Longtime Milwaukee resident Esther Bankier, née Kramer, died July 28 of complications of diabetes and hip surgery. She was 79.
She was born Dec. 24, 1924, in Lvov, Poland. According to her family, “She was orphaned in 1941 in Poland and had no known surviving relatives following the invasion of eastern Poland by the Nazis.
“She and two other orphans were evacuated from their high school to the Soviet Union, where they survived the war. Despite efforts to find surviving family members, none were ever found.” She came to Wisconsin from Italy in 1948.
With her husband, Michael Bankier, who died in 1980, she owned Michael’s Waste Materials Co. She was a member of Congregation Beth Jehudah.
She is survived by sons Sheldon (Andrea) Bankier of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Reuben (Joan Gigl) Bankier of Milwaukee; daughter Shirley (Mark Plotkin) Bankier of Milwaukee; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Rabbi Michel Twerski officiated at graveside services July 29. Burial was in Beth Hamedrosh Hagodel.
The family would appreciate memorials to the charity of the donor’s choice.
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