Bernice Judith Singer Baron

Longtime Milwaukee resident Bernice Judith Singer Baron died Feb. 27 of congestive heart failure. She was 95.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., she came to Milwaukee in 1932 as the bride of Rabbi Joseph L. Baron of Congregation Emanuel B’ne Jeshurun. Rabbi Baron died in 1960.

She was a violinist who performed locally. She also taught privately and served on the faculty of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.

The daughter of a well-known violinist, Julius Singer, she received her early training from her father and graduated from Juilliard School of Music in 1931. She was a scholarship student of Serge Korgueff and Leopold Auer, who, according to Baron’s daughter, was considered to be the greatest violin teacher of his era.

She was the secretary of the Milwaukee Music Teachers Association; a member for over 60 years of the MacDowell Club of Milwaukee, and a member of the Saturday Arts Club.

She also served on the boards of the American Jewish Committee and Hadassah, was an honorary director of the Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning and the Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun Sisterhood, secretary of the Milwaukee Chapter of American Friends of Hebrew University, president of the Social Science Club and a member of the National Council of Jewish Women and Women’s American ORT, among other organizations.

She is survived by daughter Rachel (Matitiahu Braun) Heimovics-Braun of Orlando, Fla.; son John H. (Doris) Baron of New Orleans; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Rabbi Marc Berkson officiated at funeral services March 2. Burial was in Spring Hill Cemetery.

Memorials to the Rabbi Joseph L. Baron Museum at Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, the Rabbi Joseph L. Baron Scholarship Fund of the Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning or the Dept. of Hebrew & Semitic Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1346 Van Hise Hall, 1220 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706-1558, would be appreciated by the family.