(Kallie) Kalman Plehn 1917-2010 

I first met Kallie when I started working at the ESRA Nearly New Shop in Raanana in January 2008.  He was 91 and had more energy and love of life than anyone I had ever met. 

Kallie volunteered at the shop for more than 15 years.  He worked three days a week from 4-6pm.  His job was to register selling and ring up sales on the cash register.  This was an important responsibility that he took very seriously.   He was always accurate and made sure every last agora was accounted for.

In 2004 he received an ESRA Outstanding Volunteer Award and also several other awards given to the group of the shop volunteers over the years.

I enjoyed sitting with him and listening to his stories and life lessons.

He was the grandfather of the staff.  He was given the respect and love he deserved, both by his co-workers and by the clientele as well.

I most enjoyed "coffee time”. At 5pm on the dot Kallie would say, "Giora, coffee."  He would make coffee for all the volunteers and staff working that day. Now, although something is missing, that time is our memorial to him. So, if you stop by the shop at 5pm you will see us still having our “special time” with Kallie.

It is always the little things that people do that we miss the most.  There is a void in the shop that we feel every day.  The other day someone came in to donate a package and said that they always handed Kallie the package, and that they missed that smile and that thank you. We all have our own memories and times with Kallie that are in our hearts forever.  We remember his "Shabbat Shalom" every Thursday evening when he finished work. Everyone hears that a lot, but coming from him it meant something.

Kallie's example of volunteerism is something everyone should try to strive for.  His dedication and pure sense of giving was not something that comes around too often. He always made sure that his shift was covered if he was unable to come, though those times were far and few between. His heart was open and generous. Kallie, in our eyes, was ESRA's number one volunteer.  He did it with love and the hope of making someone else's life better.

We want everyone to know how special Kallie was to us in the shop and how much we miss him, and we appreciate everything he did for us.

On behalf of the staff: Ruthanne Fields, Sara Weinberg, Gideon, Noah and all the volunteers, we wish the best for his wife Sara and his family. You are always in our hearts. 

A road model, By: Lennie Blieden

….If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance, run…..

….If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same…. 

Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” in its entirety epitomizes Kallie’s approach to life and how he lived it.

He was the perfect gentleman, an outstanding sportsman and a true “mensch”. Kallie died in December 2010, only one month shy of his 94^th birthday. He died in the only fashion he would have chosen. Virtually the last thing he did was to play tennis. Shortly after the game he was hospitalized and he never recovered.

I had played with him only three days earlier. He had been his usual unbelievable self – keen, purposeful and playing brilliantly for his age and very well for any age. Kallie played to win with the enthusiasm of a 16 year-old but was always the perfect gentleman in defeat, and often applauded an opponent’s good shot.

Kallie’s way of life was a true mirror image of his tennis. He did everything correctly, by the book. He was dedicated to whatever he did, be it work, sport or relationships with people.

In his younger days in South Africa he reached a very high level in tennis, playing the best players in the country in the final stages of important tournaments. In Israel, from his late 60s he continued to dominate in the Maccabi Games and other tournaments. It was an honor and a pleasure to know him and to play with him. He was a role model for all of us.

In his work and daily life he was the same - dedicated, sincere, scrupulously honest. He had that highest of qualities –reverence for life, which was evidenced by his respect for all human beings with whom he was in contact and because of which he was held in such great esteem by all – including all the people who worked under him, irrespective of color, creed or religion.

Kallie was one of the most principled, disciplined people I know (being affectionately dubbed “the General” by a grandchild). He was obstinate (in a positive sense) but never demanded of others more than what he would of himself. He did not allow physical discomfort to prevent him from doing what he believed in, such as continuing to visit the ill (to whom he brought great comfort) and volunteering for ESRA right until the end of his modest, quiet, yet illustrious life.

Kallie dealt with personal tragedies (unfortunately there were several) with rare strength and dignity. He was and will remain one of the most unforgettable people I have ever known.

He was fortunate to have Sara as his life’s partner. Together they made a fantastic team. He will be sadly missed, but remembered and revered forever by Sara, the rest of the family, all his friends and in fact everybody with whom he came in contact.