OBITUARIES


KIM FENDRICK, 86, longtime South Jersey resident, passed away on April 29 at Care Dimensions Hospice in Lincoln, MA. Kamila was born to Clara and Joachim Munz in 1935 in Zloczow, Poland. Her first trauma was being quarantined with typhus at age 4, separated for weeks from her parents. Along with her parents, grandmother, and aunt and uncle, Adele and Isaac Silber, she survived the Holocaust with the assistance of many Righteous Gentiles, especially Jan and Tekla Jaremkow, who hid 14 people in a hole under their barn. (Decades later, the Jaremkows’ grandson Waldek immigrated to the US and became Kim’s “Polish son”.) After being liberated, her family returned to Zloczow, made their way to Deggendorf (a DP camp), and with the support of HIAS emigrated to the US, where they lived on the Lower East Side. Kamila became Camille, then Kim. She graduated from Washington Irving HS and received her BA in psychology from CCNY. She served as volunteer intake worker for Family Service of Burlington County, became their first paid intake coordinator, and eventually began doing individual psychotherapy. At age 50, she received her MSW from Rutgers University. She initially divided her time between Family Service and her private practice, eventually working privately full-time (doing individual, couples, and family therapy). Kim thrived as a psychotherapist and a supervisor to many MSW students and colleagues in private practice. She was referred numerous complex custody cases from NJ family courts, working with high-conflict divorcing couples to develop plans in their children’s best interests—some of her most challenging and satisfying work. Kim was a generous, wise confidante, with remarkable instincts for people and relationships; nothing was more important to her than loving, helping, and supporting the people in her life, whatever they might be struggling with. While her own history of trauma contributed to periodic depression, Kim enjoyed a beautiful and meaningful life filled with satisfactions and delights, including her many grandchildren, who called her Kimmie. Kim was a long-time member of Temple Emanuel and then of Cong. M’kor Shalom, both in Cherry Hill; a frequent speaker at schools on her experiences during the Holocaust; and a participant in countless Yom HaShoah events. In 2013, she moved to Orchard Cove in Canton, MA, to be near her daughter and son-in-law (whom she loved like a son) and their children. For nearly three years, she was blessed with a beautiful and loving partnership with Dr. Felix Silverstone, who died in 2018. One of her nurses after her recent stroke had worked as a server at Orchard Cove; Kim had often encouraged her to pursue more education, and she had left in 2016 to become an RN. Kim was previously married to the late David K. Fendrick. She was preceded in death by her beloved son Alan in 2012. She is survived by her daughter Rabbi Susan Fendrick (Dr. Ben Kruskal) of Newton, MA; grandchildren Meira Penzias (Josh) and Shoshana Lappen (Zack) of Sharon, MA; Adina Kruskal of Los Angeles, CA; Matan Kruskal and Elianna Kruskal of Newton, MA; Josh Fendrick (Erica) of New York, NY; and Zachary Fendrick of Matawan, NJ; the extended Silber family of California; and her “fraughter” of nearly 20 years, Hope Hirsch Honeyman (Charlie) of Cherry Hill. Donations may be made in her memory to www.HIAS.org.

 GAIL ROTH MALKA MEISTER, of Merchantville, passed away on Feb. 3 from ovarian cancer at the Penn Hospice in Philadelphia. A longtime resident of Merchantville, Gail was born on Jan. 24,1947, in Rockville Centre, NY, to Dr. Lee and Leonora (Fleischer) Roth. She is survived by her husband, Rev. J.W. Gregg Meister of Merchantville and a daughter, Miriam L. R. Meister, Ph.D., of Seattle, WA, and by a brother, sister, cousins, nieces, nephews, and relatives by marriage. Gail graduated from Mount Holyoke College and received a master’s from Yale University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. After briefly teaching middle and high school adult students, she spent more than 30 years working to help educators and schools improve their practices through research and policy and program development. She brought her superb writing and editing skills to her work for Philadelphia-area nonprofit organizations, including Foundations Inc., Research for Better Schools, and Writers Matter. Deeply committed to her Jewish faith, Gail had served as a trustee at her synagogue, Cong. Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia. Most recently, she helped to design and run a semi-annual educational program for adults. She also studied Torah via Zoom at synagogues in Philadelphia, New York City, and Seattle. Gail lived a focused life, determined never to put off until tomorrow what could be experienced today. She, Gregg, and Miriam traveled frequently, and she loved planning their trips. Destinations included the Amazon, southern Africa, Israel, and many places throughout Europe and the United States. Gail and Gregg had driven in 20 countries by their 30th anniversary, visiting dozens more by their 50th. She enjoyed literature, the theater, museums, and historical sights. She also regularly attended the Philadelphia Orchestra, although she no longer played the violin, which got her accepted to The Juilliard School (and which she declined to attend). Each Thanksgiving, for decades, Gail hosted family, friends, and acquaintances who had no place to go. She volunteered on civic boards in Merchantville, recently serving as an editor of the Merchantville Observer. Gail and Gregg relished their bike rides together, especially along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. After a bad fall from her bike in 2020, breaking several ribs and landing her in poison ivy, she instead walked 3-4 miles each day, setting out at dawn.

ERVIN TOLL, of Livingston, formerly of Voorhees and Cherry Hill, passed away on May 4. Husband of the late Nelly Toll. Father of Sharon Toll and Jeffrey (Gail) Toll. Grandfather of Sasha (Sam), Stefan, Danielle (Adam), Alexei and Joshua. Great-grandfather of Belle and Violet. Contributions can be made to the Esther Raab Holocaust Museum and Goodwin Education Center, jcrcsnj.org/Goodwin. PLATT MEMORIAL, CHAPELS, Inc.

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