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Obituaries
IVAN J. ANKER
VIRGINIA BEACH—On Sunday, May 15, 2022 Ivan Jay Anker, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, passed away peacefully at home with his wife, Vera, by his side.
Ivan was born in Newport News, Virginia to Sam and Goldye Anker (Rasken), who preceded him in death. He graduated from Newport News High School and attended many class reunions thereafter.
Ivan started his working career in Hampton, Virginia at Giant Open Air Market. He held many positions there such as stock clerk, frozen food manager, grocery manager, and receiving clerk. After Farm Fresh bought the company, he continued his work as receiving clerk until his retirement after 50 years of work. He also held jobs working security with the Virginia Beach Amphitheater and Event Staffing at many venues around the Tidewater area. He loved seeing and meeting the talented artists that came through the area, often guarding the dressing room areas backstage. The COVID pandemic shut down his second career after 15 years in March 2020.
Ivan grew up with a love of baseball. He lived through the heydays of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris and loved his New York Yankees until the end. For many years he was proud to drive with his MKY MNTL license plates!! He attended many games of the minor league teams playing at Peninsula’s War Memorial Stadium, from the Grays to the Astros and every team in between. He also followed the minor league hockey teams in Hampton and in Norfolk.
Ivan also retained his love of 1950’s and 1960’s rock and roll music throughout his life. He was able to see concerts of many of his music idols and of course he even met some of them at his second job!!
Ivan leaves behind his loving wife, Vera (Dlaikan) and his (baby) brother Jeffrey, and his wife Bobbie (Marchant) of Charlottesville, Virginia. He also leaves behind many loving cousins, their children and grandchildren. Ivan loved his family and was always happy to go to celebrations and catch up on what everyone was doing. After his marriage to Vera in his later years, he was thrilled to welcome in a whole new set of family members that he could share his love with.
A memorial service was held graveside at the Hebrew Cemetery in Hampton, Virginia on Kecoughtan Road with burial afterwards.
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VICTOR AARON PICKETT
NORFOLK—Victor Aaron Pickett, 87, died March 17, 2022, in Norfolk, Va.
He was born June 15, 1934, in Durham, N.C., the only child of Victor W. And Merrill C Pickett. He graduated from Durham High School in 1953 and served in the United States Navy. Victor earned a Bachelor of Science degree in product design from the School of Design at North Carolina State University in Raleigh in 1963. He received his MS in art from East Carolina University in 1964. He then became a sculptor and professor of art at Old Dominion University for 40 years. His sculptures are found throughout Tidewater, the southeast, and various art museums, including two at the Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community.
Victor Pickett is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Leeor; three daughters, Dominique Pickett; Michele Benson (Stephen); Nicole O’Connor (John); five grandchildren, Victoria Benson, Stephen Benson, Patrick Benson, Michael O’Connor, Jon-Luc O’Connor; and his former wife, Yvonne G. Pickett.
Please consider a donation to a local arts program or the Norfolk SPCA.
No service is planned at this time.
RAY SALKEN
VIRGINIA BEACH—Ms. Ray Salken, 92, passed away Monday, May 9, 2022 in Virginia Beach, Virginia surrounded by her loving family.
Ray was born on January 27, 1930 to Ida and Louis Salken in Richmond, Virginia.
Ray was the mother of two children, Sherry Frank (husband Irving) of Virginia Beach and Brad Fineman (wife Tara) of Arlington, Virginia.
Ray’s family was her everything. She was a devoted sister, mother, aunt, and grandmother to Matthew (Mel), Marc (Katie), Kara, Graeme, and William.
Ray enjoyed attending family events and sharing her love of sports and current events.
A graveside service was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery. in Norfolk, Virginia. Donations may be made to The American Heart Association or your charity of choice.
Condolences may be left for the family at www.altmeyerfh.com.
SALLY TABAKIN
NORFOLK—Sally Tabakin Weintraub, 69, passed away on May 7, 2022.
She was born in Norfolk, Virginia on April 2, 1953 to the late Raymond J. Tabakin and Jessie R. Tabakin.
Sally grew up in the Suburban Park neighborhood of Norfolk where she developed a lifelong friendship with 11 other girls, all of whom were born in 1953. They were known as The Fabulous 53s. After Sally graduated from Granby High School in 1971 she attended St. Lawrence University where she earned her B.A. degree in sociology. She went on to attend the College of William & Mary where she earned a Master’s degree in education and school psychology.
Following college, Sally worked as a school psychologist for the New Kent County Public Schools, as a research analyst and as a commercial lender for Sovran Bank/Nationsbank/Bank of America, and finally as an assistant director of Admissions at Norfolk Collegiate School, where she was able to watch the educational progress of daughters, Ellen and Sara, from first grade through graduation. Sally loved ballet, the Beatles, and cooking. (She never met a cookbook that didn’t belong on her bookshelf.)
Sally is survived by her husband of almost 33 years, H. Joel Weintraub; by her daughters, Ellen Beck and her
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husband, Aaron; and Sara Weintraub; and by her 16-day-old granddaughter, Nora Ann Beck, whom Sally met by means of FaceTime.
Sally was predeceased by her three brothers; Mark H. Tabakin, Stephen L. Tabakin, and Edward L. Tabakin. Survivors also include her sister-in-law, Rebecca Tabakin; nephew, David Tabakin; niece, Rachel Tabakin; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Marion and Stanley Leff; nephew, Adam Leff and wife, Lydia Leff; niece, Molly Freeman and husband, Luke Freeman; and sister-in-law and brotherin-law, Judy and Eric Fox.
A graveside funeral was conducted at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk by Rabbi Michael Panitz. Donations may be made to The Alzheimer’s Association or the charity of your choice. Online condolences may be sent to the family at hdoliver.com.
EDWARD “EDDIE” LAWRENCE TABAKIN
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Edward ‘Eddie’ Lawrence Tabakin, 67, of Washington, D.C., died May 6, 2022.
Born in Norfolk, he was the son of the late Raymond and Jessie Tabakin. Edward was predeceased in death by his brothers Mark H. Tabakin and Stephen L. Tabakin. His sister Sally A. Weintraub, died May 7, 2022.
Survivors include his loving sister-inlaw Rebecca M. Tabakin; brother-in-law Joel Weintraub; nephew David Tabakin; nieces Rachel Tabakin, Ellen W. Beck (husband Aaron Beck), and Sara Weintraub; and great nephews Franklin and Casey Tabakin. Cousins include Kevin and Gary Tabakin, Lori and Scott Tabakin, Janet M. Meyers and Mark Pollak, Janet S. and Stanley Meyers, Karen and Ricardo Godoy, and other extended family.
Edward graduated from Granby High School, and earned a BA degree in economics from Columbia University, New York in 1978. He studied for a PhD in economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and in 1991 earned a law degree from UC-Berkeley and began practicing law. He was admitted to the bar in California and Washington, D.C. where he was a senior associate with McKenna and Cueno.
Edward was fondly referred to as the ‘book man’ in his apartment neighborhood. He looked forward to lively conversations with family and friends, took hours to perfect his style of cooking and baking, and enjoyed listening to classical music. He was a devoted son and brother, traveling frequently to Norfolk to take care of his mother Jessie, and brothers Stephen Tabakin and Mark Tabakin.
The family is grateful for the caring oversight of Edward’s well-being provided by family members Janet M. Meyers, Karen R. Godoy, and Rebecca Tabakin, and skilled care provided by Arden Courts Memory Care Community.
A graveside service was conducted at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk by Rabbi Michael Panitz. The family would like donations made to the NYSCF.org (New York Stem Cell Foundation) or other medical research organizations that support memory care research.
DR. MORTON MOWER, JEWISH CO-INVENTOR OF A REVOLUTIONARY DEFIBRILLATOR
(Intermountain Jewish News via JTA)— The implantable defibrillator, a small device that can be installed under a patient’s skin and immediately send a shock to correct any irregular heart rhythms, is today implanted in more than 300,000 people every year.
Dr. Morton Mower, a Jewish cardiologist and renowned inventor who died April 25 in Denver of cancer at the age of 89, was one of the device’s two inventors. His contributions to medical science were rivaled only by his devotion to the Jewish National Fund, to which he and his wife, Dr. Tobia Mower, were significant donors.
Along with his Jewish co-inventor, Dr. Michel Mirowski, Mower began development in 1969 on a pint-sized defibrillator that could be surgically implanted underneath the abdomen to allow for quicker, more precise electric jolts. He taught himself electrical engineering in his basement in order to created prototypes for the instrument, which the pair believed could be a significant improvement on the overthe-skin defibrillator.
The Baltimore-born Mower would later joke that the two had essentially invented “a time bomb in people’s chests.” But after it was first implanted into humans in 1980, and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1985, the device —now commonly placed in the upper chest—became a revolutionary tool for cardiologists. The duo followed up that hit by inventing cardiac resynchronization therapy, an electric device that sends jolts to the left and right ventricles of the heart simultaneously in order to get them to beat in a more organized pattern.
Mower would later be inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and receive the Space Technology Hall of Fame Recognition Award, and made an immense
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continued from page 37 profit by licensing the defibrillator technology. The JNF was a major beneficiary of his largesse, and he served as a member of its World Chairman’s Council. The Mowers supported JNF’s Jerusalem affiliate, Nefesh B’Nefesh, where the Toby and Mort Mower Pavilion was created.
“Dr. Mower was one half of a philanthropic powerhouse couple,” says JNF CEO Russell Robinson. “The life of every single Israeli has been made richer because of them.”
Mower also served in the Army Medical Corps in Germany from 1963 through 65. The Mowers moved from Baltimore to Denver in 2011, and also owned residences in the Colorado resort towns of Breckenridge and Beaver Creek.
Mower is survived by his wife Toby; children Dr. Robin Mower and Mark (Kathleen) Mower; and three grandchildren.
A version of this obituary originally ran in the Intermountain Jewish News, and is reprinted with permission.
GERDA WEISSMANN KLEIN, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR WHO BECAME AUTHOR, HUMANITARIAN, AND SUBJECT OF OSCAR-WINNING FILM
Gerda Weissmann Klein, February 15, 2011, Medal of Freedom Ceremony.
Andrew Lapin, Mala Blomquist (JTA)—With Allied forces swiftly approaching during the liberation of the concentration camps, Nazis barricaded Gerda Weissmann Klein and other Jewish survivors inside a barn, planting a time bomb outside. A sudden rainstorm disconnected the bomb’s wiring, and American forces found the barn and unlocked the door.
Weissmann Klein told the first rescuer she saw that she was Jewish. He responded that he was, too. Then he held the door open for her. A few years later, the two—the survivor and her liberator, U.S. intelligence officer Kurt Klein—were married.
That was how Weissmann Klein emerged from the depths of despair to become a bestselling author, humanitarian, and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree. She died last month in her home of Scottsdale, Arizona, at the age of 97.
During World War II under Nazi occupation, Weissmann Klein and her family were deported from the Bielsko Jewish ghetto in Poland. Her parents were sent to Auschwitz, but Weissmann Klein was transported to the Gross-Rosen camp system to perform forced labor. Liberation came after a brutal 350-mile death march to avoid the advance of the Allied forces. Of the 4,000 women who started the march, fewer than 120 survived.
After the war, the Kleins married in Paris in 1946, and the couple then moved to the United States, where they initially settled in Buffalo, N.Y. and Weissmann Klein ultimately became a naturalized citizen. She became a bestselling author of 10 books, including her 1957 autobiography, All But My Life, which is frequently used as a text by Holocaust educators, and The Hours After: Letters of Love and Longing in War’s Aftermath, a chronicle of her and her husband’s correspondence in the years between liberation and their marriage.
Decades later, Weissmann Klein’s story became the basis of the 1995 HBO short documentary One Survivor Remembers, which won both an Emmy and an Oscar (and is currently available for streaming on HBO Max). The film’s director, Kary Antholis, had intended the movie to serve both as commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the camps, and as a clarion call for action concerning the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides of the 1990s.
In Klein, Antholis found his ideal subject: a survivor who could articulate in the present day both the horrors of the camps, the miraculous resilience of the human spirit, and a general plea for tolerance and common humanity.
At the Oscars, Klein was almost played off before she could deliver an acceptance speech; but she stood her ground, and delivered a memorable message, concluding with, “Each of you who know the joy of freedom are winners.”
Kurt Klein died in 2002.
In 2008, Weissmann Klein founded with her granddaughter, Alysa Ullman Cooper, the nonprofit Citizenship Counts, which teaches students across the country about civic rights and responsibilities.
For this and other humanitarian work, on Feb. 15, 2011, President Barack Obama presented Weissmann Klein with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
“The death of Gerda Weissman Klein underscores the importance of Holocaust education. Today’s generation of students are the last to have the opportunity to meet and hear from a Holocaust survivor, a victim of the genocide that claimed more than six million Jewish lives,” said Sheryl Bronkesh, president of the Phoenix Holocaust Association. “Schools should not delay in bringing in survivors—in person or virtually—to talk to students so that they can learn directly about the consequences of hatred and bigotry.”
Weissman Klein visited Tidewater several times, speaking at the JCC’s Book Fair, to the Federation’s Women’s Division, at Yom Hashoah, and at Norfolk Academy.
In a speech to the Jewish United Fund of Chicago’s 1996 annual meeting, Klein lamented how it had “never been sufficiently illuminated that” even “under the most unspeakable conditions, the finest qualities of humanity blossomed forth.”
“I wish to convey to you the joy I always feel of going home, with the knowledge that my husband and our home will be there,” Klein told the crowd. “And no power—at least on this earth—can rightfully take them away from me again.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, and is adapted here with permission.
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