OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY
CLAIRE CHAMBERS, 94, of Bloomfield Hills, died April 14, 2021. In her words: “I went from nothing all the way to the White House; I had a wonderful husband that I adored, three wonderful children, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.” That pretty much describes the life of Claire Chambers. From modest beginnings in Bay City, Mich., she moved to Detroit, and on a blind date she met the man she knew she was going to marry. The early years were filled with raising three young children and supporting an entrepreneurial husband. Through the years, she became the perfect corporate wife, entertaining clients and hosting many parties. In the 1980s, Claire became involved in the Senatorial Trust, supported the Reagan/ Bush administration and was appointed to serve on the board of the Kennedy Center in Washington. In later years, she became active in fundraising for various charities in the Detroit area, most notably Henry Ford Hospital. She loved her home in Miami Beach and enjoyed traveling with her husband and, later, her friends, children and grandchildren to places all over the world. She enjoyed a full and happy 94+ years. Mrs. Chambers is survived by her son and daughterin-law, Robert and Cindy Chambers; daughter and son-in-law, Kit Chambers and Jeffrey Finn; daughterin-law, Susan Chambers; grandchildren, Scott (Penni) Chambers, Brian (Aurea) Chambers, Robert (Nichole) Chambers, Audrey (Robert) Trethewey, Aidan Finn and Delaney Finn; great-grandchildren, Cole, Cate, Matthew, continued on page 57
An Artist Remembered SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
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t services celebrating the life of Thomas Fox, many observers could touch a treasured piece of jewelry being worn and experience a personal connection to the man honored after having lost his battle with cancer on April 17, 2021. He was 89. Fox, a Holocaust survivor who escaped to Israel before moving to Detroit, established an engineering career and an artistic hobby, with his creativity continuing into his final days. He filled his West Bloomfield home with hundreds of sculpted pieces and gave away what specifically was made for those who were close. Daughter Lori Rodner wore a necklace made of concentric circles, symbolizing the importance of striving for bigger and better circumstances, while she delivered a eulogy that told about her dad’s devotion to family members, some following in his engineering career. “I like working with my hands and imagining what I can do,” Thomas Fox told the Jewish News in 2018, when his daughters put together a coffee table book, Tom Fox: A Lifetime of Art, filled with pictures of his projects, some mechanical, that included works made of wood, metals and/or glass. “I want to do things that are unique.” When grandchildren Hannah and Joshua Rodner expressed their remembrances, they listed characteristics, such as “kindness” and “loyalty,” to describe the man whose love so often was communicated through artistry. Hannah wore a necklace with her name in English and Hebrew, and Joshua wore a necklace with continued oninto pagethe XX copper wire formed
Thomas Fox
shape of a Fox head. Before Rodner spoke about the functional shelf her dad designed to hold COVID masks, Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom Synagogue recalled Tom Fox’s early life. Fox was raised in an Orthodox Budapest household, where his father was a shoemaker and where he started experimenting with equipment design and repair. The rabbi told about how this Adat Shalom member brought food to Hungarians forced into ghettos, served in the Israeli Air Force and went on to design and repair airplane parts. An aunt and uncle were at the center of the honoree’s move to Detroit, where he studied at Wayne State University before obtaining employment in the auto industry. CREATED JUDAIC ART Fox’s talents could be seen in objects intended to depict Jewish history or observe rituals. A member of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan, he made sculptures representing Bible stories, including Moses carrying the Ten Commandments, Noah’s Ark and Jacob’s Ladder as well as menorahs and dreidels.
The family hopes to donate some religious artwork to Jewish organizations housed in local buildings. In illness, Fox told his wife of nearly 60 years that he would be around for her birthday, April 17, and he was — although not for the whole day. “My husband always kept his word,” Judith Fox said. Mr. Fox is survived by his beloved wife, Judith Koenig Fox; son and daughter-in-law, Jeffrey and Kathy (Barron) Fox; daughters and son-in-law, Sandra Fox, and Lori (Fox) and Darren Rodner; grandchildren, Jack Fox, Daniel Fox, Hannah Rodner, Joshua Rodner and Zachary Rodner; many other loving family members and friends. Mr. Fox was the son of the late Sandor and the late Lenke (Fischer) Fux; the brother of the late Kornel Fux; son-inlaw of the late Anne Glicklin Koenig Levin. Interment took place at Nusach Hari Cemetery in Ferndale. Contributions may be made to the Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan, Jewish Family Services or JewishGen. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel. APRIL 29 • 2021
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