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August 2012 Obituaries

August 1st, 2012

Melvin Bernstein of Naples, Fla., died May 31 of congestive heart failure. He was 85.

He was a Milwaukee native who graduated from Shorewood High School in 1944 and, after service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, from Purdue University in 1949 with a degree in chemical engineering.

He worked for Milbrew, Amber Labs, Biospur, and Larkspur. He was a member of the American Chemical Society.

His after-work interests included ham radio and golf. He was a member of the American Radio Relay League since 1941, of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, and of Beth Tikvah Conservative synagogue in Naples.

He is survived by his wife, Sharon (nee Beckerman); daughter Mary (William) Pinkerson of Long Beach, Calif.; sons Rabbi David (Leba) Bernstein and Rabbi Yaacov (Ruchel) Bernstein, both of Spring Valley, N.Y.; 17 grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren.

Blane Goodman Funeral Service handled arrangements. His sons officiated at the funeral on June 3. Burial was in Spring Hill Cemetery.

Julie Wynne Gill of Berkeley, Calif., died Feb. 3. She was 68.

She was born in Milwaukee, graduated from Whitefish Bay High School in 1961, and attended Bradley University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She worked as a jewelry designer in Berkeley, and formerly managed subscriptions at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. She was a member of the California Bread Society and of the Temple Sinai Choir in Oakland, Calif. She enjoyed theater, music, movies, and mysteries.

She is survived by partner Randy Michelson of Berkeley and Silver Spring, Md.; sister Sonia Gill (Bill Grieco) of Berkeley, and brother David Gill (Ann Ma) of Oakland, Calif.

Funeral and burial took place in California on March 25.

The family would appreciate memorial contributions to the Julie Gill Memorial Drama Fund;, c/o Berkeley High School, 1980 Allston Way, Berkeley, Calif., 94704.

Rosalie “Roz” R. Kilsdonk, nee Perchonok, of Racine died July 9 at Wheaton Franciscan-All Saints Medical Center. She was 83.

She was born in Milwaukee and graduated from Washington High School in 1947. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and graduated from the Mt. Sinai School of Nursing in 1951.

She worked as a nurse in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Madison, Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Milwaukee, and the A-Center in Racine.

In 1952, she married Bernard Skurek, who preceded her in death. She married Alfred Kilsdonk in 1974.

Her hobbies included golf, needlework, reading, traveling, and walking.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by children Lori (John) Kilsdonk, Karen (Tom) Evans, Michael (Michele) Skurek, Kathleen (David) Berwick, and Mary Kay Garside; brother Fred (Barbara) Perchonok; brother-in-law Ted Pittleman; and 12 grandchildren.

Maresh-Meredith & Acklam Funeral Home handled arrangements. A graveside service was held July 13 at West Lawn Memorial Park. Rabbi Martyn Adelberg officiated.

Memorial contributions to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 200 S. Executive Dr., Suite 203, Brookfield, Wis., 53005, have been suggested.

Ruth Rose Kohler, nee Hansher, of Bayside died April 23 of natural causes. She was 95.

She was a Milwaukee native who graduated from North Division High School. According to her family, “her ‘job’ (by choice) was to be an exceptional homemaker — though early in her life she worked in retail sales.”

She was a member of Congregation Shalom, a life member of NAAMAT USA, Hadassah, and the Morris R. Guten Auxiliary No. 487 of the Jewish War Veterans. She also was active in Jewish Family Services and a member of the Fox Point-Bayside LX Club.

Her husband, Julius N. Kohler, died in 1991. She is survived by daughters Marilyn (David) Franklin of Fox Point and Sandra (Scott) Stern of Mequon; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Rabbis Marc Berkson and Ronald Shapiro officiated at funeral services at Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun on April 25. Burial was in Second Home Cemetery.

The family would appreciate memorial contributions to Congregations Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun or Shalom, or to a charity of choice.

Former Milwaukee attorney Philip Weinberg died of a drug-resistant infection on June 22 in California. He was 105.

He was born in 1907 on a farm in Jefferson County. The family moved to Whitewater where his father established a scrap yard. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison law school, where he achieved honors and was elected to Coif, the legal honor society.

In 1935, he married Edythe Rothman of Milwaukee. He established a law practice in Milwaukee with Morris Karon, but every Wednesday worked in Whitewater, and kept up both until he and Edythe moved to California in 1990. In Milwaukee, he was active with Mound Zion Cemetery, serving as its president.

His wife died in San Francisco in 2000. He is survived by daughters Sandra (Dr. Gerson) Bernhard and Barbara (Jerold) Babin, and son Dr. David (Twyla) Weinberg, all of the San Francisco area; four granddaughters; and nine great-grandchildren.

According to daughter Sandra Bernhard, Edythe and Philip Weinberg were both cremated and their ashes put to sea; but headstones for them were erected at Mound Zion Cemetery in Milwaukee.

Environmental, educational, humanitarian, and women’s rights activist Charlotte Ruth Zieve, nee Cantor, of Elkhart Lake died June 23. She was 85.

She grew up in Chicago and earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois-Champagne. She met her husband, Edward Zieve, there; and they moved to Milwaukee in 1948 from Kalamazoo, Mich. Edward taught at Milwaukee School of Engineering, while Charlotte worked in a laboratory at Marquette University.

Later, Edward established a heating and ventilating sales engineering business. In the 1970s, after her children were grown, Charlotte earned a master’s degree in botany at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and she added to that a Ph.D. from the UW-Madison Institute for Environmental Studies in 1986, when she was in her 50s.

The Zieves were members of Congregation Shalom. They moved to Elkhart Lake in 1985, where Edward owned and operated Kees Inc.

When she lived in Milwaukee, Charlotte volunteered for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Future Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Audubon Society (serving as president), and the SE Wisconsin Coalition for Clean Air. She served as an advisor to governor’s commissions on outdoor recreation and related issues. She was active in the Milwaukee Hadassah chapter, according to her granddaughter Olivia Zieve of Seattle, Wash.

In Elkhart Lake, she served on the library board, the Wisconsin Sheboygan Foundation board (where held the office of president), the advisory council of the Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program, the State of Wisconsin Recycle Council, and the Bookworm Gardens board.

She also was a world traveler, who visited 83 countries, according to her family. She served as a delegate to United Nations Conferences on Women.

She became particularly interested in Malawi, an impoverished African country, when Lakeland College founded a program to bring students from that country to the college. She mentored many of those students.

After she learned that girls in Malawi dropped out of school around age 12 because the schools had no girls’ bathroom facilities, she funded the construction of such facilities, according to a June 25 article in the Sheboygan Press.

She was preceded in death by two sons, Clifford in 1975 and Andrew in 2000. In addition to her husband, she is survived by sons Gary (June) Zieve of Northport, N.Y., Peter (Maria) Zieve of Mukilteo, Wash.; daughters Wendy (David Matthews) Zieve of Shoreline, Wash., and Kathie (Bob) Norman of Sheboygan; daughters-in-law Christine Zieve of Telluride, Colo., and Sandie Zieve of Seattle, Wash.; and 14 grandchildren.

A memorial service was held on June 25 at Ballhorn Chapels in Sheboygan.

The family would appreciate memorial contributions to Bookworm Gardens-Charlotte Zieve Education Fund or Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.