Isador Abrams of Whitefish Bay — a Milwaukee businessman and a mainstay at Congregation Shalom — died of heart failure on Dec. 20. He was 91.
He was born in Pittsburgh, graduated from high school there, and attended an area college but didn’t graduate. He came to Milwaukee from Rhode Island in 1941 and worked as a buyer of men’s clothing for the Gimbels department store until his retirement around 1975. He received a Retailer of the Year award.
Abrams was a founding member of Shalom, served as its president twice, was a lifetime board member and received the synagogue’s David Pasch Meritorious Service Award. According to his daughter, Ellen (Jay) Blankenship of Shorewood, he remained active in the synagogue virtually to the end of his life; as late as last October, he performed in the review “Shalom@50.com,” marking the synagogue’s 50th anniversary.
He was active in other Jewish and general community organizations and causes, including B’nai B’rith, the Milwaukee Council of Reform Congregations, the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations, Columbia Hospital and WYMS radio station.
In 1992, he and his wife Florence (nee Leon) received the William and Fannie Kesselman Senior Service Award administered by the Jewish Community Foundation, the endowment development program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
According to his daughter, Abrams “was a dignified, honest and quiet man who valued his family, his friends, his faith and his work. He inspired countless individuals through his dedication, strength and absolute integrity.”
He was preceded in death by his wife in 1995, and by his son, Lt. John L. Abrams, who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1968.
In addition to his daughter, Abrams is survived by his sister, Sylvia Livingston of Tampa, Fla.; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Rabbi Ronald Shapiro officiated at the funeral on Dec. 21. Burial was in Spring Hill Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Congregation Shalom.
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