In Memoriam

Janice Linzer

She passed away in her 97th year in the home of her daughter, Nancy Friedman, an alumna of Ramaz who cared lovingly for her mother in her last years. Janice’s late husband, Saul Linzer, of blessed memory, was a leading member of KJ. Their membership lasted over sixty years.

Janice came to shul very regularly on Shabbat and occupied a seat in the ladies balcony from which she could see her late husband, whom she so adored and revered. She, herself, was a college graduate, an avid reader all her life and a person with very interesting perspectives on life and literature.

Generous donors to KJ and Ramaz throughout their lives, Janice and Saul Linzer participated very generously in our recent building campaign, dedicating the Senior Rabbi’s Study in the Congregation’s Office Suite. It was one of the ways of demonstrating their love for the KJ community.

Irwin Shapiro

Shorty, after celebrating his 90th birthday, Irwin Shapiro finally succumbed to the Parkinson’s disease with which he had been afflicted over the past 38 years. He survived that illness for so long and thrived in a very active and productive life due to the loving care of his dear wife, Ruth and his loving family.

All of Irwin and Ruth’s children are alumni of Ramaz and their grandchildren have all been educated in Yeshiva Day Schools. Irwin was very generous to KJ, to Ramaz, to Yeshiva University, and to a plethora of Jewish charities. He served as an officer at KJ and, for many years, as a very active member of the Board of Yeshiva University.

He was an extraordinarily devoted student of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik – the Rav – zt”l. During Irwin’s lifetime he collected thousands of tapes of the Rav’s shiurim to which he listened studiously and through which he arranged for the publication of many volumes of the Rav's Torah. The publisher is the Toras Ha’Rav Foundation, which Irwin created and financed. Our community and the entire Jewish world are the beneficiaries of Irwin’s reverence and devotion to the Rav. His was an unending contribution to the world of Jewish scholarship and commitment. Truly, Irwin’s soul is bound up in the bonds of eternal life.

Andrew Gyenes

Andrew was a loyal and generous member of KJ who very much loved our community. He, and his late wife, Maeve, suffered the terrible loss of their son, Sam, following his sophomore year at Ramaz, when he drowned in a swimming accident on an Israel summer trip. That loss brought a neverending sadness into Andy and Maeve’s lives.

Despite the loss, Andy always displayed a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. Through his own generosity and that of friends, he created the Sam Gyenes Memorial Fund which sponsors a basketball tournament each year at Ramaz in memory of Sam, and which has supported for many years two scholarships each year for student athletes at Ramaz.

Evelyn Mandelker

She passed away in her 101st year, just a few days after her family gathered to celebrate her centennial birthday, Evelyn was blessed by the loving care and attention of her children, Ronne and Andrew Braiterman and their daughters, who showered her with love and attention throughout her life, but particularly in her last, difficult years.

Evelyn and her late husband, Benjamin Mandelker, who was a Vice President of our congregation, were deeply involved in the KJ community for more than six decades. She, herself, was a regular worshipper who loved to come to shul on Shabbat where she had a host of friends. She was bright, witty and garrulous. In fact, once Evelyn got started talking, it could be difficult to get a word in edgewise. But she was always worth listening to.

She will be remembered by us as a model of a strong, loving and committed Jewish woman.