OBITUARIES
Carole Gloria Katz
Esther Kuniansky Rawn
Carole Gloria Katz, age 79, of Atlanta, died peacefully Jan. 18, 2021, following a seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s. Carole was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. She was a loving and devoted grandmother. She was proud of each one of her grandchildren and was a strong presence in their lives. She was a graduate of Lincoln High School and Hunter College and earned her master of social work at the University of Georgia, and at 65, got a Ph.D. in gerontology from UGA with an emphasis on Alzheimer’s. Carole was always helping people. She had a long career as a social worker. In the mid-'70s, she worked with settling Jewish Russian immigrants in Atlanta. In the '80s, she worked at agencies such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Jewish Family & Career Services, and Peachtree Hospice. In her later years, she was a speaker on using humor in healthcare and with bereaved families. Carole was the life of the party. She would always have a story to tell to keep everyone laughing and wanting to hear more. She loved to party, travel, and keep her family and friends entertained. She loved clowning around. In fact she was a clown named “Star,” occasionally performing at birthday parties. She never complained; she was full of joy and positivity. Carole was preceded in death by her husband Arthur Katz. She is survived by daughters Jody Goldstein (Cary) and Beth Morrison; son Scott Monsour; grandchildren Max, Landon and Graci Goldstein, Zachary and Noah Morrison, and Michael and Jacob Monsour; and brother Larry Ginsburg (Sari). A private graveside service was held. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The William Breman Jewish Home Auxiliary. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770451-4999.
Esther Kuniansky Rawn was born in Atlanta Oct. 8, 1927, to Marjorie Bleich and Isidore Kuniansky. She passed away Jan. 22, 2021. She graduated from Girls High School, completed her freshman year of college at the University of Michigan as a teenager, after which marriage and children interrupted her education. She returned to college after raising three children and, at the age of 48, completed her bachelor of arts in journalism from Georgia State University. Upon graduation, Esther began work for the Visiting Nurse Association, a United Way agency. She was in charge of a program for seniors, as well as creating an in-house newspaper that highlighted the work of board members and employees. She gave public talks on behalf of VNA to the Lions, Elks and garden clubs around Atlanta. Prior to returning to college at Georgia State, Esther served as president of The Temple Sisterhood; she was a board member of the Fulton County League of Women Voters; and she was president of a B’nai B’rith Women’s chapter that raised money for the visually impaired. Esther was active in Democratic Party politics. She and her husband, Stan, attended the presidential inauguration of Jimmy Carter in Washington. They were invited to a reception where they met President and Mrs. Carter. Esther married Stanley Rawn of Brooklyn, N.Y., her first love, when she was 19 and he was 21 and a student at Georgia Tech. They shared 73 wonderful years together, raised three children, traveled the world, enjoyed many close friends and extended family, book clubs and bridge games. Although active in the community, Esther’s husband and children always came first. She arranged all her community work and her bridge games so that she was always home when her children returned from school, to make sure that they were safe and secure. And if Stan needed her at the laundromat (to help wash Dick Van Dyke’s boxers) that always took priority. The above is pretty much direct from Esther’s pen at 92 years of age. Also, Esther was an agnostic, which had a very specific meaning for her. She would regularly purchase several boxes of Nabisco Mallomars and hide a couple away in recondite corners of the kitchen cupboards so that her children and her husband and whoever else toward whom she harbored suspicions would not be able to discover and devour them. Invariably, she would forget she had hidden them; sometimes she would find a box several years later and eat them. She held an unwavering belief that, in heaven, she will find old boxes of Mallomars that have been hidden, perhaps by God, perhaps by no one. It won’t matter to her how they got there, so long as they are there.
79, Atlanta
Murray Lynn 90, Atlanta
Murray Lynn passed away Jan. 31, 2021 at the age of 90. He was born in Hungary Sept. 19, 1930, during rising political upheavals in Europe. In the spring of 1944, he and his family were uprooted from their home and deported to the dreaded death camp of Auschwitz, where his entire family perished. At 15, the sole survivor, he was liberated by the American Army in the spring of 1945. Alone, he meandered across the continent for four years in search of an oasis of security, a safe haven. In 1948, Dublin, Ireland, became the stepping stone to his final destination of America. In the fall of 1949, he was granted a student visa to study in America. Soon after, he moved to New York, where he attended undergraduate and graduate school until 1956. Following his education, he moved to Atlanta to pursue a business career in sales and marketing. He rose to senior vice president, president and CEO of various companies, and served on numerous boards before retiring in 2000. As a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, it was his enduring mission to bring a memorable era into sharp focus, to erase entrenched racism and virulent anti-Semitism, and sow seeds to bring forth eternal brotherhood and equal social justice for all. “To serve a cause greater than oneself” was his unswerving goal after retirement. He volunteered at the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum to speak and bear witness to a wide range of audiences – including educators, government institutions and students – on civic lessons, and how unchecked and sanctioned virulent anti-Semitism defined Jewish lives and its history. He is survived by his beloved wife of 62 years Sonia Lynn and three children Roberta Lynn-Wechsler (Gary), Anita Lynn and Allen Lynn. Graveside services were held privately for family Feb. 3 at Arlington Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum or Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. To sign the online guestbook, view the livestream of the funeral, and for Zoom shiva information, visit www.dresslerjewishfunerals.com. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999. 54 | FEBRUARY 15, 2021 ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES
93, Atlanta
The rising dance of birds of prey above the lake; winged ends of a diameter of air turning circles on a double helix, bonded by wind, looking downward, guided by shadows of one another on ice; so do we dance, in this long absence, spun toward the light. Esther was predeceased by her husband Stanley, who died in August 2020. Surviving Esther are her three children Hugh Rawn (Ann); Michael Rawn (Cynthia) and Marcia Miller (Mark); her grandchildren Ian Rawn, Jeremy Rawn, Amanda Gilbert (Chris), Lauren Miller (Zander) and Jason Miller, Benjamin Rawn and Anna Rawn; and her great grandchild Jacob Brekke. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation on Esther’s behalf to The Temple or Weinstein Hospice. There was a Zoom funeral service Jan. 24. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Home, 770-451-4999.
זיכרונה לברכה Obituaries in the AJT are written and paid for by the families; contact Editor and Managing Publisher Kaylene Ladinsky at kaylene@atljewishtimes.com or 404-883-2130, ext. 100, for details about submission, rates and payments. Death notices, which provide basic details, are free and run as space is available; send submissions to editor@atljewishtimes.com.