Update 1-17-12

Hi,

Unfortunately, Hy Rosov died this weekend.  From what we'd heard, I thought he had a bit more time, and people were still making plans to visit him.  But he got a lot of letters, and phone calls, and other visits, and, as Barbara Blitfield Pech just wrote:  "He was such a dear person.  The speed of his passing was God's final 'thank you' for his good life on Earth.  He didn't linger or suffer."  Except Barbara didn't write God's because she has more respect than I do.

Barbara and Eric Hilton also forwarded Hy Rosov's obituary, which was published January 15, 2012 in the Sun-Sentinel:
    Rosov, Hiram, age 82, of Boca Raton, Florida, died January 14, 2012.  Services entrusted to Levitt-Weinstein Memorial Chapel, Coconut Creek, Florida. 

And Eric added:  The funeral will be on Monday, January 16th.

Eric had written some other letters this week, which he said the class could read.  The first:   
    I have a request.  I just got off the phone with Hy Rosov and his wife.  He was sleeping but woke up to talk to me and basically say "good bye."  It was a very moving conversation, saying goodbye to one of my favorite teachers, and his wife also had a request.  She asked if we could find two people for her:  Mr. Gibson and Mr. Brenner.  I remember that Mr. Brenner lived in Great Neck Estates.  I’ll see if I can find his address or phone number.  Perhaps you also have some information.

After I sent Eric and Hy Rosov’s granddaughter Booker Gibson’s contact information and said I knew nothing about contacting Robert Brenner, Eric wrote back:
    I just found Mr. Brenner.  I remembered his son’s name and located him.  I gave Mr. Brenner Hy’s granddaughter’s phone number, and I think he will call her right now.

Soon after Eric realized I’d sent him Booker’s phone number, he wrote:
    I just got off the phone with Mr. Gibson, who was going to call Hy’s granddaughter now also.  Wow, he's about 81.  He said he had to stop playing piano.
    This has been a bittersweet evening for me, talking to a couple of my favorite teachers, Brenner and Gibson, and saying goodbye to another very special person, Hy, who I got to finally sign my yearbook a few years ago at the Boca Raton reunion.  That was also the last time I saw Marilyn Weiner Kugler.
    It’s strange:  as life goes on and things are not as wonderful as you had planned, something like this comes along and reunites you with some very fond memories.  It has truly been a great experience reuniting with old friends.

Not long after, Eric wrote again, adding:
    Booker said it has been hard for him to walk, and he has some pain and issues.  Not sure when he stopped playing, but it couldn’t have been too long ago.
    It was so special speaking to Hy this evening.  Tonight, when I called, his wife said he was resting, so she and I spoke for a while.  But when Hy heard I was on the phone, he immediately said he wanted to speak to me.
    He truly sounded excited and overwhelmed that I'd called.  I told him how much he meant to me and how he made a difference in my life, which made him quite happy.  Later, I reminded him of my winning a first- place wood shop award for building a guitar, and how proud he was of me.  He said he remembered that day.     
    After a while, I told him he should get some rest and that I wanted him to come to dinner at my home in Sarasota on Saturday.  I promised I would make him lobster.  He said he didn’t eat that, so I offered him a pastrami sandwich from the Carnegie Deli.  "With fries?" he asked.  I said, "Fries and a Dr. Brown's black cherry."  He said, "I’ll be there."  Then he said, "Thank you, you've never lost your sense of humor, and you were always able to make me laugh."
    It was quite an endeavor, draining and uplifting, tracking down Mr. Brenner and calling Mr. Gibson.  I truly hope I was able to add some closure and give some joy and laughter to a very special person in his last few days of life.  I was just sitting here teary-eyed, reflecting on tonight’s events, and now, I will go to sleep.

The next day, Eric wrote:
    I just made another contact for Hy.  I don’t know if you had my cousin, Chuck Messner, for class, but he was a science teacher at South and a great guy.  He passed away a few years ago, at 90.  I just contacted his wife in New York and asked if she and Chuck were friends with Hy.
She said, "yes," that she and Chuck had always kept in touch, and the Rosov's went to their daughter’s wedding.  But she lost contact a few years ago.  She thanked me for letting her know about Hy and said she was going to call him or his wife and daughter tomorrow.  I thought that would make Hy just a little bit happier.

After asking if these letters were for me or the newsletter, Eric wrote:
    That would be fine -- I have no problem sharing any stories.  I only wish I knew more of Hy’s fellow teacher friends.  I’m going to try to get over to see him in Boca if I can.  It’s about a 450 mile round trip from Sarasota, but I'll try to go Sunday.  I hope he holds on for a while, but, of course, hope he is in no discomfort.

Finally, Eric wrote:
    Hy passed away.  I'm still going to go to Boca.  It's sad, missing him by one day.  But as my wife said, I will always remember him as I knew him at South and three years ago at the Florida reunion.

Zelda White Nichols had also written before Hy died:  I was so sorry to read of Mr. Rosov being at his end-of-life stage.  My mom used to live in Pompano Beach, which is just down the road a bit from Boca.  Had I known Mr. Rosov was nearby, I would have liked to have visited him, to let him know how much he impacted my early years at South.
    He and Mr. Gibson were the kindest and most sensitive teachers, and I can’t imagine anyone not appreciating all they had to offer.  I also would like to add how lucky we were to be in high school back in the 60s, when education and budgets were a lot different than they are today.  I won’t become political, but at least our teachers and we pupils had the teaching and learning aids that we needed.  Our teachers were there to teach and not preach – how lucky we were.

Amy Bentley Kassak sent a quick correction to last week's newsletter:  Chiam is not the correct spelling.  Chaim is how you spell Hy Rosov's first name.  Chaim means life in Hebrew

[Rich -- Yeah, Hy's granddaughter Jillian spelled Chaim one way -- correctly -- and Barbara Blitfield Pech gave it a phonetic spelling.  Since I don't write Hebrew much, and my familiarity with the word chaim is largely limited to its use in Fiddler On The Roof, I didn't recognize the alternate spelling when I was proofreading.  Sorry.]

Finally, not at all about the past, Robert Fiveson sends news and video of recent happy adventures:  The Panama Canal engineers needed to connect two oceans, so they did.  They added some rivers and a lot of rain and flooded a huge jungle.  The lake that formed became the canal, and they called it Lake Gatun.
    One hundred years later, it's now home to 20 food crocs and world class Peacock Bass fishing.  Last week, my son Josh and I fished there and added another great father/son adventure to our lives.  Here's a link to four minutes of that day for you to enjoy along with us.
    youtube.com / watch?v=aA5431QHkLM&feature=youtu . be  (Take out the four spaces.)

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com / SouthHS65

Again, please delete the spaces.


Rich