Israel Borouchoff — Holocaust refugee, Israeli army veteran, internationally performing flutist and former professor of flute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee — died on May 26 in Colorado Springs, Colo., of cancer. He was 85.
He was born in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. He was able to flee the country in 1943 and settle in Bat Yam in then-Palestine. He joined the Israeli army and played flute in the army band.
In the 1950s, he came to New York City and studied at the Julliard School of Music through a scholarship provided by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. He met his first wife Adele when they attended a Carnegie Hall concert.
He left Julliard without a degree to play for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, then the Philadelphia Chamber Symphony Orchestra before accepting professorship at UWM in the 1960s. While in Milwaukee, he made a recording of music for flute and piano; and he performed with the Woodwind Arts Quintet.
In 1974, he became professor of flute at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., and member of the school’s Richards Quintet. He held those positions until he retired in 1992.
He performed in China and Israel as well as the U.S., including for President Jimmy Carter at the White House. He served as president of the National Flute Association in 1975-76.
He also enjoyed photography — not only taking pictures but also developing them in his own darkroom — and cooking.
He is survived by his wife Sharon Borouchoff; daughter Rachel (Alex) Raven; son Jeremy (Julie) Borouchoff; stepsons John Tyler and Christopher Tyler; and two grandchildren.
The Springs Funeral Services in Colorado Springs handled arrangements.
The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society.
Doris Cohen, nee Matras, often known as “Mrs. Roberts,” died on July 2. She was 90.
She was a Milwaukee native who graduated from Whitefish Bay High School and the University of Iowa.
For 38 years, she was the co-owner with her husband Robert A. Cohen and the buyer for Mr. Roberts Women’s Apparel.
She was a member of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun.
Her husband died in 2014. She is survived by daughter Linda Cohen of Fox Point; son Richard (Patty) Cohen of Wilmette, Ill., and one granddaughter.
North Shore Funeral Services handled arrangements. Rabbi Jessica K. Barolsky officiated at private services at Mound Zion Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Hunger Task Force.
Milwaukee native Perry I. Dinkin of Danville, Calif., died July 1 of congestive heart failure. He was 79.
He graduated from Washington High School in 1954. He worked in real estate development, and was president of the firm Deshur-Dinkin Homes.
He was a member of Congregation Shalom and served on its board of directors. He also served as a president of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, and was a member of the boards of directors of Mount Sinai Hospital and Brynwood Country Club.
He enjoyed sports, especially golf and tennis, according to his family.
He is survived by former wife Roberta Dinkin (nee Deshur); daughter Debra (Gene) Feldman and sons Jeffrey (Marci) Dinkin and Steven (Tara Fuad) Dinkin; present wife Maria Dinkin and stepsons Kosta (Laura) Xigacos, Adoni (Holly) Poledicha and Raico (Regina) Poledicha; and nine grandchildren.
The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Albert and Ann Deshur JCC Rainbow Day Camp.
Avin Mark Domnitz of New York City died June 27 of cancer. He was 71.
He was born in Milwaukee and graduated from Washington High School in 1961, the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1965 and the UW-Madison Law School in 1968.
According to a Publishers Weekly obituary on June 29 by Judith Rosen, Domnitz began his career as a trial lawyer before switching to bookselling. He owned Dickens Books in Milwaukee. That store merged with the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops and he became co-owner.
He became president of the board of the American Booksellers Association, then its chief executive officer. According to the Publishers Weekly article, “Domnitz was a staunch believer in the importance of education for booksellers, and is known for his ‘2% Solution’ seminars that helped many store owners gain a better understanding of their finances.”
That obituary also said that Domnitz “filed several lawsuits to help independent booksellers get the same sales terms as the chains.”
According to his family, he also enjoyed baseball, New York history and “finding the perfect book for himself and everyone he met.”
He is survived by his wife Rita (nee Brickman); children Mikel (Greg Esser) Domnitz, Sasha (Kevin Scott) Domnitz, Liza Domnitz and Max (Luba Shamshina) Domnitz; mother Adeline Domnitz; brothers Merrick (Anita) Domnitz and Larry (Colleen) Domnitz; and five grandchildren.
Goodman-Bensman Whitefish Bay Funeral Home handled arrangements. Rabbi Steven Adams officiated at the funeral on July 1. Burial was in Second Home Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the American Booksellers Association or the charity of the donor’s choice.
Milwaukee native Herbert Harris of Chandler, Ariz., died June 25 of natural causes. He was 87.
He graduated from Bay View High School in 1944. He attended night school to obtain qualifications as an accountant, and he worked in that capacity for the Milwaukee Public Schools for many years. After he retired in 1993, he and his wife Pearlie (nee Rosenheim) moved to Arizona.
He was a member of the Jewish War Veterans.
His wife died in 2007. He is survived by daughters Beth Harris in Phoenix, Ariz., and Cheryl Harris in Portland, Ore.; son Marc (Lisa) Harris of Phoenix; sisters Florence Holzman and Adele (Charles) Silberg of Milwaukee; brother-in-law Leonard (Lois) Rosenheim of Scottsdale; and three grandchildren.
The funeral and burial on June 28 were in Scottsdale.
The family suggests memorial contributions be made to BBYO Wisconsin Region.
Genia Lemel of Mequon died on May 29. She was 91.
She was born in Czestochowa, Poland. She survived the Holocaust in a labor camp and came to Milwaukee in 1949.
She was a homemaker. According to her daughter, Brenda Wichman, she liked to knit and do needlepoint. She spent the past three years in the Sarah Chudnow Community.
She is survived by her husband of 69 years, Sol Lemel, whom she married in Germany when they were in displaced persons camp; daughters Brenda (Craig) Wichman of Mequon and Miriam Lemel-Ritter of Los Angeles; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Blane Goodman Funeral Service handled arrangements. Rabbi Ronald Shapiro officiated at the funeral on May 31. Burial was in Agudas Achim Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions be made to Jewish Family Services.
Jewish Legion and Israel Defense Forces veteran Harry “Tzvi Hersh” Makowski of Milwaukee died June 9. He was 93.
He was born in a small town in Poland, the youngest of nine children. He moved with his family to the predominantly German city of Danzig when he was 8.
With the rise of German Nazism, members of his family tried to escape Europe. In 1940, he boarded an illegal immigrant ship for then-Palestine, but the British captured the ship and took Makowski to a prison on the Indian Ocean island Mauritius.
When the British organized the Jewish Brigade, Makowski volunteered. He served in Kenya, Egypt, Belgium and the Netherlands. After the war, he went to Palestine, joined the Haganah and served in Israel’s War of Independence.
Two of his sisters had managed to come to Milwaukee, and Makowski joined them in 1956. He worked in the ceramic tile craft in Israel and Milwaukee.
He was a member of Congregation Anshai Lebowitz. In 2014, he was featured in an exhibit about the Jewish Brigade displayed at the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear. Articles about him and his military record appeared in the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle in 2007 and 2014.
He never married and is survived by nieces and nephews.
Goodman-Bensman Whitefish Bay Funeral Home handled arrangements. Rabbi Levi Emmer officiated at the funeral on June 11. Burial was in Anshai Lebowitz Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions be made to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the Milwaukee Jewish Federation or the Jewish National Fund.
Bernice D. Rothenberg, nee Lieberthal, of Shorewood, died May 2 of natural causes. She was 97.
She was born in St. Louis and graduated from high school in Milwaukee in 1936. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She went to Washington, D.C., for a government job. There she met Sy Rothenberg. They married in Lake Peekskill, N.Y., in 1946, and moved to Milwaukee in 1947.
She worked as a program assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before she retired.
She was a member of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun. She was a volunteer for the Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning, USO and Hadassah.
Her husband died in 2004. She is survived by daughter Nancy (Mitchell) Sandler and son Larry (Marla) Rothenberg; sister-in-law Ethel Lieberthal; and four grandchildren.
Goodman-Bensman Whitefish Bay Funeral Home handled arrangements. Rabbi Marc Berkson and Cantor David Barash officiated at the funeral on May 5. Burial was in Second Home Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions be sent to Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun or the Milwaukee Jewish Home and Care Center.
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