Upcoming Services
| Gary Kukes |
Sun Nov 24th at 10:00 IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL | |
| Jeffrey Hale Miro |
Fri Nov 22nd at 12:00 IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL | |
| Beverly Ann Huschka |
FUNERAL DETAILS
Sheldon D. Stern, MD
Sheldon D. Stern, MD, 94, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, died on 28 October 2024. The Funeral was held at IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL on Sunday, 03 November 2024 at 1:00 PM . Rabbi Mark Miller officiated. Click  to watch a video of the recorded service.Interment at Beth El Memorial Park, 28120 6 Mile Road, Livonia MI 48152.
SHIVA Family and friends will gather at the Eubanks home at 6806 Lee Crest Drive, W. Bloomfield, MI 48322 on Sunday from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Family members include: Beloved husband of 65 years to the late Jessie Stern. Cherished father of Gayle (Gary) Eubanks and Jeremy (Hildy) Stern. Loving grandfather of Dr. Emily (Ryan) Abbott, Noah (Kim Anderle) Eubanks, Joshua Stern, Ari Stern, Eban Stern, and Seth Stern. Adored great-grandfather of Connor, Cleo, Lily, Oliver and Awa. Brother of the late Beverly Skilken. Brother-in-law of Dr. Irving K. Arenberg. Son of the late Mary and the late Samuel Stern. Also survived by many loving nieces and nephews. Sheldon D. Stern, M.D., passed away peacefully on 28 October 2024. He was 94 years young. His loving wife of 65 years, Jessie K. Stern z”l passed away in 2018 and the spirit they sparked together now lives on in eternity. Dr. Stern, “Shelly” as he was known to his family and friends, and “Papa” to his cherished grandchildren and great grandchildren, was born in Chicago, IL on December 16, 1929 and raised in Fort Wayne, IN. He built his life around his family, and at the same time built a successful career as an eye surgeon. He was a true renaissance man, with incredibly wide-ranging interests and had a “unique” sense of humor that anyone who experienced it is now smiling having read this description of it. Shelly was a graduate of Indiana University where he received both his BS and MD Degrees and had been a loyal Hoosier ever since. Shelly did his Ophthalmic Residency at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, OH and a summer program at Mass Eye and Ear Institute in Boston and served as a physician in the U.S. Air Force in Japan. After being honorably discharged at the rank of Major, in 1960 he and Jessie settled down to raise their family in Detroit, MI. In 1964 they moved to a new home they built in Franklin, MI where they raised their two children, Gayle and Jeremy. Shelly practiced ophthalmology, with a specialty in diseases of the eye, for more than 50 years in Detroit and its suburb, Beverly Hills. After the 1967 riots in Detroit, he refused to close his office in downtown Detroit as many white doctors did. He served the inner city area with compassion and distinction, dedicated to his strongly held belief in racial and economic justice. A skilled surgeon with a remarkable bedside manner, he was loved by his patients and office staff, many of whom worked for him for decades (Joanne, Pandy, Janita, BJ, and Michelle). He also loved to help develop the next generation of eye surgeons, receiving recognition from the residents and interns at Sinai Hospital Detroit for being the best teaching doc. He was a pioneer in many new surgical techniques to improve patient outcomes, including the use of argon lasers in the late 1960s to treat retinal detachments without invasive surgery. He read his medical journals religiously, always striving to keep current with his profession and learning new skills. At the same time, he had an incredibly strong sense of ethics in medicine, and in all aspects of his life. He refused to offer risky, untested eye surgical procedures to his patients, even though other doctors in the area were racing ahead to perform them. There are many strongly held beliefs he lived by, and taught his children and others to live by them as well, like: “You make your own luck.” Perhaps this is one of the reasons why he was so accomplished at everything he did. He also lived by the teaching that “there is nothing you can’t accomplish if you put your mind to it,” no doubt one of the many reasons why he was a successful jack of all trades. There was nothing he could not fix. Case in point, he restored to “100 point” quality a 1937 Mercedes 320 convertible (he lovingly named it “Senior”) and a 1952 Mercedes 220 Cabriolet (“Junior”), passion projects that consumed countless weekends of his time. They were actually “family” projects that he “recruited” Jessie, Gayle and Jeremy into. His interests (all of them passions really) included classical music, opera, dance, art history, gourmet cooking, tennis, skiing, golf, sailing, the list is simply too long to complete. He had a remarkable eye for art, enjoying collecting the works of many famous artists, including Alexander Calder, Charles Birchfield, Roy Lichtenstein and Louise Nevelson). Many of the beautiful Japanese woodblock prints of now famous artists that he and Jessie brought back from Japan in 1957 are now part of the permanent collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. His love of art also inspired him to become an artist. He was a prolific painter with a focus on still lifes. Working in oils and pastels, he produced many works that were exhibited in the Birmingham Bloomfield Arts Center and at a gallery in Northern Michigan. Late in life he enjoyed printmaking. It was through his love of the arts and his dedication to life-long learning that he earned a Masters Degree in Art History from Wayne State University when he was in his mid sixties. He also had a great taste for fine wines, and not so fine wines. One of his many proud accomplishments was discovering good wines at Trader Joes for less than ten bucks. Shelly believed strongly in giving back to his community and was dedicated to tzedakah (charity) and tikkun olam (“to heal the world”). He served on the board of directors of nonprofits, including the Harbinger Dance Company, and was elected to the city council of Franklin Village. For decades, he raised money for the Jewish community in Detroit, calling on hundreds of fellow Detroiters to give to important causes, including helping the Jews of the former Soviet Union escape from hostility and discrimination in the 1980s. Many will remember receiving his annual telephone pledge calls for support, it was very hard to say “no” to Shelly. He and Jessie also “adopted” a Russian immigrant family that moved to Michigan in the 1980s. In 2003, he and his wife Jessie were awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jewish Federation of Detroit. It is suggested that those who wish to further honor the memory of Sheldon D. Stern, MD may do so by making a contribution to: Temple Beth ElClick to Visit Charity Website or Jewish Federation of DetroitClick to Visit Charity Website or A Charity of one's choice |