operated the Hartford Street Market in the 1960s and was known for his BBQ chickens, displayed in the front windows.  Rest in peace Dad… Poppy, Husband, Son, Brother.

Funeral service will be private.

To view the Temple service, please click here.

To  view  the Graveside service, please click here.

Jane Abesh Meltzer

Jane Meltzer, daughter of the late Betty P. Abesh and Dr. William Abesh of New Bedford, Massachusetts, at the age of 69 passed away peacefully at home in Sudbury, Massachusetts, on September 21, 2022 surrounded by family after a long courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer.

Jane was the loving wife of Neil Meltzer for 39 years, and a devoted mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, and cherished friend. She is survived by her children, Benjamin Meltzer and his wife Melanie of Westfield, New Jersey, and Jeffrey Meltzer of Portland, Maine; her granddaughter Jordyn; brother Dr. Daniel Abesh and his wife Jane Eisen Abesh of Cherry Hill, New Jersey; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins; and many friends.

Jane grew up in New Bedford, graduated from New Bedford High School in 1970 and from Lesley College in 1974, and received a Master’s Degree in Education from Boston University in 1976. Her career as a dedicated special education teacher of middle school students, in a number of public and private schools, spanned a period of 43 years. She was an active member of Congregation Or Atid in Wayland, Massachusetts and its Sisterhood, and a lifetime member of Hadassah.

She loved travel, fine art, theater, film, and food, particularly in the company of family and close friends, and was an avid reader of novels. To all who loved her, Jane was a trusted listener and confidante – always more interested in the day-to-day lives, celebrations, and struggles of others than in her own.

Services will be held at Congregation Or Atid, 97 Concord Road in Wayland, Massachusetts on Friday, September 23, 2022 at 10:30 am, burial will follow at Beit Olam (East) cemetery in Wayland – both will be livestreamed, please see funeral home website for that information. Following interment, Shiva for family, friends, and the community will take place afterward at Or Atid. Donations in Jane’s memory may be made to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Congregation Or Atid, or to the charity of your choice.

Bloom, Peter of Nashua, NH passed away September 19, 2022. Dear son of the late Philip and Beatrice (Merowitz) Bloom. Loving brother of Stanley Bloom. Cherished uncle of Vail Bloom. Peter grew up in Newton, MA and attended Suffolk University where he earned his bachelor’s and Masters degree. He was an active volunteer at the Museum of Science, Boston, Greyhound Rescue, and the Perkins Institute for the Blind. Peter was a proud Mason, and a Shriner where he was active in the Shrine Motorcycle Group. Funeral service at Beth Israel Memorial Park, 190 South St., Waltham, MA on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022 at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations in Peter’s memory may be made to the Jimmy Fund.

Roger Appell, age 86, beloved husband, father, uncle and friend, passed away unexpectedly on September 18, 2022 in Framingham, MA.  Roger was born January 7, 1936 in Malden MA.  He attended Melrose Public Schools and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT, class of ‘57.

Roger joined ROTC in 1953 when he entered MIT. Upon graduation, he started working for GE Sylvania on the Moby Dic project. The design had been frozen using discreet components and resulted in Moby Dic A and B on which he was a design engineer. His military service furthered from 1958 to 1966. He was assigned to Fort Monmouth and was put into the doctrine division for Moby Dic, the first militarized transportable computer. He served six months active duty and the next 7 ½ years as an active reservist in the army signal corps.  He retired as first lieutenant.

He worked in computer sales at Sun Microsystems, Apollo, Perkin Elmer and several other companies.

Roger was very involved in Masonry for over 50 years. He served as Master of Garden City Lodge in Newton and Perfection Lodge in Framingham.  He was a member of Alpha Lodge in Framingham.  Roger served as High Priest of St. Andrew’s Royal Arch Chapter in Boston and was active in the Scottish Rite Lodge of Perfection in the Valley of Boston.  He was a member and photographer of Aleppo Temple Shriners.

He loved photography, discussing current events and books and spending time with family and friends.  He was actively involved with the The Callahan Senior Center in Framingham and served on the board of The Friends of Callahan.

Roger is survived by his wife Sheila Watnick of more than 34 years; his children Seth Appell and Marcy Fortnow (and her husband Lance); his grandchildren Annie and Nico Fortnow and Shayna Redwine; and his former wife Diana Kassler. He also leaves his sister-in-law and brother-in-law Sylvia and Terry Zima; their children Adam, Hana, Elyse and Lisa and seven grandnieces and grandnephews.

The funeral will be Wednesday, September 21, at 10 a.m. at Congregation Beth El, 105 Hudson Road, Sudbury. Burial will take place at Sharon Memorial Park. Shiva is at Roger and Sheila’s residence on Wednesday following the burial and from 7 to 9 p.m.; Thursday, 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and Friday, 2-4 p.m.

Donations in Roger’s memory may be made to the Shriners Children’s Hospital, 51 Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02114.

PARKER, Georgia(Sylvia) Carasik Parker died peacefully on September 16, 2022 at NewBridge on the Charles in Dedham, MA, having relocated to the Boston area in 2019 from her beloved native Baltimore. She was 84. A vibrant creative force to all who knew her; she was the daughter of the late Morris (Pat) and Ann Adleman Carasik; and is survived by her daughter, Dana Doran Parker, and her partner, Kenneth D. Krilla; sister, Diane Carasik Dion, and her husband, Arthur Dion; nephew, Nicholas Morris Dion, his wife, Jaclyn Rappaport, and their daughter, Cara Madeline Dion; as well as many cousins and treasured friends in Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, and California. Georgia’s generosity of spirit, legendary humor, and joie de vivre knew no bounds. Not much got past her piercing blue eyes. She had a huge heart and was a soft touch, adored by all she welcomed to join her at play in “Georgia World.” A fierce Democrat and progressive political activist, she was a graduate of Forest Park High School and the University of Maryland and did graduate work at the Maryland Institute College of Art. A longtime Baltimore public school teacher, her rich roster of avocations included artist, cineaste, music aficionado, calligrapher, and tap dancer extraordinaire (just ask Gregory Hines). She enjoyed a long affiliation with Baltimore’s Cinema Sundays at The Charles and The Maryland Film Festival and was a dedicated volunteer at the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and a devoted longtime member of Beth Am Synagogue. Contributions in Georgia’s memory may be made to Beth Am Synagogue (bethambaltimore.org), the ACLU of Maryland (aclu@aclu-md.org), or Center Communities of Brookline (hebrewseniorlife.org). A Service will be held at Sol Levinson & Bros., 8900 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, MD, 21208, on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, at 2 pm, with Burial at Arlington Chizuk Amuno Cemetery. Shiva will follow at the home of Jennifer Keyser, 3 Goodale Place, Baltimore 21212, until 8pm on Tuesday, and Wednesday from 1 pm to 8 pm with a minyan at 7pm both evenings. A link for online viewing of the service will be available on Levinson’s website (www.sollevinson.com.)