Zane Richard Zaritsky, 76, of Stamford died Oct. 16. He was the husband of Sandra Zaritsky. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., he was the son of Samuel and Selma Zaritsky. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Randy Zaritsky (Tracy), Joel Zaritsky (Lisa), and Laurie Bouris (Eric Bouris); his grandchildren, Samuel, Kayla, Jaime, Torey, Ari Zaritsky and Broderick, Brielle Bouris; his brother-in-law Stu; and many nieces, nephews, and other family members.

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Yury Zager (Zagermakher), 91, of West Hartford, died Oct. 16. Born in the Ukraine, he was the son of the late Lev Zagermakher and Mariya Rotberg. He was a member of the Emanuel Synagogue of West Hartford. He is survived by his sons, Leon Zager of Farmington, and Mark Zager and his wife Inna Laskova of Hamden; his grandson Daniel of Hamden; his sister Valya Yezril of Philadelphia, Pa.; and his niece and nephew.

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Marc S. Levine, 77, died Oct. 16. He was the husband of Tamara Kagan Levine. Born in Meriden, he was the son of Bessie (Koplowitz) and David Levine. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children and step-children, Greg and Kuri Levine of Bethesda, Md., Pamela and Bill Miles of Hanover, N.H., Abby Levine and David Cunningham of Sharon, Mass., Ross and Jane Weiner of New Canaan, and Elizabeth and Andrew Miller of New York City; his grandchildren, Daniel and Seth Levine, Sophie, Carly and Zachary Miles, Josie and Gabriel Cunningham, and Spencer and Lilly Weiner; his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Elaine and Eugene Kagan; his sisters-in-law and niece.

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Harold D. Kent, 97, of New Haven, died Oct. 18. He was predeceased by his wife Gloria Kent. He was the son of the late Charles and Rose Kantrowitz. He was a veteran of World War II. He is survived by his son Richard Kent and his wife Lisa; his grandchildren, Lindsay Kent and Sarah Doyle; and his great-grandson Cooper.

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Karen Jacobowitz, 58, of East Haven, died Oct. 15. Born in Newark, N.J., she was the daughter of Ceil Grubstein, and Sara Jacobowitz. In addition to her mother, she is survived by her son-in-law John Celotto; her son Garrett Jacobowitz; her sister Mindy Schwartz and her husband Stephen Schwartz; and several nieces and nephews.

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Laurel Kaplan Swaye passed away Oct. 20, 2018. She was born in New Britain, CT on May 7, 1932 the daughter of the late William and Zara (Tertes) Kaplan. Laurel was predeceased by her husband George of more than 64 years, and brother Elihu Kaplan.  Laurel is survived by her sons Daniel and wife Rita of Roswell, GA, Ricky and wife Marge of Cromwell, CT,  and Gary of Boynton Beach, FL. and her sister Elsa Gassner and husband Peter of Sedona, AZ.  Laurel also leaves four grandchildren, Matthew Swaye, Janel Swaye MacDermott and husband Kevin, Dawn McGee and husband Tom, Christopher Ward and wife Cynthia; and six great-grandchildren, William, Lily, Riley, Logan, Connor and Bailey. She is also survived by her brother-in-law Ronald Swaye and Maria Montanaro of Tamarac, FL. Laurel worked in the family business, the S&A Dept. Store in Hartford, CT.  Laurel and George entered the real estate construction business and managed and developed several commercial properties in the Hartford area. Upon retiring, Laurel and George set out on their boat down the east coast to Boca Raton, FL from where they spent decades together boating throughout Florida and the Bahamas.  She was an avid tennis player and reader, and leader in the YARCOBAR Condo Assn. for more than 40 years. Her family takes great pride in remembering her intelligence and common sense; and the grace, dignity, strength and courage she maintained throughout her battles with cancer. A burial was held in Boca Raton, FL.

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Florence Miller Schiffman, 90, passed away on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Before moving to Rhode Island in 2001, she was a pillar of the Smithtown, N.Y. community with her beloved husband, the late Dr. Zachary Schiffman. Florence was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. to Paul and Etta (Weinberger) Miller.  She received a Bachelor of Arts, Phi Beta Kappa, from Hunter College and a Certificate of Design from Pratt Institute. Florence started her interior design career in the early 1950s in New York City and in Dallas, TX. She opened her own design firm on Long Island in the 1960s. Florence next devoted herself to a career in social work by earning a master’s degree at SUNY Stony Brook. She liked to say that she transitioned from designing the exterior of people’s lives to designing their interiors. She worked as a social worker at the DeSisto School, Lake Grove School, and Queens College, and she led a diversity training program on Long Island. She also had her own private practice. Florence lived a life rich with volunteer experiences, including chairing the American Cancer Society Ball, volunteering at Temple Beth Sholom in Smithtown, counseling troubled teens, and mentoring students in Providence public schools, for which she was named Volunteer of the Year. She was a life-long lover of bridge, art, and travel. Florence is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Mara Schiffman and Keith Laskin, Jamie Waldman and Keith Waldman, Tina Odessa and David Odessa, and Ted Lee; and grandchildren, Zachary and Jeremy Laskin, Zoe, Emma, and Benjamin Waldman, and Zachary Odessa. Florence was predeceased by her daughter, Beth Schiffman Lee, and her sister, Rhoda Shapiro. Graveside services were held on Wednesday, October 24 on Long Island. Contributions in Florence’s memory may be made to Tockwotton on the Waterfront, East Providence; Hope Hospice and Palliative Care, Providence; or the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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Frances Harriet (Weinstein) Prague, 86, of Boca Raton, FL and Bloomfield, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away on Oct. 22, 2018. She was born in Hartford, the daughter of the late Anne and Samuel Weinstein, and lived in Windsor for several years before retiring to Bloomfield and Boca Raton. She leaves behind her husband of 10 years, Gerald Golden. She was predeceased by her husband of 47 years, Leon Prague, as well as her brother, Saunder Weinstein, and sister-in-law, Elaine Weinstein. She started working from home, then later worked as an executive secretary at Ames Department Stores, and retired from Alvin and Company in Bloomfield. Fran and Leon may be best known for their family-run business, the Oxford Department Store on Blue Hills Avenue in Hartford. Fran loved to travel and always was ready to plan the next vacation. She enjoyed concerts and the theater. She is survived by her children, Andrew and his wife Helen of Newton, MA, David and his wife Carol of Ringoes, N.J., and Lori (Prague) Adler and her husband Larry of South Windsor. She will be dearly missed by her eight grandchildren and their spouses, Jason and Abby, Danielle and Evan, Samantha, Nicole and Travis, Brittany and Peter, Steven and Melissa, Jeffrey and Stephanie, and Marc. She also leaves her great-grandson, Eli, who brought her so much happiness and joy. We love you, wish you peace and forever hold you in our hearts. Funeral services were held graveside Friday, Oct. 26 at Congregation B’nai Tikvoh Shalom in Windsor. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations in honor of Frances’ life be made to a charity of the donor’s choice. Samsel & Carmon Funeral Home in South Windsor has care of the arrangements. Please visit us at www.carmonfuneralhome.com for online condolences.

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Charles A. Lipetz, 86, of Shelton, died Oct. 21. He was the husband of Barbara (Snyder) Lipetz. He was born in Waterbury. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Kenneth Lipetz and his wife Patti of Carmel, IN, Debbie Kinell and her husband Carl of North Haven, Sandra LaRue and her husband Jeff of Shelton, Karen Money and her husband Kevin of Milford, and Mark Lipetz and his wife Julie of Maui, HI; and 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was also predeceased by his sister Judith Yavetz.

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Irving D. Lebow, 96, died Oct. 18. He was the widower of Annette “Nettie” Lebow and Leonora “Libby” Lebow. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and raised in Stamford, he was the son of the late Anna and Benjamin Lebow. He served in the Army Air Force in 1942 and was stationed at the 3rd Strategic Air Depot outside Neaton, England. He is survived by his children, Mark Lebow and his wife Debbie of Stamford, Rachel Drucker of Stamford, and Lyn Solinas and her husband Mike of Crawford, W.V.; her grandsons, Jason Solinas and his wife Alyssa, and Adam Solinas and his wife Eileen; and his great-grandchildren, Jameson and Layne of Asheville, N.C., and Evelyn and Aaron of Pittsburgh, Penn.

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Bunya Fisher, 96, of New Haven, died Oct. 22. Born in Romania, she was the daughter of the late Solomon and Zinaida (Blunk) Fisher. She was also predeceased by her brother Naum Fisher, and her sister Revekka Levit. She is survived by her son Michael Shekman and his wife Tanya Shekman, and her grandson Daniel Shekman.

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Former Ledger staffer Tracey Gamer-Fanning founded the CT Brain Tumor Alliance

By Ronni Newton/We-HA.com (with additional reporting by the CT Jewish Ledger)

Tracey Gamer-Fanning was diagnosed with a grade III brain tumor in 2006. She was just 36 years old, had two small children, and was told she had three to five years to live.

Instead she lived for 12 years, succumbing Friday morning to the tumor that could never be completely removed by surgery and had begun aggressively growing again, recently doubling in size.

In her words, she often said that she not only survived those 12 years, but she thrived.

“I co-founded the Connecticut Brain Tumor Alliance (CTBTA) in 2006; aided in the legalization of medical marijuana in Connecticut; been voted onto the American Board of Internal Medicine Oncology Board with all this extra time I’ve been given. I’ve met hundreds of brain tumor patients and their families and continue to be their advocate until the day I no longer can,” Gamer-Fanning wrote in a January op-ed, in which she spoke out against an exorbitant increase in the pricing practice of drugs for brain cancer patients.

She spent years advocating for medical marijuana before it was legalized. She had suffered from devastating headaches and other side effects of the strong medications she was taking before personally turning to marijuana, and said it gave her back her life.

Since its founding, the Connecticut Brain Tumor Alliance has raised more than $2 million for brain tumor patients and their caregivers. Its mission is “providing patient outreach and patient assistance funds for local families, furthering cutting-edge brain tumor research in Connecticut, and improving the patient experience at the state’s best brain tumor treatment centers.”

“Don’t feel sorry for her. Don’t look at this as a tragedy. Making lemonade out of lemons doesn’t even begin to describe Tracey’s life,” Gamer-Fanning’s husband, Greg Shimer, said Saturday.

When Tracey was diagnosed with a brain tumor, it focused her, made her appreciate everything, Shimer said. “She wasn’t afraid to give strangers a hug, to say what she thought. She lived two or three lives in the past 12 years while the rest of us lived just one.”

Shimer and Gamer-Fanning were married almost six years ago. They had met when they were college students and reconnected in early 2006 when Shimer decided to look up Gamer-Fanning who was working at the Connecticut Jewish Ledger, where she had worked for three years, quickly becoming a popular co-worker and an integral part of the Ledger team.

“Tracey began her career at the Ledger in 2003 as an account executive and worked here until her diagnosis in 2006,” said Ledger Associate Publisher Leslie Iarusso, who joined the staff as production manager prior to Gamer-Fanning’s arrival. “During her tenure at the Ledger she championed the Ledger’s secular publication, Pets Press. Gamer-Fanning turned the publication into a successful statewide source for all types of pets. Her compassion and caring made her the perfect ambassador. She traveled all over Connecticut and was very active in pet-related events that included rescue awareness and fundraising.”

When Shimer called Gamer-Fanning at the Connecticut Jewish Ledger in September 2006 he was shocked to learn that she had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Her daughter, Shaye, was just 18 months old, and Mitchell was four.

Gamer-Fanning had surgery to remove the tumor, but they could only get about 75 percent of it.

Over the years, Shimer asked her to marry him at least six times.

“She was afraid she would get really sick one day,” he said, but he persisted. They had a simple wedding in 2013. “It just felt as natural as breathing,” he said of the decision to be together.

The couple had a blended family – his three grown daughters (ages 23, 21, and 19) – and her two children, Mitchell, 17, and Shaye, 13, who lived with them in their West Hartford home.

In January 2017, Gamer-Fanning had another surgery because the tumor had started growing again. She briefly tried chemotherapy that spring, but knew it wasn’t a cure and the side effects made her miserable. “She accepted it, she just said, ‘Screw it,’” Shimer said. “She didn’t want other treatments, didn’t want to be a lab rat.”

In September 2018, Gamer-Fanning attended the CTBTA’s Path of Hope fundraiser in Fairfield. The tumor’s rapid growth had really taken a toll by then, Shimer said. She had lost much of the function of the left side of her body, and was exhausted.

“That’s when she went into hospice,” said Shimer.

Gamer-Fanning died at home on Friday, Oct. 26.

“All who knew Tracey heard her shout, ‘I love you’ during and after every encounter,” her friend Sarah Townswick said Saturday. She unabashedly showered love on everyone she knew. She fought brain cancer so she could be present for her children, Mitchell and Shaye, and her beloved husband, Greg. She was a force of positive energy and love that was contagious,” said Townswick. “She never shared her struggle, focusing on her many blessing and the positive aspects of her life. Only her inner circle knew her daily pain and challenges.”

“Tracey embodied hope. It’s hard to imagine that someone so vivacious and alive, I mean savoring every moment alive, is gone,” said Gamer-Fanning’s friend Beth Ryan. “Just like that. She had a way of making you feel supported and loved, simply because she understood your pain like her own. Empathy. She lived and breathed it. And joy. So. Much. Joy.”

A memorial for Gamer-Fanning will be held on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m., at the Mandell JCC, 335 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford.

As word spread of Gamer-Fanning’s death, many posted tributes on her Facebook page. They called her a hero, a fierce fighter, a warrior, a “beacon for all of our community … courageous, determined and hopeful to the bitter end.”

“As hard as all this is, she never wanted people to feel sorry for her. She wanted people to look at her, to take stock,” Shimer said.

This article is reprinted with permission of WeHa.com. It includes additional reporting by the Connecticut Jewish Ledger.

To read Tracey’s obituary – in her own words – visit blogapy.com/tracey-gamer-fanning-shimer-obituary/.

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Merrill R. Stein, 90, of West Hartford, died Nov. 2. He was the widower of Janet (Sakofsky) Stein. Born in Hartford, he was the son of the late Michael and Sadie (Raphael) Stein. He is survived by his children, Mark Stein and his wife Jackie Gray of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Debbie Elman and her husband Larry of West Hartford; his brother Frederick Stein of Boynton Beach, FL; his grandchildren, Jennifer Cushman and her husband Wesley, Julie Elman, and Andrea Gray Stein; his great-grandson, Jackson; his nephew and niece Lauren and their families. He was also predeceased by his in-laws, David and Fannie Sakofsky, his brother-in-law Harvey Sakofsky, and his sister-in-law Shirley Kolman Stein.

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Evelyne Siegal of New Haven died Oct. 29. She was the widow of Murray Siegal. She was the daughter of the late Nathan and Dora Philips. She is survived by her children, Gene, Alan, and Robert; her adopted son Ric; her daughters-in-law, Sandra and Marilyn; 19 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

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Howard Nair, 84, of West Hartford, formerly of New Britain and Kensington, died Nov. 2. He was the husband of Barbara P. (Young) Nair. He was the son of Julius Louis and Eva (Feigenbaum) Nair. He served in the U.S. Army. He was a life-time member of Tefereth Israel Synagogue in New Britain, a member of the Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford, and an associate member of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, I. Debra Sheridan and her husband David of West Hartford, Jennifer L. Berman and her husband Richard of Baltimore, MD, and Philip H. Nair and his wife Erika of Simsbury; his grandchildren, Joseph, Jenna, Eva, Brian, Matthew, Samantha, Emily, Daniel, Sarah and Cora; and his great-granddaughter Kinley.

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Cathy Ann Glickstein, 51, of Stamford, died Oct. 29. She was born in Pittsburgh, PA. She is survived by her father, three brothers, three sisters, two nieces, four nephews and many friends. She was predeceased by her mother and grandparents.

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Shirley (Kaplan) Fleischer, 94, of Hamden, died Oct. 27. She was the widow of Elliot Fleischer. Born in New Haven, she was the daughter of the late Morris and Fanny Kaplan. She was also predeceased by her daughter Michelle Fleischer, her brother William Kaplan, and her sister Edith Kabatznick. She is survived by her sons, Barry L. Fleischer and his wife Robin of Peabody, Massachusetts, and Daniel L. Fleischer and his wife Magda of Las Vegas, Nevada; her grandchildren, Rebecca Fleischer, Adam W. Fleischer, and Rachel Fleischer; her brother Harold Kaplan and his wife Dorothy of Middletown; and several nieces and nephews.

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Fannie Miller Alpert, 91, of Hamden, died Oct. 25. She was the widow of Abraham Alpert. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she was the daughter of the late Philip and Jennie Miller. She is survived by her children, Stephen Alpert and his wife Yoko, Daniel Alpert and his wife Sarah, Ruth Caughers and her husband David, and Susan Shanley and her husband John; her eight grandchildren and one great-granddaughter; and her son-in-law Tom Bryant. She was also predeceased by her daughter Rachel Bryant.

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Connor Scott Zieky, 27, of Avon, died Nov. 4. He was the son of Jon and Liz Zieky. In addition to his parents, he is survived by his brothers, Jake, Alex, and Chase Zieky; his honorary brother, Dylan Quenneville; his grandparents Craig and Nancy Nation; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. He was predeceased by his grandparents, Janet and Paul Zieky, and his great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Shepard (Neen).

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Basia Wittenberg, 95, of Columbia, died  Sept. 6. She was the widow of Benjamin Wittenberg. Born in Vilna, Poland, she was the daughter of Morris and Esther (Aswarcz) Berlin. She was a survivor of the Vilna Ghetto, Estonia and Stutthoff concentration camps during World War II. She met her husband Benjamin, after the war and they were married in Germany in a displaced persons camp. They came to the United States and with the help of friends, bought a farm and settled in Columbia, where they would live and raise their family. She is survived by her children, Gene Wittenberg and his wife Fran of West Hartford, and Edie Perew and her husband Sidney of West Hartford; her grandchildren, Scott Wittenberg and his wife Daniella of New Jersey, Eric Wittenberg and his wife Orit of Israel, Elana Barer and her husband Chaim of New York, Joshua Perew and his fiancé Deanna Held of New Jersey, and Dov Perew of Maryland; seven great-grandchildren; a nephew, and several nieces and cousins. Burial took place at the Jewish Congregation of Lebanon, Gillette Lane, Colchester. Donations in her memory may be made to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Los Angeles, CA.

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