| Name | Yahrzeit Date (Eng) | Yahrzeit Date (Heb) | Biography |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norman Allen | November 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* | September 19, 2006 | 26 Elul 5766 | Was Bar Mitzvah as an adult 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 | June 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 |
| Marlyn Axelrod | May 6, 2000 | 1 Iyar 5760 | Alan Axelrod's wife |
| Alan Axelrod | April 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. |
| Tana Hecht Basa | December 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 |
| Josef Basch | July 19, 2002 | 10 Av 5762 | Concentration camp survivor and then an officer in the Israeli Army. |
| Morton Bassan* | July 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* | June 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 |
| Irwin Isaac Berman | December 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. |
| Elaine Berman | February 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 ZL, 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 ingenue 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. |
| Alan Steven Berman | June 20, 2022 | 21 Sivan 5782 | Avraham Shmuel ben Eta v'Yitschak Itzek HaLevi, Shari Berman's brother, passed away at age 64 in Boston |
| Bernie Bernstone | June 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. |
| Nate Bernstone | January 24, 2000 | 17 Sh'vat 5760 | Father of Mike Bernstone and Norma Edelman |
| Lottie Bernstone | March 16, 2013 | 5 Nisan 5773 | Mother of Mike Bernstone and Norma Edelman |
| William Bernzweig | October 23, 2004 | 8 Cheshvan 5765 | Sara Nealy's uncle |
| Eli Bernzweig | December 21, 2018 | 13 Tevet 5779 | Sara Nealy's father |
| Melvin Bernzweig | March 2, 2001 | 7 Adar 5761 | Sara Nealy's uncle |
| Fannie Bernzweig | March 5, 1976 | 3 Adar 5736 | Sara Nealy's grandmother |
| Lorraine Bernzweig | March 29, 2017 | 2 Nisan 5777 | Sara Nealy's mother |
| Abraham Bernzweig | June 6, 1968 | 10 Sivan 5728 | Sara Nealy's grandfather |
| Rose Bersack | September 2, 1985 | 16 Elul 5745 | Family of Lorraine Highkin |
| Louis Bersack | November 10, 1986 | 8 Cheshvan 5747 | Family of Lorraine Highkin |
| Saul Binder* | July 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 | February 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 Manhatten. He greatly enjoyed traveling and ultimately moved to San Francisco with his wife, Jeanne, to live near his their sons, Robert and Barry |
| Jeanne Blum* | August 10, 2006 | 16 Av 5766 | Barry Blum's mom. Born in 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* | September 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 | February 8, 2022 | 7 Adar 5782 | Ruth Irene Bratton, mother of Alice Bratton, passed away in Crawfordsville, Indiana, at the age of 94 |
| Morty Breier* | March 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 | September 16, 2009 | 27 Elul 5769 | Ruth Bernstone's mother |
| Abraham Brightman | November 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 | October 29, 2012 | 13 Cheshvan 5773 | Ruth Bernstone's brother |
| Lawrence William Cohn | January 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 | August 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 | August 31, 2021 | 23 Elul 5781 | Sister of Howard Edelman |
| David Crohn | March 21, 1994 | 4 Nisan 5759 | |
| Padma Rag Datta | August 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* | August 7, 1995 | 11 Av 5755 | Was first secretary of KBS |
| Abraham Edelman | January 31, 1962 | 27 Sh'vat 5722 | Father of Howard Edelman |
| Edith Edelman | May 2, 2000 | 27 Nisan 5760 | Mother of Howard Edelman |
| Corey Elias | July 3, 2015 | 16 Tamuz 5775 | Sister of Tamar Elias |
| Isidor Elias | June 22, 2002 | 12 Tamuz 5762 | Father of Tamar Elias |
| Sonya Elias | February 13, 2019 | 8 Adar 5779 | Mother of Tamar Elias |
| Jacob Feldman | March 21, 2008 | 14 Adar II 5768 | |
| Bob Feldman* | April 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. |
| Arthur Feldman | June 3, 1988 | 18 Sivan 5748 | |
| Tony Franken* | October 8, 2012 | 22 Tishrei 5773 | Tony served on the KBS Board from 2005-2008. Incidentally he was Al Franken's cousin |
| Dr. Phil Freed | March 20, 2019 | 13 Adar II 5779 | Veterinarian in Kona |
| Florence Freeman | October 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. |
| Leona Freeman | August 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 |
| Abraham Freeman | March 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. |
| Evelyn Bernzweig Friedman | December 18, 1965 | 24 Kislev 5726 | Sara Nealy's aunt |
| Edith Frieser | April 8, 2015 | 19 Nisan 5775 | |
| Ari Gildener | July 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. |
| Alan Gimpel | October 22, 1994 | 17 Cheshvan 5755 | Joel Gimpel's father |
| Edith Gimpel | March 1, 1991 | 15 Adar 5751 | Joel Gimpel's mother |
| Eileen Gimpel | November 22, 1996 | 11 Kislev 5757 | Joel Gimpel's first wife and mother of their two children. Died in Kona. |
| Kris Gitelson | February 7, 2022 | 6 Adar 5782 | Wife of Barry Gitelson |
| Pauline Gitelson | March 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* | July 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* | November 30, 2023 | 17 Kislev 5784 | He was born in Los Angeles on July 22, 1931 and enjoyed a rich and varied career. As an audio-visual specialist in the L.A. School system, he met Ruth. They married in 1961 and shortly thereafter, Myron adopted Ruth's 3-year-old son, Dean Olch. The Glatts owned a wine and cheese shop and also a gymnasium. 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 to the Kailua-Kona Pier where he swam nearly every day. He taught Tai Chi in Kona for several decades. Life is terminal but not serious |
| Dr. Gary Goldberg | July 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 | February 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 | December 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. |
| James Gottesman | September 9, 1973 | 12 Elul 5733 | Eric Gottesman's father |
| Leona Gottesman | September 14, 1998 | 23 Elul 5758 | Eric Gottesman's mother |
| Mark Gottesman | May 7, 2016 | 29 Nisan 5776 | Eric Gottesman's brother |
| Barbara Green | October 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 | July 7, 2012 | 17 Tamuz 5772 | Passed away on Oahu, buried in Beit HaShaMayim |
| Bill Hauser | December 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 | July 6, 2000 | 3 Tamuz 5760 | |
| Sara Pearl Heyman | February 6, 2004 | 14 Sh'vat 5764 | Marilyn Anderson's mother |
| Louis Heyman | April 2, 1990 | 7 Nisan 5750 | |
| Harry Highkin* | August 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 | January 4, 2015 | 13 Tevet 5775 | Highly respected allergist and immunoligist in Kona. Husband of Alex Bliss Walker |
| Joseph Itman | November 5, 1943 | 7 Cheshvan 5704 | Gloria Blum's dad. Born in Russia. Died in Minneapolis |
| Leah Itman | January 27, 1984 | 23 Sh'vat 5744 | Gloria Blum's mother. Born in Poland. Died in Minneapolis |
| Vera Betty Janes | August 9, 2004 | 5 Av 5765 | Mother of Paul Janes |
| Arthur Janes | June 15, 1978 | 10 Sivan 5738 | Father of Paul (Shaul) Janes |
| Stephanie Nelson Jongert | July 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. |
| Ellen Kimiatek | April 2, 2008 | 26 Adar II 5768 | Joel Gimpel's oldest sister. |
| Dr. Gerald Klaz* | September 7, 2019 | 7 Elul 5779 | Family practice physician, lived part-time in L.A. Husband of Paige Halliday. |
| Morton Klein | September 18, 2005 | 14 Elul 5765 | |
| Ernie Knapp* | January 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 when it was appropriate, 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. |
| Dr. Clifford Kopp | October 14, 2016 | 12 Tishrei 5777 | Dentist (prosthedontist) in Kona, well loved for his many community service activities. |
| Lillian Labes | December 19, 2011 | 23 Kislev 5772 | Meredith Miller's mother |
| Irving Labes | April 16, 2011 | 12 Nisan 5771 | Meredith Miller's father |
| Saul Lelah* | May 10, 2018 | 25 Iyar 5778 | Born in Singapore. Father of Ruben Lelah (Kona psychologist) |
| Geraldine Levine | April 28, 2010 | 14 Iyar 5770 | Wife of Steve Levine (Kona) |
| Jeanette Lewis* | October 27, 2002 | 28 Tishrei 5769 | Wife of Seymour Lewis. Mother of Barbara Lewis |
| Seymour Lewis* | August 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. |
| Leah Lissauer | February 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* | June 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. |
| John Marean | August 25, 2015 | 10 Elul 5775 | Second husband of Roz Silver. He was Canadian. Their romance began online. |
| Roz Silver Marean* | December 17, 2015 | 5 Tevet 5776 | One of the founders of KBS |
| Jacqui Marlin* | June 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 | April 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! |
| Talia Miller | August 19, 1998 | 27 Av 5758 | Granddaughter of Lorraine Highkin |
| Danny Miller | September 4, 1977 | 21 Elul 5737 | |
| Martha Marty Miller | January 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. |
| Eugene Miller | April 8, 2007 | 7 Nisan 5767 | |
| Herman Miller | April 18, 1999 | 2 Iyar 5759 | |
| Rabbi Judea B Miller | July 9, 1995 | 11 Tamuz 5755 | Rebecca Gottesman's father |
| Anita Miller | December 2, 2015 | 20 Kislev 5776 | Rebecca Gottesman's mother |
| Dr. Paki (Bailey) Myers | March 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* | July 1, 2014 | 3 Tamuz 5774 | Wife of Erwin Myhre |
| Erwin Myhre* | November 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) | April 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 | December 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 | December 1, 1998 | 12 Kislev 5759 | |
| Lyman Olney | May 1, 1998 | 5 Iyar 5758 | |
| Ed Packer* | October 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 Reality, 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 |
| Mildred Packer* | May 5, 2010 | 21 Iyar 5770 | Wife of Ed Packer |
| Nina Perrell | August 28, 2012 | 10 Elul 5772 | Lived in Hawi |
| Hadassah Plaut | July 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. |
| Rabbi Walter Plaut | January 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. |
| Phil Plotkin* | July 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* | September 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. Just recently 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. |
| Lisa Pozen | April 14, 2004 | 23 Nisan 5764 | |
| Teunisse Rabin | September 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. |
| 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 |
| Robert Reichman | June 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. |
| Sara Axelrod Ribner | July 30, 1952 | 8 Av 5712 | Sara Nealy's grandmother |
| Sarah Burger Ribner | August 13, 2001 | 24 Av 5761 | Sara Nealy's grandmother |
| Richard Ribner, MD | November 29, 2000 | 2 Kislev 5761 | Sara Nealy's uncle |
| Isaac Ribner | January 22, 1981 | 17 Sh'vat 5741 | Sara Nealy's uncle |
| Abraham David Ribner | May 23, 1978 | 16 Iyar 5738 | Sara Nealy's grandfather |
| Dr. Ray Rosenthal | April 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. |
| Herman Rosner | September 15, 2014 | 10 Elul 5774 | Father of Leon Rosner |
| Lily Rosner | April 19, 2009 | 25 Nisan 5769 | Mother of Leon Rosner |
| Jerry Rothstein* | January 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'Shvat in Lapahoehoe with members of KBS. He and his wife Judy were the first to be buried in KBS's Beit HaShaMayim. |
| Judy Rothstein* | January 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 Rothsteon, lives on the Big Island. Judy was the pianist for New Thought Church in Kona |
| Rosalind Salomon | October 30, 1993 | 15 Cheshvan 5754 | Sister of Una Greenaway |
| Dr. Charles (Chaz) Salzberg | April 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* | June 28, 2011 | 26 Sivan 5771 | Born in Brooklyn. Mother of Una Greenaway and servied on the Board of KBS. |
| Nancy Satz* | September 23, 2019 | 23 Elul 5779 | Therapist in Kona |
| Barry Saunders* | November 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* | July 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, zl, (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. |
| Grace Goldsmith Seldon | December 3, 2013 | 30 Kislev 5774 | Joan Jackson's mother, born Jun 6, 1917 |
| Samuel Seldon | April 19, 2004 | 28 Nisan 5764 | Joan Jackson's father, born May 19, 1917 |
| Leon Sevilla* | August 31, 1995 | 5 Elul 5755 | Born in 1910. First came to Hawaii when he started his business in China. |
| Rabbi Mark Shapiro | August 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 | March 18, 2014 | 16 Adar II 5774 | Eric Gottesman's sister |
| Roy Sharfin* | June 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 |
| Edward Sigler* | August 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 |
| Mildred Sigler* | 2005 or 2004 | unk | Ed Sigler's wife |
| William Silver* | March 31, 2001 | 2 Nisan 5761 | Roz Silver's first husband. An accountant in Kona |
| Dr. Louis Spielman | March 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 |
| Alexander Robbins Steinman | September 11, 2001 | 23 Elul 5761 | Judy Steinman's second cousin who was killed in the World Trade Center |
| Ida Steinman | November 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 |
| Charles Steinman | March 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). |
| 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 | July 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 |
| Robert Israel Walzer | October 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 |
| Jerome Walzer | June 15, 1979 | 20 Sivan 5739 | Trina Yerlick's father. He was a businessman in New York and an art collector. |
| Bernice Weiner | October 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 |
| David Weinronk | November 15, 1969 | 5 Kislev 5730 | |
| Enez Weinronk | March 18, 2014 | 17 Adar II 5774 | |
| Leonard Weisser* | February 23, 1993 | 2 Adar 5753 | Husband of Rebecca Weisser. |
| Rebecca Weisser* | September 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 | March 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* | April 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 | March 26, 2022 | 23 Adar II 5782 | Emanuel, who was born Oct 21, 1968, was the son of Michael Zola, past president of KBS. |