By Debby Lieberman and Valerie Velkes

Murray Shekter passed away on October 6, 2012, and we have lost a dear friend.

Murray and Diane were devoted Zionists for many years before making aliyah to Israel in 1979. They had led eight United Jewish Appeal Missions from Birmingham, Michigan, and many of the families who were in their groups remembered Murray as having “changed their lives” through his love of Israel and his ability to communicate this feeling to others. When asked what his dream was after he retired, he replied that he was living his dream, in Israel.

Murray had a love of life and of people, and had many interests. Professionally he was a dentist who practiced with an Israeli colleague and lectured at the Hebrew University in the Graduate Program of Endodontics. He was also an artist and many walls in Israel and abroad proudly display his innovative and beautiful paintings.

He was interested in and knowledgeable about Judaism, and studied in Kfar Saba and later in Herzliya Pituach, where he was one of the founding members of the current Bible Study group led by Rabbi Joseph Leibowitz.
Murray was emotionally touched by the Holocaust and volunteered in Steven Spielberg's program of interviewing Holocaust survivors in order to save their memories and life narratives for future generations.

Murray and Diane were early ESRA members, and here too Murray’s interest in and sensitivity towards people led him to volunteer to visit the elderly and housebound with whom he often developed warm and caring relationships.

One of Murray’s favorite hobbies was travelling, and he became a local expert in information about places to visit, means of travel and where to stay, especially in Italy, a country that touched his heart.  His knowledge, generosity, and patience made him a sought-after source of “good bargains” in the field of travel among friends and acquaintances.

Above all, however, Murray loved his family. He and Diane were college sweethearts and have had a warm and close relationship with their two daughters and their families. They have been blessed with eight adoring grandchildren and four adoring great-grandchildren. They have taken each of their grandchildren on a special trip for their bar/bat mitzvahs, each to a place that the child had chosen. These trips helped to foster the special relationships between the generations.  As one of his grandsons said, “Murray was always there for me. He taught me about life and to care about people.”

Murray Shekter will be missed. He will be missed by his loving wife, his adoring children and grandchildren, ESRA and all those whose lives he touched with a generosity of spirit and caring, with humor, and with an openness to and interest in others.