--000000000000d90c5905a6658662
comments on behalf of my sister Marilyn and myself [Stephen Winters].
Siegfried (Stewart) Schapira Winters, our father, husband of Blanka (of
blessed memory) for 73 years, grandfather of Lenny, Tamar, and Elana, great
grandfather of Frances, our hero, was a man of utmost integrity, compassion
and kindness.
Born in Vienna, Austria in 1924. He moved to Czernowitz, Bukovina, Romania
at age 5 after his father left his mother. She was hired as an
administrator at the Jewish Orphanage where they lived together in one
room. He excelled in school (L3) and had loving uncles Shmuel, Haskell and
Noah, who together with his aunt Sophie, her husband, two other aunts, and
numerous cousins who showered him with affection. He was born in the shadow
of Hasidism, his family having been devout followers of the Sadagora,
Ruzhin sect. He was recognized as having a photographic memory, attended
the ORT school, worked as an apprentice in a machine shop, and lived in the
apprentice dormitory as a teenager. He wanted to become a metallurgical
engineer, but World War II broke out. He escaped to Russia and fled east
through Kirgizistan and Kazakstan to Uzbekistan. Accused of being a spy he
was locked in a jail. Sick with malaria, he nearly died. He physically
fought to stay alive. When I was in college learning chemistry and how
steel is manufactured, he taught me the process, explaining that he worked
in a steel mill in middle Asia during the war. He would not speak much of
the horrors he witnessed or trauma he suffered. After the war he returned
to Czernowitz.
As the Russians were clamping down on Czernowitz, he helped his mother and
several cousins escape to Bucharest. There he met Blanka, the love of his
life. He asked her to marry him stating that he never had a true family,
and wanted to start one with her. He loved Blanka. He was her knight in
shining armor, who protected her after the horrors she had been through
during the war. They fled to Prague and onto Paris as the Russian were
closing in. Marilyn was born and the Korean war broke out. Fearing another
deportation of Jews, he discovered he had cousins of his father in the
United States. This family, the Waltuch family, sponsored the three of
them to immigrate here. The boat=E2=80=99s engine broke off Halifax and the=
y were
stuck at sea as Passover approached. He figured out who to have the ship=E2=
=80=99s
captain radio in Halifax and arranged a seder for the Jewish passengers
aboard. After a few weeks in New York, they moved to Houston, Texas. But as
the Polio epidemic was active there and Blanka was pregnant with me the
fled back to New York.
Sigi worked day and night delivering television on his back up six flights
of stairs. Then he discovered the truck parts business. His photographic
memory and knowledge of ten languages helped him develop a successful
international business. He worked hard and was known in his field as the
person to go to when heavy parts could otherwise not be located. Whether it
was a construction contractor or the Mack Truck company, Sigi was the
person who would solve their problems.
As a father, he was warm, affectionate, kind, generous, loving, protective,
and when necessary stern. As a child, he took me to shul ever Saturday,
took me to amusement parks, vacationed with us in Long Beach, New York, and
found the means to send Marilyn and I to summer camps. As adolescents and
young adults, he generously allowed Marilyn to go repeatedly to Europe and
Israel. He was our protector and defender. When I had serious troubles in
school in second grade, he would not let me go back until a better
arrangement was made, having me accompany him to work and taking me to
Palisades amusement park. He was fearless and always
He helped support him mother and aunt who settled in Israel after the war.
His love of Israel and his religion was solid. protected us spiritually and
physically. Stewart was a man of the utmost integrity and respect.
Although his father left him as a little boy, he never forgot him. He
learned he had been shot dead point blank by Nazis during an Action in his
home town of Brezhany, Galicia, Poland. He would always say kaddish for him
and insist on having an Aliyah in synagogue to honor his memory on Yom
Kippur. He even named me Shlomo after his father. Ultimate respect.
He enjoyed supporting the Rizhina yeshiva in Jerusalem, maintaining a
long-lasting bond in his family lineage. He was honest in business and in
the way he conducted all his activities. He was my hero and Marilyn=E2=80=
=99s hero
too. He was brilliant with great knowledge of history, geography, and
languages. He would complete the New York Times crossword puzzle in under
an hour daily. Even during the past two years, he would try to complete the
puzzle, answering clues which I could never fathom knowing. Two important
things he told me have always stuck: 1. When someone comes up to you in the
street asking for money to eat, give him some money because he knew how bad
it felt to be hungry; 2. Fitting to this Memorial Day weekend, he told us
that when I meet someone who served in the U.S military thank him for what
he did, since were it not for him we would not be here today.
When the chips were down and I was fearful of potential serious problems,
he would say =E2=80=98you should never die in anticipation of dying=E2=80=
=99. He would
remind us that during the most despairing times in World War II, when
things were as bleak as could be, he would get new hope when the sun would
shine. He like our mom believed that =E2=80=98tomorrow will be a better day=
=E2=80=99.
SIgi had fine taste and enjoyed quality rather than quantity. He and Blanka
loved traveling through France and Europe with Marilyn and Eric. He could
spend hours playing Bellot with Eric. He could take time over weeks
examining fabrics before picking the best suit to wear on Shabbat to shul.
He loved to buy quality jewelry, scarfs and clothing for Blanka. He loved
fine food and had specific tastes. He would eat a cheese Danish each
morning with breakfast, but it had to be from Grunebaum=E2=80=99s bakery in
Riverdale. When his health began to fail and he had to move out to New
Jersey with my mother, Shelly 9my wife) and I would go to Grunebaums kosher
bakery every other weekend to stock up on these cheese danish. No matter
how gourmet, no other bakery would do.
We are eternally indebted to Eddie Mosberg and his family for enabling Sigi
and my mom to move to New Jersey in a flash when their health was failing.
We are extremely grateful to the women who helped our father day and night
=E2=80=93 Marcia, Layla, Hazel and Marva. We thank the many doctors who hel=
ped him
survive to 95 =C2=BD despite having had two malignancies, bypass surgery, a
heart attack, repair of an abdominal aneurysm, gallstone pancreatitis, and
more. We are especially appreciative of the nurses at Morristown Medical
Center who took care of our father in the kindest, caring way possible. We
thank Rabbi East and Debbie Pfeiffer for their spiritual guidance and
support of Sigi as well as us. Needless to say, Marilyn and I are eternally
grateful for the kindness and respect Shelly has always shown to our father
and recognize the Herculean manner in which she helped coordinate his care
and provide for him. We recall how fond Sigi was of Shelly=E2=80=99s father=
, Sam,
who he looked up to, and enjoyed many hours conversing in Yiddish with.to
Shelly for helping to coordinate every aspect of our father=E2=80=99s care
We loved our father. He remains our hero and champion. He was our idol. He
was the greatest, kindest, generous, loving father. Only now do we
understand the divine providence with which he bought funeral plots
alongside a road, enabling a minion, when only 3 other family members were
permitted at graveside due to Covoid19 related restrictions. After much
prodding of the cemetery director, the additional requisite number of men
were allowed to stand alongside their cars in the road close to the graves.
G-d was always with him and our mom. We know his essence and soul will live
on forever through the thoughts, deeds and actions of Marilyn and myself,
as well as those of Lenny, Tamar, Elana, Frances, and the future
generations. We hope his soul will ascend quickly so he can join Blanka in
watching over us from Gan Eden.
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Received on 2020-05-24 20:21:08