Bernice Birnbaum
Former Milwaukeean Bernice Birnbaum, nee Szmuklerz, died Feb. 15 in Boca Raton, Fla. She was 88.
She was born in Poland and survived the Holocaust, in which her six siblings died. She came to Wisconsin after World War II.
She and her husband David Birnbaum owned a liquor business. He died in 1994.
She is survived by sons Morry L. (Mari Ellen) Birnbaum and Eddie Birnbaum; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Goodman-Bensman Whitefish Bay Funeral Home handled arrangements. Rabbi Gil-Ezer Lerer officiated at the funeral on Feb. 20. Burial was in Agudas Achim Cemetery.
The family would appreciate memorial contributions to the Jewish Museum Milwaukee.
Joseph Himes, M.D., of Bayside died Dec. 28. He was 94.
Born in Milwaukee, he graduated from North Division High School in 1938, Marquette University in 1942 and the University of Chicago Medical School in 1946.
After interning at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Appleton, he married Sally Liebman in 1947. He briefly set up practice in Waukegan, Ill., in a combined home-office designed by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
He was commissioned as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during the Korean War and served from 1950-52. After leaving the Army, he returned to Milwaukee and set up a general medical practice.
At age 40, he resumed study at the Medical College of Wisconsin to become an anesthesiologist. After completing his residency in that field in 1964, he joined the staff of Deaconess Hospital, which later became Good Samaritan Hospital, and worked there until he retired in 1987. From 1968 to 1985, he was the chief of the hospital’s anesthesiology department.
He also taught at the Medical College of Wisconsin from 1964 to 1968, where he was associate clinical professor of anesthesiology.
According to his family, he was particularly involved in cardio-vascular anesthesiology and participated in many open heart surgeries. He also developed expertise in the Swan-Genz procedure, which involves inserting a catheter in the heart’s pulmonary artery.
He was a fellow in the American College of Anesthesiology, a member of the Cardio-Vascular Society of Anesthesiology and the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine.
He was a member of Congregation Shalom. He loved classical music, played the clarinet and was a regular attendee at Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concerts. He also had a vacation home at Beaver Lake and enjoyed world travel and golf.
His first wife died in 1988. In 1989, he married Barbara Bahcall (nee Podell).
In addition to his second wife, he is survived by sons Jay (Amy) Himes, Scott (Carol) Himes and Rick Himes; step-sons Kenneth Bahcall, Dr. James (Amy) Bahcall and Steven (Kiersten) Bahcall; five grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.
Blane Goodman Funeral Service handled arrangements. Rabbi Noah Chertkoff officiated at the funeral on Dec. 31. Burial was in Second Home Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Congregation Shalom or Jewish Family Services.
Sheboygan native Mildred Kalish, nee Schwam, of Riverdale, N.Y., died March 6.
After earning an undergraduate degree in English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she moved to New York, where she met Rabbi Simon Kalish, a direct descendant of the Vorker Rebbe. After they married, they moved to Milwaukee, where they raised three children.
The rabbi served as mashgiach (dietary laws supervisor) for the Jewish Home and Care Center. Mildred wrote articles of Jewish interest for various publications, including The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle.
According to her son Raphael Kalish of Beitar Illit, Israel, “Despite not having the opportunity for Jewish learning, Jewish tradition was very important to her and Jewish laws and values were the basis around which she raised her family.”
Her husband died in 1999 in Milwaukee. After his death, she joined her children in New York.
In addition to her son, she is survived by son Joshua Kalish of Englewood, N.J.; daughter Andrea Rose Kalish of Riverdale, N.Y., and eight grandchildren.
A memorial service was held in Englewood. Burial was in Eretz Hachaim Cemetery near Beit Shemesh, Israel.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the Diskin Orphan Home in Israel or to Satmar Bikur Cholim.
Muriel S. Kirschner, nee Salinsky, of Madison died March 8 after a long illness. She was 86.
She was born in Sheboygan and graduated from Lincoln High School in Manitowoc in 1946. She earned an undergraduate degree in education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1950.
She worked as a special education teacher at Nicolet High School in Glendale.
She was an avid fan of the UW Badgers sports teams and a longtime member of the UW-Madison Alumni Association. She enjoyed mahjong, bridge, travel and reading.
She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Donald Kirschner; sons Steven Kirschner and William (Peggy) Kirschner; brother Gerald Salinsky; and a granddaughter.
At this writing, a memorial service was being planned.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin, 517 N. Segoe Rd., Suite 301, Madison, WI, 53705.
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