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    Evelyn Heller was a beloved mother and friend.  She was born here in New Haven, the daughter of two Russian Jewish immigrants.  She was raised with her sister, Charlotte, and went to school here and then attended what was then Larsen Junior College, what is not Quinnipiac University.  She was a bookkeeper for the family business, the Palace Laundry, and then worked at the Hamden Chronicle and eventually as secretary to the Medical Director of  Parkview Medical Recovery Center.  
    She married Roger and they had a strong and wonderful marriage for fifty-two years until he passed away in 1995.  The family won’t forget their big 50th anniversary party at Colonial Tymes. (more…)

    Roger Heller was a beloved husband, father, brother and friend.  Roger lived in New Haven all his life, and he knew every inch of this town, from one end to the other.  It was his world.  He knew the business world in this town and the sports and the people from the mayor to the dogcatcher.
    After high school he went to work as a salesman for a custom tailor.  He went all over, selling to the Fords and the Kennedys and people all over the country.  He was a great communicator and a great story-teller and he was interested in everything.  He could talk everyone’s language; he could talk to the elite and he could talk to the riffraff.  He was a character in the best sense of the word.   The strange thing was that he could talk to and be with anyone, but he was always still himself.  He wanted to know everything and he could learn from complete strangers. (more…)

Karen Rubin was a beloved mother, sister, aunt and treasured friend. Those who knew what Karen went through for so many years know what a remarkable person she was.

Judaism tells us that a person’s life should not be measured by their money or their material possessions. A person’s life should be evaluated based on what they did for
other people. In Karen’s case, we can state, without hesitation or doubt, that hers was a life spent in the service of others. This was a person who truly did a great deal for other people. And a person’s life should be based on their courage. Well, none of us ever met a braver person than Karen Rubin. (more…)

Edgar Hartley, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, was born in Leipzig in 1923 and raised by his beloved parents Hans and Charlotte, Edgar saw a world gone mad.  We think of history as being a study of the great events like wars and elections.  Edgar loved history, and maybe that was because his life had been changed forever by just such events. (more…)

We have to battle disease; we have to cope with the passing of our loved ones. And the truth is that it’s very hard to live our lives worrying about what’s going to happen next.
Moses, our great leader and lawgiver, lived until he was 120 years old; his eyesight was not dimmed and he was as full of vigor as ever. It is a Jewish tradition to hope that we will all live that long and that well. (more…)

We’re here today to mourn the passing of Francine Ross, beloved wife, sister, aunt, great-aunt and friend.  It is an honor to pay tribute to this fine woman today.
Fran was born in Hoboken and went to high school. Jack and Fran eloped and got married on June 30, 1936 and then got married again in a Jewish ceremony on December 20, 1936. (more…)

We’re here today to mourn the passing of a wonderful woman, Dorothy Hurwitz, beloved mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend. Dorrie was born and raised here in New Haven, graduated Commercial high school, and worked as a bookkeeper at Presidential Management and as a secretary for B’nai Jacob. They got married on October 30, 1937 and were married for 62 years until Al passed away in 1999. In sickness and in health, in very happy times and in the most tragic times, they were always together, always supportive. (more…)

We’re here today to mourn the passing, but also honor and cherish the life of a good man, a righteous man, Dr. Daniel Henry Davis. I want to begin by talking about the worst part, the end of his life. Dan Davis was the last person that I would have thought would die before his time. (more…)

Rita was born in Sheteen Poland on October 29, 1947.  In July, 2007, Rita went back to Sheteen with her husband Marty for a reunion of people who had been kids in the 60s when they had to leave Poland because of government persecution and discrimination. It’s not a coincidence that Rita kept herself together through that trip. She was determined to make a full circle, to go home before she died. No matter how tired and sick she got, she made that trip in July. Imagine that resolve, that strength. (more…)