The people whose names are shown here were members, family or friends of Congregation Kona Beth Shalom. Some lived here on Hawai`i Island, many in other parts of the world, but all have a connection with our community. We show the dates of their passing to enable us to remember their yahrzeits, shown according to the English and Hebrew calendars. To determine any yahrzeit date, please use the calendar converter at this link.
It is also customary to perform an act of tzedekah at this time. If you wish to make a charitable donation to Congregation Kona Beth Shalom in memory of your loved one, please see our donations page.
View the searchable Yahrzeit list below
| Name ( * former KBS member) | Date of Passing | Hebrew Date of Passing | Biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norman Allen | Nov 12, 2020 | 25 Cheshvan 5781 | Norm was 81 when he died at his residence in Hoopuloa. He was born Dec. 21, 1938 in Los Angeles. He was a yoga master, the first American to learn Ashtanga yoga from Pattabhi Jois in India and after he moved to Hawaii he continued to teach Yoga. He paddled outrigger canoe with Keoua Canoe Club and could literally walk across the pier on his hands. He is survived by his wife, Purna Zei, one daughter, two sons, a brother and sister, and three grandchildren. | |
| Arthur Arian* | Sep 19, 2006 | 26 Elul 5766 | Was Bar Mitzvah at age 59 at the Naniloa Hotel in Hilo on May 25, 2000 in a KBS service highlighted by an opening Hula and followed by a performance by Kona’s Traveling Jewish Wedding Band. | |
| Tillie Atkins* | Jun 11, 1997 | 24 Sivan 5775 | Wife of Robert Atkins, died at age 85 at home in Kealakekua. She was an accounting and records manager at Irvine Pacific Mortgage | |
| Alan Axelrod | Apr 2, 2013 | 22 Nisan 5773 | Born in Feb 1924 in Boston, he was a retired textile executive and past president and founding director of Kohala Hospital Charitable Foundation. | |
| Marlyn Axelrod | May 6, 2000 | 1 Iyar 5760 | Alan Axelrod’s wife | |
| Tana Hecht Basa | Dec 6, 2013 | 3 Tevet 5774 | A Terezin holocaust survivor when she was age 3. She became a nurse. Converted to Mormon and lived in Naalehu | |
| Morton Bassan* | Jul 29, 2023 | 11 Av 5783 | Mort Bassan, Jr. passed away on Jul 29, 2023 at the age of 72. He was born in Seattle and was a scientist, a pilot, a farmer, an inventor and even a tax preparer. He started growing oranges on the Big Island in 1979, eventually producing 95% of the state’s orange crop. By 2001 his farm, Ka`u Gold, had 18,000 orange trees on 150 acres and he offered domestic and international work exchange programs to train young farmers. He invented organic alternatives using “good bugs to kill bad bugs.” He and his family were members of KBS in the early 1990s. He is survived by Keiko Bassan, his wife of 43 years, their two children, 3 sisters and 22 nieces and nephews. | |
| Al Beer* | Jun 11, 2003 | 11 Sivan 5763 | Al was on his way home from attending shiva for a friend in northern Israel when a suicide bomber brought an abrupt end to his life on a bus in Jerusalem. Al came to Kona from Cleveland where, much to his surprise, he reconnected to his Jewishness. He assisted in many of KBS’ activities and ultimately decided to make aliyah to Israel. His death sent “absolute shock” through the Orthodox Union Israel Center where he volunteered and had attended lectures for approximately one year. “Often wearing Hawaiian shirts, Beer looked more like a tourist than a volunteer,” one of his Israeli friends fondly recalled, adding that “he would always brighten everything up, he always had stories. He had a religious soul and knew a lot about everything.” | |
| Ed Belford | before 2005 | unknown | Owned the Capt Cook Mini-Mart | |
| Katrina “Trina” Bellak* | May 28, 2006 | 1 Sivan 5766 | An attorney, lobbyist and founder of the American Horse Defense Fund. She worked for a member of the US Congress and in the West Wing of the White House during the Clinton Administration | |
| Barak BenLevi | Oct 26, 2021 | 20 Cheshvan 5782 | Barak BenLevi was born Theophilus Blackett in 1936 in La Chorrera, Panama to Edwin and Irene Blackett. He came to the United States as a young man and served in the Army. Over the course of his long life, he lived in New York City, Chicago, St. Croix, Santa Cruz, Kailua-Kona and finally Savannah where he passed away surrounded by his loving family. Barak identified as a Hebrew Israelite. He knew Bible and spoke Hebrew well. To our knowledge, he was never part of any anti-Semitic belief system. On the contrary, when he lived in Kona he used to conduct Pesach Sheni at the home of Karen and Morty Breier. This Jewish tradition is a seder conducted exactly one month after the first seder for the purpose of enabling travelers and others who missed the first one. We did not use a Haggadah. We would read only from Exodus 12. Barak’s Judaism relied on Bible/Torah, rather than rabbinic Judaism. Before sitting down to dinner at a huge round table, Barak would teach attendees how to make matzoh from scratch. A “three-legged lamb” was served (Karen would roast 3 legs of lamb) and even the vegetarians amongst us would participate in the feast. Barak sang, played guitar and drum. You can hear him performing at the South Kona Green Market in 2016 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbxYWvqcD0o. His music became popular in Sweden and he lived there for a number of years before eventually returning to the USA. Barak was a great storyteller and a friend and counselor to many. He profoundly impacted the lives of many people. He had 16 children and we were introduced to many of them when they visited Hawaii. They were, each and every one of them, charming, polite and delightful to know. He also had 15 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. |
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| Elaine Berman | Feb 23, 2021 | 12 Adar 5781 | Elaine (Schneider) Berman (Eta bat Mordechai v’Bedonna), mother of Shari Berman, grew up in Chicago and married at 18. She had four children by age 28, and ten months after her 4th child she moved to Japan to live in Ashiya, Kobe for a year with her husband just in time for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. After Japan, the family lived in Cleveland, OH for nine years, lived in Lynnfield (Boston) MA for six years, Stamford, CT for four years, W. Palm Beach FL, (near her father) for 30 years and St. Louis Park (Minneapolis) MN for nine years. She divorced her first husband, Irwin Z”L, after 42 years of marriage in 1996 and married a man 12 years her junior, John. John passed away in 2012. Elaine was a Jill-of-all-trades. She worked briefly in an office before marrying and then went back to work in her 50s and was a very successful insurance agent who specialized in Medicare supplements and advocacy for her elderly clients that were being bilked and over-billed by those willing to take advantage of them for their age. Elaine was good at crafts. She earned a flower-arranging license in Japan (fast-tracked in one year as she was moving back to the US). She completed dozens of needle point art, made some of her own designs and owned a needlepoint shop in Lynnfield, MA. She was considered quite the ingénue in her day, but never smiled in pictures because she believed that smiling in photos caused wrinkles. She passed away in Minneapolis after a short battle with pneumonia. |
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| Alan Steven Berman | Jun 20, 2022 | 21 Sivan 5782 | Avraham Shmuel ben Eta v’Yitschak Itzek HaLevi, Shari Berman’s brother, passed away at age 64 in Boston | |
| Irwin Isaac Berman | Dec 8, 2006 | 17 Kislev 5767 | Shari Berman’s father. Born in Chicago, he was an international shoe manufacturer who, with Japanese know-how, created the classic running shoe, “Converse World Class,” named by his then 9-year-old son, Russell. Irwin lived in Kobe, Cleveland, Boston, Connecticut and W. Palm Beach. He was back in Boston when he passed away, but laid to rest in Minneapolis where Russell currently resides. | |
| Lottie Bernstone | Mar 16, 2013 | 5 Nisan 5773 | Mother of Mike Bernstone and Norma Edelman | |
| Nate Bernstone | Jan 24, 2000 | 17 Sh’vat 5760 | Father of Mike Bernstone and Norma Edelman | |
| Bernie Bernstone | Jun 22, 2021 | 11 Tamuz 5781 | Mark “Bernie” Bernstone, son of Michael and Ruth Bernstone, unexpectedly passed away at the age of 52 on Jun 22, 2021 in his home in Delray Beach, Florida. He grew up in Denver, where he had a 50th birthday bash. He moved to California where he was a 3D software specialist, designing Pac-Man games for Namco, before he went into his own web design business. He helped to design the new KBS website along with Una Greenaway’s daughter, Mara, Alan Silverman and Elaine Dobinson. He later also became a certified massage therapist and Reiki master, and led meditation sessions on Zoom. Bernie loved his cats and crafting, making beautiful origami and wood crafts among others things. He always made himself available to help others. His kindness and laughter will be missed by all his family, many, many friends and business associates. | |
| Lorraine Bernzweig | Mar 29, 2017 | 2 Nisan 5777 | Sara Nealy’s mother | |
| Eli Bernzweig | Dec 21, 2018 | 13 Tevet 5779 | Sara Nealy’s father | |
| Melvin Bernzweig | Mar 2, 2001 | 7 Adar 5761 | Sara Nealy’s uncle | |
| Fannie Bernzweig | Mar 5, 1976 | 3 Adar 5736 | Sara Nealy’s grandmother | |
| Abraham Bernzweig | Jun 6, 1968 | 10 Sivan 5728 | Sara Nealy’s grandfather | |
| William Bernzweig | Oct 23, 2004 | 8 Cheshvan 5765 | Sara Nealy’s uncle | |
| Rose Bersack | Sep 2, 1985 | 16 Elul 5745 | Family of Lorraine Highkin | |
| Louis Bersack | Nov 10, 1986 | 8 Cheshvan 5747 | Family of Lorraine Highkin | |
| Saul Binder* | Jul 14, 1998 | 20 Tamuz 5758 | President and CEO of Success National Bank in Chicago. He was active in supporting community groups, Community Foundation of Jewish Education, a trustee of the Foundation for the Special Education District of Lake County, chairman of the banking division of the Israel Bond Committee and a member of the Chicago Executive Board of the Anti-Defamation League. Known for his driven, colorful personality and was a proud member of KBS. | |
| Dr. Joseph Blum | Feb 16, 1975 | 5 Adar 5735 | Barry Blum’s father. He was born in Brooklyn. His parents were Hungarian. He became a dentist and practiced in Brooklyn and then in Manhattan. He greatly enjoyed traveling and ultimately moved to San Francisco with his wife, Jeanne, to live near their sons, Robert and Barry | |
| Jeanne Blum* | Aug 10, 2006 | 16 Av 5766 | Barry Blum’s mom. Born in Orël, Russia and came to America with her family on the last ship to leave Europe before WWI to live in New York. She married Joseph Blum, a dentist, and raised two sons, Robert and Barry. She loved learning. Later moved to San Francisco and then lived her final years at The Regency in Kailua-Kona, and was over 100 when she passed. She loved and was deeply loved by her children, grandchildren, great grandson and KBS. | |
| Bill Borkan* | Sep 17, 2013 | 13 Tishrei 5774 | Engineer, inventor and philanthropist. Owned The Shops at Mauna Lani and gave KBS free rent there. | |
| Mickey Bowman | 1998 or 1999 | unknown | Sister of Barry Gitelson. Her memorial Service was at Pu’uhonua o Honaunau | |
| Ruth Irene Bratton | Feb 8, 2022 | 7 Adar 5782 | Ruth Irene Bratton, mother of Alice Bratton, passed away in Crawfordsville, Indiana, at the age of 94 | |
| Morty Breier* | Mar 25, 2004 | 3 Nisan 5764 | In 1989 a man who was raised as a Jewish atheist in a community of Yiddish speaking communists in the Bronx, moved to Hawaii’s Big Island. He joined and then assumed leadership roles in several of Kona’s spiritual communities, including Kona Beth Shalom. Always a man to question authority, he taught his friends his world view that saw our planet, and indeed our entire universe, in the most optimistic perspective. Morty believed in a timeline of inevitable progression of universal consciousness that moved from the formlessness of the Big Bang toward the next steps that would ultimately lead us to more awareness, more compassion, more civility, and indeed, more wisdom. This was no less than Morty’s belief in God, his proof of God’s existence. All of us who came into contact with this scientist and engineer, artist, poet and musician, teller of jokes, adventurer and provocateur were his students, and we will never forget him or what he taught. Morty Brier passed away in the arms of his beloved wife, Karen. His ashes were buried at the Hebrew Cemetery on Memory Lane in Greenwich, CT, some scattered at his Mahi St. home, and the rest from the top of the Empire State Building where the prevailing winds blew them over the Bronx. | |
| Rebecca Brightman | Sep 16, 2009 | 27 Elul 5769 | Ruth Bernstone’s mother | |
| Abraham Brightman | Nov 4, 2002 | 29 Cheshvan 5763 | Ruth Bernstone’s father passed away at age 84, following a long illness. He was a very active, athletic man before he became ill, and always loved life to the fullest. His outgoing personality and willingness to help his neighbors made him a well-known fixture in his Florida community. A self-taught and self-made man, he loved to travel, dance and listen to classical music, especially opera. He was always there for his family and is truly missed | |
| David Brightman | Oct 29, 2012 | 13 Cheshvan 5773 | Ruth Bernstone’s brother | |
| Annette (Plaut) Crohn* | Mar 7, 2024 | 27 Adar 5784 | Annette Lash Crohn, Aviva’s mom, passed away in Ramat Hasharon, Israel on Mar 7, 2024 surrounded by her three daughters, Ariella, Yael and Aviva (Plaut). Annette was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1924. Her mother was widowed at an early age and moved to Palestine in 1934 taking her two young daughters. She studied there to become a nurse and worked in Cyprus detention camps. In 1948 she married David Crohn and they raised three daughters in Israel. Their life together was filled with music, travel, family, friends and people from around the world. In their retirement they split their time between New York City and Israel. KBS members got to know Annette during her yearly visits to Hawaii. | |
| Lawrence William Cohn | Jan 22, 2016 | 12 Sh’vat 5776 | Born Jan. 12, 1948, in Palo Alto, Calif., he spent his law career in private practice (in Kona), served for a time as a per diem judge for the State of Hawaii. | |
| Jim Collier | Aug 5, 2003 | 7 Av 5763 | Although Jim wasn’t sure he was Jewish, having been adopted and not knowing his birth parents’ religion, he felt a connection to KBS. A good friend to many members of the congregation, he requested Jewish services following his passing from ALS (“Lou Gehrig’s disease”). | |
| Beatrice Cozewith | Aug 31, 2021 | 23 Elul 5781 | Sister of Howard Edelman | |
| David Crohn | Mar 21, 1994 | 4 Nisan 5759 | David Crohn was the father of Aviva Plaut and a wonderful man. Born in 1921, he was an officer in the US army and was injured on Normandy Beach, later helping injured soldiers rehabilitate. After the war he was at Johns Hopkins getting a Master’s degree in economics when he became involved in smuggling weapons to Palestine. On his first attempt to reach Palestine his boat was seized by the British and he was imprisoned in Baalbek, Lebanon. He was eventually released and sent back to the US, and did it all over again. He was on the boat when Israel declared independence. The rest of his story is very interesting |
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| Lois-ellin Datta* | April 1, 2024 | 22 Adar II 5784 | On June 12, 1932, Lois Ellen Green was born in Paterson, New Jersey. Her family was poor but was devoted to education. After receiving her B.A. in Psychology from West Virginia University she went to Washington State University to work on her Master’s Degree where she met and married Padma Rag Datta. The couple moved back east where she received her second Master’s Degree from WVU, and then went on for her PhD at Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania. Lois later served as the National Director of Project Head Start at the Office of Economic Opportunity and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Director of Research and Planning at the National Institute of Education; and Director of Program Evaluation at the General Accounting Office. Lois was also President of the American Evaluation Association and authored over 100 articles and three books on evaluation. The couple moved to Hawaii and lived on their family’s organic farm in Captain Cook. Lois-ellin was an active member of KBS and was an early member of the WaKoBeS and KAHEA. In 2008, Lois-ellin was Alice Bratton’s hanai Jewish mother for her Bat Mitzvah. Lois-ellin passed her the Torah and gifted her with the beautiful silk tallit that Alice wears. Lois-ellin is survived by her sons Tane and Kyle Datta, four granddaughters and three great-grandchildren. You may listen to her interview on the StoryCorps Archive and read her obituary in the Washington Post (4/14/2024). |
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| Padma Rag Datta | Aug 18, 1995 | 22 Av 5755 | Lois-ellin’s husband, who dedicated his life’s work to using science to improve human welfare and preserve the environment | |
| Pauline Donovet* | Aug 7, 1995 | 11 Av 5755 | Was first secretary of KBS | |
| Edith Edelman | May 2, 2000 | 27 Nisan 5760 | Mother of Howard Edelman | |
| Abraham Edelman | Jan 31, 1962 | 27 Sh’vat 5722 | Father of Howard Edelman | |
| Sonya Elias | Feb 13, 2019 | 8 Adar 5779 | Mother of Tamar Elias | |
| Corey Elias | Jul 3, 2015 | 16 Tamuz 5775 | Sister of Tamar Elias | |
| Isidor Elias | Jun 22, 2002 | 12 Tamuz 5762 | Father of Tamar Elias | |
| Bob Feldman* | Apr 12, 2003 | 10 Nisan 5763 | Bob was one of the creators of Kona Beth Shalom’s Virtual Library project. Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he died suddenly and unexpectedly. An engineer in the field of military aeronautics he was part of the design team of the Stealth Bomber before moving to Hawaii. Bob was beloved by his wife of 18 years, Carol, and by his two children, five grandchildren, two stepchildren and five step-grandchildren. | |
| Jacob Feldman | Mar 21, 2008 | 14 Adar II 5768 | ||
| Arthur Feldman | Jun 3, 1988 | 18 Sivan 5748 | ||
| Cantor Leo Fettman | Apr 22, 2021 | 10 Iyar 5781 | Cantor Fettman passed away in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 96. He was our High Holidays rabbi in 1995. He was our first orthodox HHD rabbi and was accompanied by his wife Annette. He served Beth Israel Center from 1963-1976, was a Holocaust survivor and wrote, Shoah: Journey from the Ashes. In 1944, he and his family were forcibly removed from their Hungarian home by the Nazis and incarcerated in a ghetto. Later, they were transported by boxcar to Auschwitz where most of the members of his family were murdered. After the war he emigrated to Canada where he was later ordained. | |
| Tony Franken* | Oct 8, 2012 | 22 Tishrei 5773 | Tony served on the KBS Board from 2005-2008. Incidentally he was Al Franken’s cousin | |
| Dr. Phil Freed | Mar 20, 2019 | 13 Adar II 5779 | Veterinarian in Kona | |
| Abraham Freeman | Mar 23, 2013 | 13 Nisan 5773 | Alysa Freeman’s adored father. He was raised in the Bronx, accountant, lover of Broadway musicals, NJ Giants fan. Kindest and most generous soul. | |
| Leona Freeman | Aug 29, 1973 | 1 Elul 5733 | Leona was Alysa’s mom who passed away when Alysa was 2 ½. She was raised in Coney Island, nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospital, fun-loving and loved by all | |
| Florence Freeman | Oct 23, 2005 | 20 Tishrei 5766 | Alysa’s second mom who came into her life when she was 5 years old is still missed every day by Alysa. Raised in the Bronx, worked as a Spanish translator and was known for her honesty, sense of humor and deep kindness. | |
| Evelyn Bernzweig Friedman | Dec 18, 1965 | 24 Kislev 5726 | Sara Nealy’s aunt | |
| Edith Frieser | Apr 8, 2015 | 19 Nisan 5775 | ||
| Ari Gildener | Jul 23, 2018 | 11 Av 5778 | Born in Jerusalem and later emigrated to the United States to live in New Jersey. In the 1960s he moved to Canada where he met his wife, Michelle, and then moved to Hawaii in 1980. His considerable skills enabled him to fix just about anything and everything. | |
| Edith Gimpel | Mar 1, 1991 | 15 Adar 5751 | Joel Gimpel’s mother | |
| Alan Gimpel | Oct 22, 1994 | 17 Cheshvan 5755 | Joel Gimpel’s father | |
| Eileen Gimpel* | Nov 22, 1996 | 11 Kislev 5757 | Joel Gimpel’s first wife and mother of their two children. Died in Kona. | |
| Kris Gitelson | Feb 7, 2022 | 6 Adar 5782 | Wife of Barry Gitelson | |
| Pauline Gitelson | Mar 12, 2002 | 28 Adar 5762 | Beloved mother of Barry Gitelson, passed away in Lewes, Delaware. Born in Hackensack, NJ, Pauline lived in Kona for seven years during the 1980’s and as an entrepreneur helped to create “Barry’s Nut Farm.” She later returned to the mainland but always dreamed of returning to Kona. E noho hau’oli, e aloha, e ‘aka. | |
| Lewis Ira Glaser* | Jul 11, 2019 | 8 Tamuz 5779 | From Brooklyn. Retired macadamia nut farmer. Enjoyed sitting on the beach in Kona. Husband of Carolyn Greenfeld. Buried in West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. | |
| Myron Glatt* | Nov 30, 2023 | 17 Kislev 5784 | He was born in Los Angeles on July 22, 1931 and enjoyed a rich and varied career. He owned a gymnasium when he was young. As an audio-visual specialist in the L.A. School system where he taught A-V to the teaching staff, he met Ruth. They married 62 years ago and shortly thereafter, Myron adopted Ruth’s 3-year-old son, Dean Olch. The Glatts owned a wine and cheese shop fore a while. They were among the original hippies and they never stopped dressing the part. They enjoyed traveling the world together exploring potential island paradises including Tahiti, the Caribbean and Kauai (the Taylor Ranch at the height of hippiedom) until moving to the Big Island in 1981. They were close friends with leading thinkers, philosophers and scientists of the times including John & Toni Lilly. For years, Myron would ride his bicycle around Kailua-Kona to the Pier where he swam nearly every day. He taught Tai Chi in Kona for several decades. “Life is terminal but not serious” [Ruth was raised in Yonkers, NY and met some of the world’s most remarkable personalities at her Uncle Herman’s home, including Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt.] |
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| Dr. Gary Goldberg | Jul 30, 2020 | 9 Av 5780 | Chief Medical Officer of Queen’s North Hawai’i Community Hospital, Gary passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at home at age 59. He was an emergency physician for over 30 years including over 20 years at NHCH. Dr. Goldberg received his medical degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. He also served as a Member of the Regional Board of Directors, West Hawaii Division, for HHSC (Hawaii Health Systems Corp, the Governing Body for Kona Community Hospital). | |
| Sig Goode | Feb 18, 2006 | 20 Sh’vat 5766 | A bicycle and movie poster devotee. He was born in Oct 1930 and lived in Captain Cook. He was a devoted customer at the old Aloha Theatre Café. | |
| Sol Gordon | Dec 3, 2008 | 6 Kislev 5769 | Sol Gordon, Ph.D. was a controversial writer, lecturer, and professor of child and family studies who specialized in children and teenage sex education. He founded the Institute for Family Research and Education at Syracuse University in 1970. Sol was born on Jun 12, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York. He wrote and published over 25 books, most for children, teens and their parents. He was a leading pioneer in sex education, and lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad. He was Gloria Blum’s mentor and visited Kona on several occasions. | |
| Mark Gottesman | May 7, 2016 | 29 Nisan 5776 | Eric Gottesman’s brother | |
| Leona Gottesman | Sep 14, 1998 | 23 Elul 5758 | Eric Gottesman’s mother | |
| James Gottesman | Sep 9, 1973 | 12 Elul 5733 | Eric Gottesman’s father | |
| Barbara Green | Oct 11, 2014 | 17 Tishrei 5775 | Wife of Richard Green, died at the age of 67 after a long battle with ovarian cancer. A longtime Marin resident, Barbara enjoyed hiking on Mount Tamalpais, skiing in Tahoe, and golfing with family and friends. | |
| Jo Michele Greene | Jul 7, 2012 | 17 Tamuz 5772 | Passed away on Oahu, buried in Beit HaShamayim | |
| Linda Harris | Apr 11, 2025 | 13 Nisan 5785 | Linda and her husband Lou used to divide their time between here and San Mateo, California every year. For the last 4½ years of her life she battled cancer but always maintained her cheerful attitude. | |
| Bill Hauser | Dec 5, 2017 | 17 Kislev 5778 | Food and Beverage Manager at the hotel (Keauhou Beach or Kona Surf?) who was most generous with KBS during the years when we used that facility for Shabbat Services | |
| Richard Hector | Jul 6, 2000 | 3 Tamuz 5760 | ||
| Louis Heyman | Apr 2, 1990 | 7 Nisan 5750 | Marilyn Klein Anderson’s step-father. Born 1/26/1915 | |
| Sarah Pearl Heyman | Feb 6, 2004 | 14 Sh’vat 5764 | Marilyn Anderson’s mother. Born 4/4/1925 | |
| Harry Highkin* | Aug 16, 2007 | 2 Elul 5767 | The husband of Lorraine Highkin, he died at the age of 89 at home in Kona. Harry was a California State University at Northridge professor emeritus and plant physiologist. He was born in New Haven, Conn. and looked remarkably like Albert Einstein. | |
| Dr. Leon Hyman | Jan 4, 2015 | 13 Tevet 5775 | Highly respected allergist and immunologist in Kona. Husband of Alex Bliss Walker | |
| Leah Itman | Jan 27, 1984 | 23 Sh’vat 5744 | Gloria Blum’s mother. Born in Poland. Died in Minneapolis | |
| Joseph Itman | Nov 5, 1943 | 7 Cheshvan 5704 | Gloria Blum’s dad. Born in Russia. Died in Minneapolis | |
| Ray Charles Jackson | Dec 13, 2024 | 12 Kislev 5785 | Ray Jackson was born in Oakland, CA on July 26, 1943 and passed away in Kona after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He married Joan 29 years ago and they moved to Kona 24 years ago where Ray became a power plant operator at Hamakua Energy Partners in Honoka’a. He was one of the founders of the Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Kona. Ray had no personal religious affiliation but always came with Joan to Jewish services and holiday celebrations. The couple traveled widely, most recently to Africa in April, 2024. Joan recalls that he loved to eat and was always looking forward to their next meal together. He is survived by his daughter Gina Nelson (married to Eric) of Bremerton, WA and his brother Douglas Jackson of CA. | |
| Arthur Janes | Jun 15, 1978 | 10 Sivan 5738 | Father of Paul (Shaul) Janes | |
| Vera Betty Janes | Aug 9, 2004 | 5 Av 5765 | Mother of Paul Janes | |
| Stephanie Nelson Jongert | Jul 12, 2021 | 3 Av 5781 | Stephanie’s sister, Neicy Nelson, notified us that Stephanie passed away in Nakamura Hale, Hospice of Kona’s residential home in Holualoa, on Jul 12, 2021 at the age of 75. She had cancer. Their father was Native American and their mother was Jewish. They both used to attend KBS services in the late 1980s. | |
| Marty Kelemen* | Mar 2, 2026 | 13 Adar 5786 | Marty came to Kona from Los Angeles where he was born in May 1941. He was a businessman there, manufacturing and selling high end mattresses. He brought some of the tastiest raw food delights to KBS pot-lucks. Later joined Chabad in Kona. He had one son from his first marriage. | |
| Ellen Kimiatek | Apr 2, 2008 | 26 Adar II 5768 | Joel Gimpel’s oldest sister. | |
| Dr. Gerald Klaz* | Sep 7, 2019 | 7 Elul 5779 | Family practice physician in L.A. and came to stay in Kona often, frequently bringing us genuine rye bread from Canter’s Deli. Husband of Paige Halliday. | |
| Ruth Klein | Marilyn Klein Anderson’s step-mother. Born 12-3-1924 | |||
| Morton Klein | Sep 18, 2005 | 14 Elul 5765 | Marilyn Klein Anderson’s father. Born 5-11-1922 | |
| Ernie Knapp* | Jan 16, 2021 | 3 Sh’vat 5781 | A lively fellow who used to be a member of KBS. Sometimes he was a challenge to get along with and he found a home with Chabad after he left KBS. In the past he used to attend our services with his beautiful and beloved service dog “Mordy” (Mordechai). Not only would Mordy make rounds at Kona Community Hospital bringing solace to patients there, when he attended KBS services with Ernie he would sometimes wear a yarmulke and stand and sit (or lie down) when appropriate. Ernie is survived by his wife, Dr. Zee Knapp, his daughter and son, his brother, and four grandchildren. | |
| Jay Kopelman | Feb 10, 2025 | 12 Sh’vat 5785 | Jay passed away at home in Kailua-Kona at age 85. He was born in the Bronx. After college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute he earned a PhD in physics at Northwestern University. He is survived his wife, Sherry Bracken, one sister, 3 brothers-in-law, nephews, nieces and one grandnephew. | |
| Dr. Clifford Kopp | Oct 14, 2016 | 12 Tishrei 5777 | Dentist (prosthedontist) in Kona, well loved for his many community service activities. | |
| Warren Krangel* | Dec 17, 2023 | 5 Tevet 5784 | Warren and his wife, Pam, lived in Kona for several years and participated in KBS, the AlteKaKoBeS (wise seniors of KBS) and the WaKoBes (Wahines of Kona Beth Shalom). They later moved to Florida and enjoyed their life there. He is survived by his wife, Pam, his daughter Missy Balsam and his grandson | |
| Irving Labes | Apr 16, 2011 | 12 Nisan 5771 | Meredith Miller’s father | |
| Lillian Labes | Dec 19, 2011 | 23 Kislev 5772 | Meredith Miller’s mother | |
| Ted Leaf | Jan 30, 2026 | 12 Sh’vat 5786 | Ted was a retired dentist. While he lived in Kona, he was a member of Coast Guard Auxiliary for 22 years, a Ham Radio operator (call sign WH6DGZ), he served on the Kona Community Hospital emergency committee, he was a clarinetist in the Hawaii County Band, and he worked with Arnie Rabin on the Annual Kainaliu Xmas Parade for many years. Ted attended Chabad of Kona and was a widower. | |
| Ira Leitel | Dec 30, 2024 | 29 Kislev 5785 | Born in Brooklyn. Met and married a genuine princess from Easter Island who bore him 2 children. Divorced. Later married Tamoe Maciejewski with whom he lived happily here on the Big Island at Mauna Lani. He was a brilliant lawyer. After attending the performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank” at the Aloha Theatre, he introduced KBS to Bill Borkan, owner of the Shops at Mauna Lani, who gave us a generous space for KBS to use free of charge for several years. | |
| Saul Lelah* | May 10, 2018 | 25 Iyar 5778 | Born in Singapore. Father of Reuben Lelah (Kona psychologist) | |
| Geraldine Levine | Apr 28, 2010 | 14 Iyar 5770 | Wife of Steve Levine (Kona) | |
| Seymour Lewis* | Aug 27, 2002 | 19 Elul 5762 | Seymour was the father of Barbara Lewis. He first arrived in Sacramento in 1940 and never let go of his dreams for a better world for all people. Forever the optimist Dr. Lewis founded the Zionist Organization of America District in Sacramento. He was the second President of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region. He was instrumental in raising funds to rescue Jews from Nazi Europe and for Israel both before and after statehood. He led services at Folsom Prison for Jewish inmates. He foresaw the need for education for Jewish youth in the greater Sacramento area as early as 1980 and was an active member of congregations of B’nai Israel and Mosaic Law Synagogue. He was the first spiritual leader of Congregation Kona Beth Shalom. Later returning to California, he passed away in Sacramento. | |
| Jeanette Lewis* | Oct 27, 2002 | 28 Tishrei 5769 | Wife of Seymour Lewis. Mother of Barbara Lewis | |
| Leah Lissauer | Feb 2, 1991 | 18 Sh’vat 5751 | Mother of Ruth Glatt. Born in New York and lived in Yonkers. In 1947 she moved with her husband Sidney and daughter Ruth to live with Uncle Herman in Los Angeles. Rabbi Herman Lissauer was Research Director for Warner Bros. He also ran the “Modern Forum of Los Angeles.” Ruth remembers meeting many notables at his home, including Mme Chiang Kai-Shek, Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Einstein. Leah broke her hip in 1990 and moved to Kona where Ruth took care of her until her passing at age 88. | |
| Ziggy Livnat* | Jun 11, 2022 | 12 Sivan 5782 | Ziggy was a brilliant filmmaker and photographer, National Geographic explorer, and ocean activist. His videos of Eilat underwater are breathtaking. Ziggy prepared a similarly gorgeous underwater film of Hawaii’s ocean waters which was shown on Hawaiian Airlines flights coming to Kona. He prepared a Japanese version of that movie with Shari Berman. Ziggy, who was born in Israel, was also one of KBS’ early Hebrew School teachers. He passed away in North Carolina at the age of 56 where he lived near his son and the mother of his son. | |
| Roz Silver Marean* | Dec 17, 2015 | 5 Tevet 5776 | One of the founders of KBS | |
| John Marean | Aug 25, 2015 | 10 Elul 5775 | Second husband of Roz Silver. He was Canadian. Their romance began online. | |
| Jacqui Marlin* | Jun 10, 2021 | 30 Sivan 5781 | Jacqui used to be a member of KBS. She (later) lived in Hilo. She died while scuba diving in the Galapagos Islands. She was active in the Big Island Woodturners Club and the Hawaii Chapter of the American Bamboo Society. She was married to Alfred Marlin of Kurtistown who died in 1999, a retired schoolteacher. Jacqui is survived by her son Kenan, daughter Rinah, and several grandchildren. Jacqui called herself the “Goddess of Chaos.” | |
| Harold Meltzer | Apr 22, 2020 | 27 Nisan 5780 | A retired Real Estate broker in Hawaii, but most of all a great storyteller. He always began every conversation with a new joke. And his jokes were funny! Passed away in Denver where he was receiving medical care and interred next to his parents and older sister at the B’nai Brith Cemetery in Peabody, Massachusetts. “Ta-ta!” | |
| Rani Merens | Dec 11, 2024 | 10 Kislev 5785 | Jan Rae’s sister passed away at the age of 69 in Florida. Rani was born in Great Neck, NY and was an amazing artist. She taught pre-kindergarten. She is survived by her loving husband Steve, her daughter Jennifer Leake, her son Andrew Merens and grandson Liam Merens as well as four sisters and one step-sister. | |
| Eugene Miller | Apr 8, 2007 | 7 Nisan 5767 | Lee Miller’s father | |
| Dr. Ed Miller | Jan 29, 2024 | 19 Sh’vat 5784 | Dr. Edward “Ed” Miller was born in 1945 in Chicago, Illinois. He married the love of his life, Martha “Marty” Miller (KBS member Joel Gimpel’s youngest sister) in 1967 and they spent the next 52 years side by side until her death in 2020. He is survived by his son, Matt Miller, son-in-law Adrian Lowe; grandchildren Meridian Lowe and Miles Miller-Lowe; and great-grandchild Nova Lowe. Ed started his dental career in the US Army, and later studied pediatric dentistry at UNC’s Adams School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, NC. He moved from Chapel Hill to start a pediatric practice in Greensboro in 1973. Even in the last week of his life, Ed could not leave the house without a grown-up patient (or their parent) approaching him to say kind words, or to thank him for saving the one tooth that got knocked out after a fall. He was faculty at UNC’s dental school and was the favorite instructor of many dental students. In retirement, Ed kept his NC Dental Board certification active. | |
| Martha “Marty” Miller | Jan 31, 2020 | 5 Sh’vat 5780 | Marty, Joel Gimpel’s youngest sister, earned a PhD in Women’s Studies from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Her dissertation, “Tevye’s Daughters: Jewish Experience and Women’s Identity in the United States,” explored the meaning of identity in modern American society through the stories told by and about Jewish women. She had been a high school math teacher, artist, exercise guru, crochet instructor and author of books and magazine articles on crochet designs. She passed away at the hospice shelter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Marty is survived by her dear husband Ed of nearly 53 years, son Matt (Adrian) Miller, brother Joel Gimpel, grandchildren Meridian Lowe and Miles Miller, great granddaughter Nova Lowe, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. | |
| Herman Miller | Apr 18, 1999 | 2 Iyar 5759 | ||
| Rabbi Judea B Miller | Jul 9, 1995 | 11 Tamuz 5755 | Rebecca Gottesman’s father | |
| Talia Miller | Aug 19, 1998 | 27 Av 5758 | Granddaughter of Lorraine Highkin | |
| Danny Miller | Sep 4, 1977 | 21 Elul 5737 | ||
| Anita Miller | Dec 2, 2015 | 20 Kislev 5776 | Rebecca Gottesman’s mother | |
| Dr. Paki (Bailey) Myers | Mar 9, 2016 | 29 Adar 5776 | Paki was born in New York. After moving to Kona she practiced as an Emergency Room Physician at Kona Community Hospital and later had her own private practice in Kealakekua. She died at age 72 and is survived by her wife, Zan Myers of Ocean View; daughter, Maya Myers; her brother and sisters, and numerous nieces and nephews | |
| Helen Myhre* | Jul 1, 2014 | 3 Tamuz 5774 | Loved to take photos of KBS activities. She was a Gold Star Mother. Wife of Erwin Myhre. After he passed she lived at the Regency Hualalai. | |
| Erwin Myhre* | Nov 10, 2009 | 23 Cheshvan 5770 | Shomer for our Torah for many years. He also was in charge of collecting names at KBS events. | |
| Prem Nagar (Jay Schoenfeld) | Apr 1, 1993 | 10 Nisan 5753 | Born in Millbrae, California, Nagar was known to many as he rode around Kona on his bicycle delivering fresh wheat grass juice. He was a notable photographer of Kilauea Volcano. He was standing on a fresh lava bench, attempting to photograph the entry site of lava into the ocean when the bench crumbled into the ocean. His body was never found. | |
| Dr. Roy G. Nagle | May 3, 2021 | 21 Iyar 5781 | In 1984, Roy moved to Hawaii and established his internal medicine practice in Kealakekua. He later served as Kona Hospital’s second Medical Director. He moved to Florida in 2005. Roy was born in 1932 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa before attending Medical School there, both schools on full scholarship. His first wife, Pat, passed away in Kona in 1999. Roy died in Florida and is survived by his second wife, Jean, one daughter, one son, three stepchildren, three grandchildren and four step grandchildren. | |
| Dean Olch | Dec 17, 2018 | 8 Tevet 5779 | Son of Ruth and Myron Glatt. A master of the shakuhachi, the Japanese flute. His music can be heard on the soundtrack of “Shogun,” the 1980 TV miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain. Passed away in Thailand. | |
| Goldie Olney* | Dec 25, 1998 | 6 Tevet 5759 | Wife of Lyman Olney: [?Goldie Finelt, b. Abt 1913 NY, d. abt 1999 in Oceanside CA] KBS donated trees to be planted in Israel in her memory. |
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| Lyman Olney* | May 1, 1998 | 5 Iyar 5758 | Husband of Goldie Olney | |
| Mildred Packer* | May 5, 2010 | 21 Iyar 5770 | Wife of Ed Packer | |
| Ed Packer* | Oct 2, 2009 | 14 Tishrei 5770 | Ed was born in Philadelphia and was raised in the Orthodox tradition. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a bombardier during World War II. Following the family business he became an upholsterer. He and his wife Mildred moved to Kona in 1978 where they formed Packer Realty, in business until 2004. Ed later established Packer Nursery, well known throughout the United States for their high quality plumeria cuttings. He was buried in West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery | |
| Nina Perrell | Aug 28, 2012 | 10 Elul 5772 | Lived in Hawi | |
| Rabbi Walter Plaut | Jan 3, 1964 | 18 Tevet 5724 | Rabbi of Temple Emanuel of Great Neck, New York and father of Yehudah Plaut in Kona. A refugee from Nazi Germany, Rabbi Plaut was one of 4 rabbis plus 8 white Protestant ministers, 6 AME black ministers and NAACP activists on the first Interfaith Freedom Ride on a Greyhound bus traveling from Washington, DC, through South Carolina, to Tallahassee from Jun 13-16, 1961. | |
| Hadassah Plaut | Jul 23, 2003 | 23 Tamuz 5763 | Mother of Yehudah Plaut, she was born in Detroit and passed away in New York at the age of 82. She was a passionate member of HaShomer HaTza’eer, the first Zionist youth movement for the Jewish people. | |
| Phil Plotkin* | Jul 7, 2010 | 25 Tamuz 5770 | Husband of Sarah Kramer. a veteran of the Army National Guard. He loved traveling through Asia with his wife, Sarah, and found a special place in his heart for the people of Tibet and Nepal. In recent years, Phil completed a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and visited the Potala Palace in Tibet. He enjoyed trekking in the Himalayas and white-water rafting down the Ganges River in India. Phil had a kind and loving heart. His ashes were scattered at the shore of Puako | |
| Alan Pollak* | Sep 29, 2022 | 5 Tishrei 5783 | Avraham Chaim ben Elka Leah v’Shlomo. Alan was elected to the Board of Trustees of KBS in Sep 2002. Immediately helpful to the congregation, he volunteered to be our Yahrzeit Coordinator; he helped with the establishment of the Children’s Education Program; he bought and assembled the book cart we used to use to shlep our books to and from Shabbat Services; he focused us on counting the omer; he often assembled a minyan when needed for visitors and locals; and he was one of our first dreydle croupiers at the Annual KBS Chanukah Party. After coming to Kona, Alan lived in Napoopoo, later buying a 20-acre farm in Hawi where he and Kelli lived in a remodeled trailer that once belonged to a famous Rock ‘n Roll duo. Shortly before he unexpectedly passed he was so happy to have found a “real” home for his wife and himself in Waikoloa. He is survived by his beloved wife Kelli and his brother, Rabbi Pollak of Los Angeles. |
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| Lisa Pozen | Apr 14, 2004 | 23 Nisan 5764 | ||
| Elmer Rabin | May 2, 1991 | 18 Iyar 5751 | Born in Chicago and died at age 73 in Honokaa. Cattle broker in Waimea. Husband of Helen Rabin who was first treasurer of KBS | |
| Teunisse Rabin | Sep 9, 2002 | 3 Tishrei 5763 | Teunisse was a thirty-year-resident of Kona and was an artist, arts administrator, teacher, tireless youth advocate and activist and was a founding member and executive director of SKEA (South Kona Education Association). She was the devoted mother of Miriam, Peter and Eric, and the beloved wife of Arnie Rabin. | |
| Robert Reichman | Jun 14, 2021 | 4 Tamuz 5781 | Bob was born in Far Rockaway, Queens (NY) in 1935 and graduated college with a degree in agriculture. He moved to Avila Beach near San Luis Obispo, CA and then to Hawaii. After returning to California for a while he came back to Hawaii in the 1960s. Known as “Makalawaena Bob,” in 1989 he became the caretaker for one of the most beautiful beaches on this island where he surfed nearly every day. He is survived by his wife, Kije Hazelwood, several children from previous marriages, Michael and Kyrie, step-children Aaron, Tanya and Rebekah, and his brother Sidney in Florida. | |
| Isaac Ribner | Jan 22, 1981 | 17 Sh’vat 5741 | Sara Nealy’s uncle | |
| Abraham David Ribner | May 23, 1978 | 16 Iyar 5738 | Sara Nealy’s grandfather | |
| Sarah Burger Ribner | Aug 13, 2001 | 24 Av 5761 | Sara Nealy’s grandmother | |
| Sara Axelrod Ribner | Jul 30, 1952 | 8 Av 5712 | Sara Nealy’s grandmother | |
| Richard Ribner, MD | Nov 29, 2000 | 2 Kislev 5761 | Sara Nealy’s uncle | |
| Dr. Ray Rosenthal | Apr 10, 2002 | 29 Nisan 5762 | Ray practiced traditional medicine in Hawaii as an internist and an emergency room physician, and also had a keen interest in Ayurvedic medicine. He was a leader in the field of complementary medicine. He was a beloved friend, father, physician and healer. He was gravely injured in a traffic accident riding his bicycle on Alii Drive and died several days later. | |
| Lily Rosner | Apr 19, 2009 | 25 Nisan 5769 | Mother of Leon Rosner | |
| Herman Rosner | Sep 15, 2014 | 10 Elul 5774 | Father of Leon Rosner | |
| Jerry Rothstein* | Jan 23, 2005 | 14 Sh’vat 5765 | The father of Ann Rothstein, Jerry was one of the founders of KBS. A farmer and community leader (“a citizen doing citizen’s work”), Jerry graduated Brooklyn College in 1958. He moved from New York to Hawaii in 1970 and with his wife, Judy, lived in Hilo and Kona. He was first and foremost an environmental and political activist. Among other accomplishments he was a charter member of local Sierra Club Group, initiated the “Save Hapuna” initiative and was a founder of PASH “Public Access Shoreline Hawaii.” The accident that took their lives occurred as they drove home after celebrating the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Sh’vat in Lapahoehoe with members of KBS. He and his wife Judy were the first to be buried in KBS’s Beit HaShamayim. | |
| Judy Rothstein* | Jan 23, 2005 | 14 Sh’vat 5765 | Wife of Jerry Rothstein. Their son, Gary (Natan), who now lives in Israel, was the first Bar Mitzvah on Hawaiiisland (as Jerry called the Big Island). Their daughter, Ann Rothstein, lives on the Big Island. Judy was a librarian at Kealakekua Public Library and the pianist for New Thought Center in Kona | |
| Rosalind Salomon | Oct 30, 1993 | 15 Cheshvan 5754 | Sister of Una Greenaway | |
| Dr. Charles (Chaz) Salzberg | Apr 25, 2009 | 1 Iyar 5769 | West Hawaii physician. He specialized in pain management | |
| Robert Salzberg* | May 7, 2003 | 5 Iyar 5763 | Bob was born in Germany where he was trained to be a baker. He was a champion track & field star in his city but was fortunate to leave there in 1937 and come to the U.S. He settled in NYC with an uncle. There he met Helen, his wife of 62 years. They were married in 1941. After living in California for 37 years, they moved to Kona in 1982 to be with their daughter, Una Greenaway, and granddaughters. Immediately upon moving here he was recruited to bake the ceremonial challah for KBS, which he did faithfully for 16 years. Robert spent the last 20 years of his life as a coffee farmer and world traveler. | |
| Helen Salzberg* | Jun 28, 2011 | 26 Sivan 5771 | Born in Brooklyn. Mother of Una Greenaway and served on the Board of KBS. | |
| Nancy Satz* | Sep 23, 2019 | 23 Elul 5779 | Therapist in Kona | |
| Barry Saunders* | Nov 16, 2000 | 18 Cheshvan 5761 | A Damon Runyanesque “character” in Kona who posthumously donated funds for the KBS Aron HaKodesh. He died in California after a kidney transplant rejection. | |
| Rabbi Nathan (Natan) Segal* | Jul 23, 2019 | 20 Tamuz 5779 | Natan passed away at his daughter’s home (Zoë) in Santa Cruz, CA at the age of 70. He was born in Chicago, a descendant of 12 generations of cantors and rabbis born in Jerusalem. He was an artist, musician, healer, preacher, father, all around magic maker. He was the first rabbi ordained by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, (one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement). He and his older brother, Joseph, received orthodox training as youths. Their beautiful harmony, extraordinary sense of humor and variety of songs entertained people of all ages, including children’s songs, folk, rock, reggae and traditional spiritual delights that move you to sing along. In 1977, the brothers moved to Mill Valley, CA where they founded Shabbos Shul, a congregation that needed no siddurim. Prayers were sung and danced. Musicians, rabbis, and other remarkable men and women often visited Shabbos Shul from throughout the world sharing their own talents. In 2013 Nathan came to live full time on the Big Island. | |
| Samuel Seldon | Apr 19, 2004 | 28 Nisan 5764 | Joan Jackson’s father, born May 19, 1917 | |
| Grace Goldsmith Seldon | Dec 3, 2013 | 30 Kislev 5774 | Joan Jackson’s mother, born Jun 6, 1917 | |
| Leon Sevilla* | Aug 31, 1995 | 5 Elul 5755 | Born in 1910. First came to Hawaii when he started his business in China. | |
| Rabbi Mark Shapiro | Aug 28, 2020 | 8 Elul 5780 | Served as High Holidays Rabbi for KBS in 2000 and 2001. He was Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim (BJBE) in Chicago from 1962-2000, and later was an active Rabbi Emeritus for the remainder of his life. He was also the Chair of the Czech Torah Network, the educational organization dedicated to remembrance and Jewish spiritual continuity by connecting synagogues and religious institutions like KBS that have Czech Torah Scrolls. He provided us with all the names of the Jewish Polna residents that we recite during Yizkor each year. | |
| Gina Shar | Mar 18, 2014 | 16 Adar II 5774 | Eric Gottesman’s sister | |
| Roy Sharfin* | Jun 18, 2008 | 15 Sivan 5768 | A longtime Taos Dentist and 5th grade science teacher in New Mexico and also taught science in an elementary school in Ecuador. He and his wife Sharon moved to the Big Island about two years ago before he passed and were active members of KBS | |
| Mildred Sigler* | 2005 or 2004 | unk | Ed Sigler’s wife | |
| Edward Sigler* | Aug 9, 2002 | 1 Elul 5762 | Ed was from New York and studied with the famed Art Students League. He became a sheet music artist who created classic covers and advertising art for such famous music icons as Irving Berlin, Kate Smith and Gene Autry. Later he concentrated on human movement, painting hula, sumo wrestling, the Ironman Triathlon, and eventually boxing. He had his Bar Mitzvah with KBS at age 93 | |
| Rabbi Hanan Sills | Feb 3, 2020 | 8 Shevat 5780 | Rabbi Hanan served KBS as High Holidays Rabbi in 1992. He returned on several occasions to lead Shabbat services. He grew up in Pittsburgh and after several years as a political activist and classical musician, he began to reconnect with his love of spiritual Judaism partly inspired by Reb Shlomo’s music, reinforced later by his early meetings with Reb Zalman. During the 70s and 80s Hanan served as a “circuit-riding rabbi” in the Pacific Northwest bringing creativity, music and “The Joy of Jewishing” to local communities, introducing them to Jewish Renewal. He was the founding rabbi of Oregon Hillel in Eugene and founded Ad-Olam Synagogue without walls. | |
| William Silver* | Mar 31, 2001 | 2 Nisan 5761 | Roz Silver’s first husband. An accountant in Kona | |
| Dr. Louis Spielman | Mar 17, 2010 | 2 Nisan 5770 | Kona anesthesiologist who then retired to become a farmer. Brother of Dr. Stuart Spielman, one of KBS’ first presidents. | |
| Dr. Madlyn Stein | May 1, 2016 | 26 Nisan 5776 | Trina Yerlick’s aunt | |
| Dr. Charles Steinman | Mar 23, 1971 | 26 Adar 5731 | Judy Steinman’s dad, Dr Charles Steinman, was a vascular surgeon with 17 patents to his name. He died at age 49 from a cerebral hemorrhage the day after performing an 8 hour surgery to save an 86 year old man’s life. It was he who taught Judy her love of Judaism (and also the proper way to swing an axe to chop wood). | |
| Alexander Robbins Steinman | Sep 11, 2001 | 23 Elul 5761 | Judy Steinman’s second cousin who was killed in the World Trade Center | |
| Ida Steinman | Nov 30, 1989 | 2 Kislev 5750 | Judy Steinman’s beloved grandmother. She walked across Russia and Europe, smuggling fish, salt, furs and anything else she could scrounge. She grew grapes, horseradish, apples, cherries and beefsteak tomatoes on a tiny strip of land in Staten Island and lived to the age of 99 | |
| Lewis H. Strauss* | Dec. 12, 2020 | 26 Kislev 5781 | Lewis was born in New York City and then moved with his family to Washington, DC. His father, Rear Adm. Lewis L. Strauss, U.S.N., was chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission from 1953 to 1958. In the late 1970s or early 80s he moved to Hawaii with his wife, Dara, and the couple built their home in Holualoa. He was an early member of KBS. Lewis was a physicist and an inventor. After Dara passed away, Lewis remained in Holualoa for several years and eventually moved to Scottsdale, Arizona with his companion, JoAnn Shelly. He was 96 or 97 when he died in Scottsdale and is survived by two daughters and one son who live on the East Coast. | |
| Mark Talisman | Jul 11, 2019 | 8 Tamuz 5779 | Named to the President’s Commission on the Holocaust under President Carter, he was one of the founders of the US Holocaust Museum. He selected our Torah from over 1,500 scrolls that had been uncovered in a warehouse in Prague meant to be part of a Nazi “Museum of a Dead Race” after the war, but were later brought to the Westminster Synagogue in London to be restored. He brought our Torah scroll to us in 1985 | |
| Jean Walzer* | Jan 29, 2026 | 11 Sh’vat 5786 | Trina Yerlick’s mother, Jean Walzer, was born In Dayton, Ohio on April 6, 1927. She went to undergraduate school at Ohio State and then got her masters at NYU where she taught English writing for many years. She traveled and taught all over the world including Mexico, Thailand, China and Laos and finally slowed down at age 78 to come to live in Hawaii near Trina and Shai until age 97 when they all moved to California to be near the family. Jean was a wine expert and gave many tastings over the years. She was also a voracious reader. She really enjoyed her 6 grandchildren as well as two great grandchildren, Lia and Gabe, and will be remembered by all. She is resting peacefully at Fernwood Cemetery in Marin. | |
| Jerome Walzer | Jun 15, 1979 | 20 Sivan 5739 | Trina Yerlick’s father. He was a businessman in New York and an art collector. | |
| Robert Israel Walzer | Oct 21, 2021 | 15 Cheshvan 5782 | Trina Yerlick’s brother. He died at the age of 69 after a long, courageous fight with esophageal cancer. A smart businessman who loved sports, especially the Mets, the Jets and all teams New York. Trina well remembers his terrific Bar Mitzvah | |
| Bernice Weiner* | Oct 22, 2006 | 5 Cheshvan 5767 | Mother of Eileen Weiner and the inspiration for Eileen’s “Doing Bernice,” a one-woman musical about caring for her mother who had Alzheimer’s Disease | |
| Enez Weinronk | Mar 18, 2014 | 17 Adar II 5774 | Mother of Vivienne Aronowitz | |
| David Weinronk | Nov 15, 1969 | 5 Kislev 5730 | Father of Vivienne Aronowitz | |
| Leonard Weisser* | Feb 23, 1993 | 2 Adar 5753 | Husband of Rebecca Weisser. | |
| Rebecca Weisser* | Sep 7, 2013 | 3 Tishrei 5774 | One of the founders of KBS. Moved to Portland, OR where she eventually passed. | |
| Miriam Wexler | May 18, 2004 | 27 Iyar 5764 | Mother of Sandy Wexler | |
| Scott Wolfson | Mar 5, 2020 | 9 Adar 5780 | Alysa Freeman’s brother, was one of the first to pass away from Covid-19. He went to the Bronx High School of Science and was a professional bowler, kitchen designer and a tremendous animal lover (dogs and cats). | |
| Nat Wolozin* | Apr 6, 2005 | 26 Adar 5765 | Brother of Pauline Donovet. Born on Dec. 16, 1918, in Waterbury, CN and later lived in Kona | |
| Emanuel David Zola | Mar 26, 2022 | 23 Adar II 5782 | Emanuel, who was born Oct 21, 1968, was the son of Michael Zola, past president of KBS. He was an attorney at Zola, Wegman & Associates in Beverly Hills |