Irving Axelrod

06/25/2002

Irving Axelrod, 79, of 106 Lake Buel Road, a winter resident of West Palm Beach, Fla., died Tuesday at Fairview Hospital after being stricken a short time earlier at home. Born in Luboml, Poland, on May 24, 1923, son of Rabbi Jacob Axelrod and Bella Lichtenstein Axelrod, he and his mother joined his father, who had come to Great Barrington two years earlier, when he was 4 years old. He attended the former Dewey School and graduated with the class of 1940 from the former Searles High School. He received his aeronautical engineering degree from New York University in 1944 and later his master's degree in business administration. A veteran of World War II, Mr. Axelrod served in the U.S. Navy as a radar technician and engineer in the Philippines. He retired from the Hicksville School District in 1989, where he had been a mathematics teacher. Growing up in Great Barrington, he had been a member of Congregation Ahavath Shalom Synagogue, where his father was the rabbi. He later joined the Plainview (N.Y.) Jewish Center, where he was a member for more than 35 years, and then in 1997, he joined Knesset Israel Synagogue in Pittsfield. He and his wife, the former Margaret "Peggy" Caron, had lived in Plainview, Long Island, N.Y., for many years. Together with his wife, Mr. Axelrod designed the house they built on Lake Buel Road in 1997. He enjoyed working with his hands, doing woodworking and framing his wife's paintings. He loved all forms of music, was especially fond of opera and was an usher at Tanglewood in Lenox. He spoke fluent Yiddish and was fond of reading, especially history. He leaves his wife, whom he married Aug. 15, 1954, in New York; two daughters, Toby Axelrod of Berlin, Germany, and Ruth Axelrod of Brooklyn, N.Y.; a son, Joel Axelrod of Manhattan, N.Y.; and a sister, Rose Axelrod Levensohn of Albany, N.Y. His brother, David Axelrod, and his sister, Edith Axelrod Reder, and her husband, George, predeceased him. The funeral will be held Thursday, June 27, 2002, at 1 p.m. at Knesset Israel Synagogue in Pittsfield by Rabbi David Small, spiritual leader, and Rabbi Deborah Zecher, spiritual leader of Hevreh of South Berkshire. Burial will follow at Ahavath Shalom Cemetery in Great Barrington. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to Knesset Israel in his name through FINNERTY & STEVENS FUNERAL HOME, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. Remembrances, memories and reflections may be sent to the family through finnerty@bcn.net. Friends may call during Shiva week at the family home on Lake Buel Road. A morning and evening Minyan will be conducted each day of the Shiva week, except Friday night and Saturday morning, concluding Wednesday morning.

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