>>Our Family Story <<

Dr. Michael Heller, son of Terry (Sovel) and Dr. Arthur Heller, was married on March 25th to Dr. Christie Osborne in Denver. Michael is the grandson of the late Vera (Fine) and Harry Sovel, great grandson of the late Eli and Minerva (Lipschutz) Fine and 2nd great grandson of Toiba (Geffen) and David Lipschutz. Christie is the daughter of Nancy and Sam Osborne. Click here for photos.

Births

A boy, Eitan Chaim, was born to Uri Zvi and Rebekah Zwiebel Munson in May of 2007. and joined his two older sisters Shoshana Aviva and Ariel Noa. Eitan is the grandson of Rabbi Rela Mintz Geffen and the great grandson of Rabbi Joel and Sylvia Geffen.

In June of 2007 a son, Joshua Ryder Duby, was born to Rabbi Wendi Geffen and her husband Scott Duby. Rabbi Wendi is the daughter of Arthur Harold Geffen.

A son. Naveh, was born to Noam and Hannah Geffen in Israel. Naveh is the grandson of Dr. David and Mitzi Geffen, and the great grandson of Dr. Abraham and the late Ethel Geffen.

Events

From Rita Geffen....April 17, 2008

A quick note to wish you and yours a good holiday - Hope this finds you and all your loved ones well....

Avie (our oldest) is now acting CEO of the national water company - Jeremy is a partner in his law firm - Ori (ELissa's) enters the army in May in the film and graphics dept. of the Intelligence branch (a real coup), expecting 2 more grandchildren - rest of family is doing fine........

Take care and keep in touch - David joins me in wishing you only the best.

Rela Mintz Geffen stepped down as President of Baltimore Hebrew University on July 1, 2007, moved from Baltimore back to Philadelphia and is currently on sabitical.

Bruce Geffen from Ann Arbor, Michigan, competed and finished in the Ironman race in Panama City Beach, Florida. There were 2100 Entrants in the race and Bruce finished 1341. According to Bruce it was a real thrill when as he finished the race the announcer called out...."Bruce Geffen from Ann Arbor, Michigan...YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!!
Congratulations Bruce

March 2006....Peter Geffen celebrates his 60th Birthday. Click here for photo enlargement....Happy Birthday Peter.

From Robert and Yaffa Geffen
December 2007

News from here (Moshav Nir Moshe): our son Idan (17) became a black belt in karate this year. Our daughter Aynat just came back from an exchange trip between her school, the Shaar Hanegev High School, and the San Diego Jewish Academy. They are both still dodging kassam missiles on their school which is in Sderot, as I do where I work (I manage a seed production farm in Moshav Netiv Haasara).

Deaths

Vera Sovel Flaxman, nee Fine, mother of Marjorie Goldberg and Terry Heller, sadly passed away on April 16th, 2005. She is survived by her two daughters, two son-in-laws, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren. She is greatly mourned and missed by her family and friends. Vera was an intrical participant in creating this site and provided much of the information. She was a member of the Fine, Geffen and Lipschutz families by birth, and the Chaiken, Chazanov and Zavelsky families by marriage. Her grandmother was, Toiba Geffen Lipschutz from Vilkomir. Click here for tributes

Alan Lipton , son of the late Charles and Kitty Lipschutz and grandson of the late Toiba (Geffen) and David Lipschutz, in Springfield, PA on April 20, 2008. He is survived by his wife Nancy Gordon and two daughters and a son, and his sister Minerva Lipschutz Barsky.

Mitchell Geffen passed away on August 1, 2006 in Los Angeles. He was the son of the late Abraham and Batcha Geffen and grandson of Elias and Minna Geffen.

William Lucker passed away on February 20, 2008. Bill was the son of Devera (Bloom) and the late Norman Lucker. His obituary follows:

William "Bill" Lucker was a driving force behind the scenes and an occasional on-air voice familiar to listeners of the radio program "Saturday Light Brigade."Mr. Lucker, of Monroeville, died Wednesday of brain cancer. He was 46.He was a project manager for Chester Engineers Inc., but devoted two decades to volunteering as a producer and co-host for "Saturday Light Brigade," a weekly family and children's show that airs on WRCT-FM and other public radio stations throughout the region.Mr. Lucker had been a friend of program founder and host Larry Berger since junior high school. He joined the show in 1984, which at the time aired on WYEP-FM, as a producer and co-host.Mr. Berger said Mr. Lucker's love of music, encyclopedic memory for facts and trivia, and keen attention to detail made him a valuable part of the show."People remember Bill for his laugh," Mr. Berger said. "He had this infectious on-air laugh that people just loved."

Mr. Lucker took a sabbatical from the show in 2003 in order to have more free time on the weekends and to take care of his father, the late Norman Lucker, who died in 2004. But he continued to serve on the show's advisory board.

Mr. Lucker, who enjoyed traveling and made several trips to Europe, was also interested in genealogy and did extensive research on his family, documenting more than 6,600 relatives.He is survived by his mother, Devera Bloom Lucker of Wilkins, and sister, Roberta Kitchenoff of Wynnewood, Bucks County.

Shumel Singer, husband of Adina Mekler Singer and father of Shimona and Yehuda passed away on December 15, 2007, at the age of 92.

Father Roger Geffen, son of the late Maxwell and Pauline Geffen and grandson of the late Abraham David and Anna Geffen, passed away March 7, 2007 in Needham, MA. He is survived by four children.

Phyllis Simon Brenner passed away on April 23rd. She was the daughter of the late Lottie (Geffen) and Abe Simon. Below is a letter written by Rabbi David Geffen to the officiating Rabbi for the funeral In Atlanta:

Dear Hillel,

I want to thank you very much for officiating at my cousin Phyllis' funeral. As you well know, she is the last direct descendant of Rabbi and Mrs. Geffen z'l living in Atlanta. Fortunately, Rabbi and Mrs. Geffen brought Bert Lewyn, their nephew, to Atanta after he had amazingly survived the Holocaust in Berlin. In June 1941, Bert moved to Atlanta. Two years later, he married Esther Sloan; they have five children and 6 grandchildren. So they are now the Geffen descendants in Atlanta.

I am writing you just a little (use what you want)about my cousin Phyllins z'l, or as Rabbi and Mrs. Geffen first called her Feigie. Born in Spartanburg South Carolina on May 1 1936, she grew up in a very warm home with an older brother Harold z'l, her mother Lottie Geffen Simon z'l and her father Abe,Abba, Simon z'l who fought in the Jewish legion in Palestine in World War 1 and had speaking ability in Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish along with English.

Rabbi and Mrs. Geffen z'l seemed to have special concern for Harold and Feigie. In the spring of 1940, the rabbi wrote in his diary. "Feigie will be going to school next year and Lottie just heard that Harold passed and will be promoted."Lottie and Abe invested a lot of money for tutoring and private schooling for Phyllis and Harold. From what I have heard - it became clear that my cousins'problems were more than learning dissabilities.

Phyllis suffered the most from the entire situation because in 1949, when she was a teenager, her father Abe Simon died of cancer. He was a real romantic having fought in the Jewish legion and his courtship letters to Lottie, in the Geffen papers at Emory, display real love and emotion. Phyllis told me on various occasions that he called her his little princess. She finished high school and then worked off and on for a few years at her mother's ""Ladies-Ready to Wear"store. From the mid-fifties Phyllis spent a good deal of time living in Atlanta with her grandparents. They took care of her and tried to work out a Shidduch.

Anna and Louis acted as her second parents. I saw this clearly since I was still living at home. When Esther and Bert were married, Phyllis, Harold and I were the only cousins present. This is documented in that lovely picture in Bert's book Ön the Run in Nazi Germany."

What became the great love of Phyllis'life was the late Elvis Presley. Those who grew up with that craze in the 1950's experienced a new music which was a combination of black jive and potent white downtown melodies. When Elvis appeared at the Fox Theater(I was not present) the reports and the pictures were of young women rapturous over a slithering, bump and grind Elvis. I am sure that Phyllis felt this way about him. She bought many of his records, books and magazines.

Phyllis loved to write and type - sadly nothing was really preserved. In her writings(I read some secretly)she expressed the longings for a real life - not one in which she was directed what to do. She wanted to be free-her own person. She missed Harold terribly after his death because they were very close.

None of us knew Arthur Berner whom she married. He was a veteran of World War II and worked, I think, at an aircraft factory. When Phyllis married Arthur, how very excited she was. There was a lovely wedding at Shearith Israel with all her mother's siblings present. Arthur and Phyllis lived in a nice apartment just off Highland ave., and because of Lottie's efforts, everything was blissful. Shakespeare could not have written this story's end any more bitterly. One morning Arthur went to work; he did not feel well so he was sent to a clinic; from there he went to the Lawson VA hospital and died that evening. Nothing could have been worse for Phyllis - finally free now she had to return to her mother's side.

The remainder of Phyllis' life was continual sadness - her mother died, her friend Caroln Kessler died, my parents died. With incredible drive - our cousin Joel Ziff determined to make Phyllis's life more than just the hell of existence. He worked incessantly to find facilities in which Phyllis could stay, he dealt with her medical problems from afar - he found Mandy and hired her to work on the governmental benefits Phyllis should have gotten for years. Then it was clear that the only place Phyllis could be was the Jewish Home in Atlanta.

Mandy, who cared for Phyllis with deep love and devotion, pulled all the strings to get her admitted to the Jewish Home, where her last years were spent.

Rita and I send our condolences from Jerusalem as Phyllis is laid to rest.

We were glad she could attend my parents' last birthday party also held at the

Jewish Home.

Hillel - hope this may be helpful... thanks again for officiating.

david

Jerry Geffen, 81, of Sun City, passed away Sunday, January 7, 2007. He was born on September 21, 1925 in Portland, OR, to the late David and Nettie Geffen. He was a member of the U.S. Navy, serving during WWII. Jerry was a salesman for Paymaster check writers for over 30 years. He was an avid golfer, sports fan, a loving father and friend and his presence will be deeply missed. Jerry is preceded in death by wife, Shirley Sher Geffen, second wife, Peggy Howk Geffen, and granddaughter, Jennifer Sara Horne. He is survived by his son, Michael Geffen of Phoenix; daughter Diann Horne of Salt Lake City, UT; brother, Herbert Geffen of Las Vegas, NV and granddaughter, Michelle Horne of Salt Lake City, UT.

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