July 2, 2021 at age 83. The Berenbaum Family mourns the loss of our great American hero – Jack Berenbaum. Born in 1937 in Babruysk, Belarus, Jack and his identical twin Peter, experienced at a very formative age the horrors of the Holocaust and of WWII, which took their father Kalman Berenbaum (born Kalman Bergman). Their younger brother Ken was born during the evacuation of Babruysk from a surprise invasion by the Natzis, who soon leveled their town.
After the war, the three brothers saw their mother and uncle Boris work multiple jobs to raise them and their cousins, all of whom were ‘Russianized’ under Stalin, but retained their strong Yiddish identities.
Throughout his very trying childhood, his hooligan adolescence, his service in the Soviet military, and his engineering education, Jack was driven by his vision of returning his family back to America. He never forgot that his mother had been born in Brooklyn, and often spoke dolefully about her parents’ tragic decision to return to Belarus just in time for WWI and the Soviet Revolution, which took the life and the livelihood of her own father Zelik Vikhman.
In 1977, Jack’s passion, tenacity and wanderlust mobilized our family’s exodus from the USSR in pursuit of the American dream, which he lived with great gusto and enthusiasm. Our immediate and extended families are eternally grateful to Jack for leading our way to new adventures and opportunities. He will also be remembered for his irreverent Yiddishkeit sense of humor, always being the life of a party and most notably his devotion to his family. A true original and a force of nature, he will be sorely missed by all of us.
Predeceased by his mother Polina Zelikovna Berenbaum, father Kalman (Bergman) Berenbaum, twin brother Peter Berenbaum (Peisach Kalmanovich), uncle Boris Zelikovich Vikhman and cousin Vladimir Borisovich Vikhman. Survived by his wife Luiza Semyonovna Berenbaum, daughter Vera Zelikovna Berenbaum and son Robert Zelikovich Berenbaum.
Graveside Services will be held on THURSDAY, July 8, 2021, at 1 PM in Mt. Hope Cemetery [MAP]. For those unable to attend, the service can be streamed by CLICKING HERE just before 1 PM.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Parkinson’s’ research and treatment.
