“Though it’s overwhelming, it’s not surprising that Bernard and Helen Soref made a bequest of $6 million to the Jewish Community Foundation,” said Bert Bilsky, its executive director.
The gift, the largest to date made to the foundation, the endowment development program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, was announced Monday at the JCF Board of Trustees meeting.
The well-known philanthropists died within weeks of each other at their winter home in Palm Springs. Helen, 88, died Nov. 29 of a heart attack. Bernard, 93, died Dec. 14 “weeping over the loss of his wife and best friend,” Bilsky said.
According to Jerry Stein, JCF president, “Bernie and Helen reflected the ability of a family to create a heritage and not just an inheritance. They were strong willed and allowed the foundation staff to help them identify the needs in the community. The secret is to get a family with good intentions and the foundation staff to work together to help provide for the future.
“The Sorefs were blessed with the ability to do [philanthropic] things during their lifetime. They got to see so many good things happen because of their generosity while they were still alive. Their gift[s] epitomize what tzedakah is all about.”
Bilsky added, “The couple was always looking for ways to help the community and constantly challenged me to find projects to support. As a result, and to name only a few of their efforts, they funded the Passport to Israel program, which has helped and continues to help hundreds of local teenagers visit Israel, and the Soref Scholars program, which provides financial aid to college sophomores to continue their education. They also underwrote the Jewish community’s 150th anniversary sesquicentennial celebration and were major contributors to the federation annual campaign.”
“They were a wonderful, warm couple who enjoyed the simple pleasures of life,” said Joe Bernstein, the couple’s friend and attorney. “Despite their wealth, they lived a humble life — generous to their family, community and the Jewish community world-wide. I think charitable granting became the most important part of Bernie’s life. He was doing what few people are able to do.”
At his funeral, his son, Richard Soref, described his father as a cross between a “grizzly bear and a teddy bear.”
Others who knew them said the couple wasn’t about spending money on themselves. Rather, they truly enjoyed giving and gave with joy.
Began with ‘lifts’
Married for 46 years, Bernard and Helen Soref were benefactors of a wide variety of charities and supported many causes and projects. Initially, their trademark was donating elevators. They donated the first one in 1970 to Mt. Sinai Hospital, now Aurora Sinai Medical Center, followed by others at St. Luke’s Medical Center, the Medical College of Wisconsin, the Next Door Foundation and elsewhere throughout the city. Their name can still be found on plaques gracing many local elevators.
Helen was born in Burlington, Wis., and grew up in Milwaukee. She worked as an executive secretary to help support her family and later in retail after the death of her first husband.
A Milwaukee native, Bernard was an attorney for 13 years before joining his brother, Harry, founder of Master Lock Co., in the business in 1944 as executive vice president. He took over the helm of the family business in 1973 after the death of his nephew, Milton Soref.
After retiring in 1974, Bernard continued to work — at the business of giving away money. He went to his office every day until he was 90 to work on the charities.
Bilsky noted, “After he retired, Bernie became a professional philanthropist. He took his work very seriously and was very ‘catholic’ in his giving. We are so fortunate that he chose to channel so much of it through the Jewish Community Foundation.”
Soref and other family members established the Soref Heart Center at Sinai Samaritan Medical Center, while he and his wife created the Helen and Bernard Soref Prostate Cancer Education Fund and donated the Helen and Bernard Soref Cancer Care Center at St. Michael Hospital.
Further, they made a $100,000 gift to Temple Menorah, where they worshipped in Milwaukee, for its sanctuary, which bears their name.
Soref co-chaired the fund drive for the Milwaukee Jewish Home, now the Jewish Home and Care Center; was president of the St. Luke’s Hospital Foundation; president of the Master Lock Foundation; and a member of the boards of the Jewish National Fund and the Milwaukee Jewish Home Foundation.
In addition, the couple co-chaired the Timna Project of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Jewish National Fund and the Advance Gifts Division of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
Helen, known for her strong social conscience, was active in Na’amat of the USA, Hadassah and Women’s American ORT. She supported the Wisconsin Heart Association and the Girl Scouts of America and served on the boards of the JNF and JHCC.
“Regarding the bequest,” Bilsky said, “the couple provided us with guidelines based on their past giving, including the new Jewish Heritage Museum [planned for the Helfaer Community Services Building on Prospect Ave.], Lubavitch of Wisconsin, the Jewish Home and Care Center and Temple Menorah. Beyond these, the foundation board will work to develop priorities that will carry on their commitment and legacy.”
Survivors include four children: Richard (Alice) Soref of Newton, Mass., Sandra Soref of Milwaukee, Richard (Jane) Fairman of Yorktown, Va., and Jean (Sheldon) Meyer of South Orange, N.J.; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Services for Helen were held Dec. 3 and for Bernard on Dec. 20 at Temple Menorah. They were buried at Spring Hill Cemetery.
The family would appreciate memorials to the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Temple Menorah or the Helen and Bernard Soref Cancer Care Center at St. Michael Hospital.
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