Baruch Dayan Emet - Abe Neigher
With great sadness we must inform you that our very long time member Abe Neigher, passed away at the age of 103. Abe was devoted to Beth israel, CBT and was a pillar of those congregations and later, of of the Minyan at JGS. The funeral will take Monday 4/6/2020 - 12 Nissan 5780. Due to the COVID-19 situation the funeral will be private -family only.The family has arranged for a Zoom Shiva, where we can log in and extend our condolences:
Monday Night 4/6 at 8PM https://zoom.us/j/
Tuesday Night 4/7 at 8PM https://zoom.us/j/
May his family be comforted and may his memory be a blessing to his family and all of us
Donations may be made in Abe’s memory to the Neigher Family Chapel Fund, Leavitt Family Jewish Nursing Home, 770 Converse St., Longmeadow, Mass 01106 or online at www.jgslifecare.org.
Abe led a wonderful life of great piety in his relationship with G-d, and great integrity and kindness in his relationship to people.
Abe's son William has written a short biography I share below:
Abraham Neigher was the last surviving child of the nine children of Shimshon and Gittel Neigher. Born in Springfield in 1916, he was 103 years old.
Abe was a loving and devoted husband to his wife Molly, who passed away in 2007, and father to son Dr William Neigher.
Abe grew up in Springfield and attended the High School of Commerce where he played basketball on the varsity team. With money obviously very tight for a family of 11, he helped the family out by getting up each morning at 4:30 am, delivering bread until seven before going on to school. He and his brother Hy, who alternated days with him, were late for school 103 days!
His first real job was at Gold's Market, and he needed a car. The first car he could afford had no brakes, but with the traditional Springfield winters he would just head into a snowbank to stop.
He proudly served his country during World War II as a pharmacist's mate in the Navy. His three-year tour of duty found him stationed at the Chelsea Naval Hospital in Boston, and later in a hospital in Maine he took care of sailors and marines returning from the South Pacific islands with serious tropical disease.
A dedicated and committed fundraiser for Jewish and secular causes, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of New England and was honored by that organization. He appeared on the Jerry Lewis Telethon on their behalf.
He was a Shriner, and a 32nd degree Mason. An ardent golfer most of his life, he achieved a hole in one and numerous club tournament victories throughout his years on the links.
As the national toy buyer for Kings Department Stores for 26 years he earned a reputation in the industry as an innovator and a mensch, making life-long friends. He was also President of Nobel Specialties Corporation. Mattel honored him with an original Peanuts cartoon tribute by Charles Schulz: Snoopy says “if it hadn’t been for Abe Neigher Mattel never would have made it!” [to the largest toy company in the world.]
Like his wife Molly, Abe was a devoted volunteer for the Springfield Jewish Nursing Home. Through his fundraising efforts the synagogue there was dedicated as The Neigher Family Chapel. He saw every day as a gift from G-d and always reached out to residents to help or lift their spirits. The Abe Neigher Award is presented monthly in his honor to a member of the nursing home staff. He never missed a minyan there on the sabbath and was a devoted and proud Jew. He was a lifelong member of Beth Israel Synagogue.
A website in celebration of Abe’s 100th birthday contains photographs, music and tributes to a life spent in loving devotion to his family, his community, his country and his Jewish faith: www.abeneigher.com.
At this celebration a reporter for the NBC TV station asked him what he thought the “secret” was to his long life: “I never held a grudge, I loved my family with all my heart, with everything I ever did in life I tried as hard as I could, and I felt so proud of being Jewish.” Everyone who knew Abe would agree he lived by those values.
Abe leaves his son Bill and daughter-in-law Susan, psychologists in NJ, and grandson Aaron, Liz, and great-granddaughter Vera in NY City, and granddaughter Deborah in LA.
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