PAGE 42
THE PELHAM PARKWAY TIMES
PAGE 42
PELHAM PARKWAY REMEMBERS IRVING BRAVERMAN BY MEL BRAVERMAN My dad, Irving Braverman, passed away on October 13th. While he may not have been seen as a "remarkable" man in our old neighborhood his children (Rebecca, Arthur, Mel) and grandchildren (Hanna, Conor, Nao, Rich and Joey) all knew better. Growing up on Unionport Road my dad worked hard as did the other dad's, but when it came to Sunday (which was card playing day for many fathers) my dad could be found in the street having a catch with one or all of his children. I know my sister became an excellent athlete at a time when girls/women were not thought of as athletes partly due the the fact that when it came to playing ball my dad was not tied to the gender issue. He instilled in each of us, by action not lecturing, the importance of physical exercise as a means to healthy living. Dad and Mom retired to Phoenix/ Scottsdale AZ in the early 70's, to be near Rebecca and her family (Ron Rubin, Rich and Joey). While they lived there for almost 30 years my dad could at any moment be heard to say he missed NYC tremendously. he just never quite felt totally at home outside of the Big Apple. After mom died dad spent the last seven years of his life in Ojai, CA living very close to my brother. At 93 years old dad developed a "new life" that made his children look on in aw. He participated in a writing class and began putting down some of his early memories, and this ain't easy when some of those memories are over 90 years old. I hope to transcribe some of his writings to my computer and share them with this PP crowd in the future. He developed a social life as we had never seen before. My brother, who has lived in Ojai for over 25 years, remarked — "I would walk down the street with dad and people would know him and I would have to introduce myself to them". He made the front page of the local paper's senior section. At his memorial service
PPTIMES@AOL.COM
in Ojai the words most often spoken were: Irv had a great sense of humor, Irv was a gentleman and he liked to express his dislike for the current political climate. All very true. His mind was sharp right to the end, two days before he died he was reading the editorials and opinions page in the NY Times-a favorite past time of his. When I was with him this last year we would regularly discuss the columns-he loved Maureen Dowd for her relentless exposure of Bush's intellectual and policy failures and he respected Frank Rich immensely. His body remained strong through about 97.5 of his 99 years and at 97 he would walk down the street, see a coin on the ground, stoop down pick it up and keep walking-a feat I had trouble doing (going down was the easy part for me). My dad grew up in a dysfunctional family (before they invented the word dysfunctional) and he and mom created a family that is so functional we seem to be outliers in this crazy world. He was all about family and his grandchildren gave him immense joy. We will all miss him, his quick wit and his charm-but mostly we will just miss you pop.
Mel Braverman 1954 Unionport Road CCHS 1965 melbrave@msn.com CDS Consulting Cooperative: Melbraverman @cdsconsulting.coop (608) 243-3255 —————————————– Attached is a photo of our group of Bronx Boys. A short article below. Left to right on the photo: (page 43). Michael Altman (Wallace Avenue), Mel Braverman (Unionport Road), Ralph Dishowitz (Lebannon Street), Lonny Ogus (Wallace Avenue), Steve Klapper (he's from Brooklyn so don't strain your memory), Arnie Cohen (W allace Avenue), Michael
WWW.PELPARKTIMES.ORG
Schachter (Wallace Avenue). Lonny Ben Ogus Passes Over (not Passover) On August 8, 2009 the last of our group of Bronx Boys passed over to the other side. Yes, Lonny Ben Ogus turned 60 years old and he came to Madison, WI to celebrate with his peers (until Ben turned 60 we really didn't consider him a peer). As luck would have it that weekend also brought to Madison Michael Altman who lives in Colorado and Michael Schachter who lives in Minnesota so we were able to celebrate with seven of our usual group of nine (Kenny Scher and Mark Mayer were not able to make it). After drinks, etc. at Arnie's house we took Lonny out for more drinks and a meal. As we were treating Lonny to the meal he did not have to do the math of dividing the bill up to tell each of us what to pay. This was Lonny's job when we went to the deli or other restaurants in the Bronx and the rest of us are sure this one responsibility of Lonny's enabled him to pocket enough cash to send himself through law school-now when we say this to him he threatens us with a lawsuit for libel. Lonny, being the kid in the group, has always had it tough. He was the last to be picked for stickball, had to play right field in baseball, was the 6th man in basketball (we had a 5 man team), used bumper guards in bowling and had to wear a helmet when he rode his bike. He was able to overcome all this adversity and use the anger and venom of his past to become one of the finest lawyers in Chicago who would not only pick your bones clean but then give them to the dogs. So, I implore all of you who knew Lonny as that awkward, unhappy, miserable child to lift up your glass and toast him on his passing over the 60 year mark. And remember, if he ever contacts you it will probably be to sue the s_ _ t out of you!
————————–————— TEL 631/979-4985