Condolences to the family of Mark David Hiller, who died on January 3. He was the husband of Sonja Hiller; brother of Roy Hiller (Charlene) and Richard Hiller (Susan); father of Robin Barajas (Gary); grandfather of Cara Ferrier (Russ).
Tributes may be made in Mark's memory to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research or to Congregation Micah.
Condolences to the family of Phyllis Esther Hurwitz Goldoff (Tzipporah Esther bat Eliyahu v’Fraidl), who died on December 18, 2024. Phyllis passed away the day after her 90th birthday.
She was predeceased by her husband, Bernard Jerome (Jerry) Goldoff (z"l); father, Albert Hurwitz (z”l); mother and stepmother, Alice Sall (z”l); and brothers, Harold (z”l) and Norman (z”l). Phyllis is survived by her sister Rena; children, Andrea Dorlester, Donna and Erik; grandchildren, Jonathan Goldoff, Emmett and Daniel Dorlester; and great-grandchildren, Sanorah and Kori Goldoff.
Condolences to the family of Ethel Ress, who died on January 12. She was the mother of Arnold Ress (Leslie); grandmother of Emily Grove (Daniel) and Joshua Ress (Sara).
Tributes may be made in Ethel's memory to Congregation Micah.
Condolences to the family of Charlotte Seloff, who died on January 16. She is survived by her loving children, Sharon Seloff (Moises) Paz, Eileen Seloff Rosenblum, and Herb (Diane) Seloff; grandchildren, Raanon (Erica) Gal, Sivan (Yehoshua) Krupnick, Tamar (Daniel) Hyman, Jacob Seloff, Jeremy Seloff, David (Dani) Paz, Aliza Paz; and 14 great-grandchildren, Judah, Maayan, Leora, and Adena Gal, Moshe Tovia, Tehillah, Rena, Liba, and Levi Krupnick, and Meir, Naftali, Avigayil, and Shlomo Hyman, and Sunny Paz. She is also survived by her brother, Ned Davis (Mickey) in Sarasota, Fla., sister, Ellen Davis Dansky in Nashville, and an aunt in-law, Marsha Brody in Chicago, Ill.
Donations may be made to the General Endowment Fund at West End Synagogue, the Morris and Sylvia Davis Family Designated Fund for the West End Synagogue at the Jewish Foundation (801 Percy Warner Blvd. Nashville, TN 37205), the Religious School Enrichment Fund at West End Synagogue (3810 West End Ave.), or the charity of your choice
Condolences to the family of Craig A. Smith who died on December 25, 2024, at the age of 66. He is survived by his beloved wife, Leslie Kirby; his children, Rose Novick, Samara Kirith, and Eli Kirith; his grandson, Elio; and a loving community of extended family and friends.
Craig earned his BA from Dartmouth, and his PhD in psychology from Stanford. After postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley, he joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University in 1988, where he remained for the rest of his academic career. He was an award-winning instructor and mentor. He taught his students to see and juggle ideas, and he demonstrated this with literal juggling while recapping the course on the last day of classes each semester, including his very last teaching day just a few short weeks ago. He loved to support and inspire learning, whether about psychology with the students in his classroom or about the world with Eli at any place or time. He did groundbreaking and highly renowned research on emotion, breathing life into understanding how human’s understandings of their situations evoked emotion, and the way these emotions helped people to cope. After his cancer diagnosis he learned to apply his research to his own life.
Craig loved music – playing it (he played multiple instruments, most recently learning to play the saxophone), listening to it (the longer the guitar riffs, the better), and especially listening to Samara sing.
Craig found flavor in so many things. He loved to cook, and was always finding new recipes that would appeal both to Eli’s simple palette and the rest of the family’s more adventurous one. He sought out chances to eat the hottest hot chicken and had a wicked hot sauce collection. He was an excellent mixologist. Craig relished playing games and watching sports. He loved exploring the world, visiting 36 states and 20 countries with Leslie in their over 25 years together. Craig was active in the Jewish community and devoted to Jewish learning. He loved reading the weekly Torah portion and studying commentaries, often listening to podcasts on his commute. His latkes were legendary, and his acting out the ten plagues each Pesach was not to be missed.
Craig’s life was defined by his kindness, intelligence, humor, curiosity, fearlessness, stubbornness, and quiet strength. He showed his love through his service and was extremely proud of his family and always happy to see them shine. He was a mentor to many, a passionate advocate for what he believed in, and a constant source of support and encouragement to his family, friends and students.
Condolences may be mailed to Team Kirith, 41 School St, Old Orchard Beach, ME 04064.
Craig loved the life of the mind, and his dedication to teaching, learning and exploring that life touched many, personally and professionally. In order to continue that impact, a scholarship fund has been established in Craig’s honor. Those who wish to further commemorate Craig’s legacy may do so by making a contribution to the scholarship fund: https://shorturl.at/AwvTL
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