We’re here today to mourn the passing but also to honor the life of Elliot Fleischer, beloved husband, father and grandfather. We’re sad to be here, but we know, without any hesitation, that life was not life for him any more, and we should be content that everything that could have been done was done for him, and that he got the best of care from Shirley and the medical personnel, and that this was his time.
Elliot was born in Poland on Mar 22, 1924, the beloved son of Morris & Mary and dear brother of Lea. To say that Elliot’s upbringing was humble is an understatement. He was brought up in a town in Poland where the arrival of a bus brought the whole town out just to look. His father went to England to try to make a better life for his family and had a grocery store there, but someone turned him and he had to leave and he went to Belgium. He was never heard from again because the Nazis murdered him.
So imagine: The last time he saw his father was when he was 3 years old.
His mother went to America when he was 9 and sent for him three years later. Imagine being without both of your parents when you are 9 years old. Imagine coming to a new country when you are 12 years old in order to escape the Holocaust. Here you are, you don’t know the language, and you have to start school at the beginning. You go from Kindergarten to sixth grade in one year. Talk about a smart kid. Talk about adjustment and adaptation. That takes its own kind of courage. Those of us who were born here in America have no idea what the others went through.
Elliot served his new country in WW II, ready to fight the enemies of his new country and his people. He served 3 years in Iceland and learned about the automotive field and photography.
He worked with his family and ran a Grocery store on Grand Avenue. He became a Real Estate Broker and did this for many years until his retirement in the 1980’s. Elliot was an honest man and a hard worker. He would take any job he could when things were hard in real estate. He was a good man. Once when his own family was struggling, he helped another family that didn’t have fuel and was freezing.
He was married to Shirley for 64 years. They had lived two blocks from each other but had never met. He loved having Shirley’s family as his own. They have had a wonderful marriage and they loved each other very much. He loved his home. Since he had moved a lot as a child, he said to Shirley: “When we have a home we’re never going to move.”
Together they raised their wonderful and beloved children Dan and Barry and Michele.
The boys had band rehearsals at their home. It was a happy house. He drove the kids everywhere. Whatever the kids wanted, he would do for them It was a happy family.
He loved being Jewish. He loved to dress up to go to shul. He loved the Jewish holidays. He was so thrilled to go to Israel. He wanted to name Daniel Herzl after the founder of modern Zionism.
Michele’s passing was something that was so unbearable that there really are no words. I remember his face. And even at the end, he was still looking for her and crying for her. Now they will be together again.
Elliot was so proud of his family, of Daniel and Magda and Barry and Robin. And he was so proud to be the cherished Grandfather of Rebecca, Rachel, & Adam.
Elliot had quite a sense of humor
He always had a joke
And he had his favorite expressions like
Paint me yellow and call me a taxi
Cut off my legs and Call me Shorty
To Shirley and Dan and Barry and the whole family, we wish you G-d’s comfort at this sad time. You loved him and he loved each of you. He was a righteous man. May he rest in peace.