Manfred (M.) Marx

MARX, Manfred M. Manfred M. Marx, 88, of West Hartford, died on Saturday, (January 5, 2008). The son of Emilie and Leo Marx, he was born in Weyer, Germany on April 27, 1919. He fled Nazi Germany in 1936 never again seeing his parents who perished in the Holocaust. In 1935 he prepared to leave Germany and joined the Noar shel HaPoel HaMizrachi, the religious labor party movement. He reached Palestine and lived and worked in the communal settlement Kvuzat Nechemia. He fought in the Israeli Defense Forces until Britain allowed Jewish Palestinians to enlist in the British Army. He served in North Africa including at El Alamein. After the war he remained in the British Army as an interpreter hoping to reach Germany to locate his parents. After his return to Palestine he emigrated to the United States grateful to have the opportunity to build a new life. After learning the meat business in Lansdale, PA, he moved to Hartford where he started a few small meat businesses and eventually joined the Union Meat Company, at one time the largest wholesale meat dealer in New England, as an owner and then its President. His life was devoted to his family and the teachings and traditions of the Jewish people. He had a passion for reading, history, languages, etymology, the stock market and world events. He was a past board member of Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh and Midrasha. For many years he chanted the high holiday services at the synagogue and frequently served as its Torah reader. He leaves behind a grateful family, his beloved wife of 41 years, Ursula (Ackerman) Marx; his daughters, Elizabeth Marx Wexelblatt of Wellesley, MA and Julia Suzanne Marx of Westport and their husbands, Keith Wexelblatt and Andrew Genser; four adored grandchildren, Jacob Marx Wexelblatt, Abigail Emelia Genser, Haley Rose Wexelblatt and Matthew Ackerman Genser; his sister, Margot Hammerschlag; brother-in-law, Herbet Felsenfeld; several nieces and nephews and many exceptionally good friends. He was predeceased by his brother, Ernst; his sisters, Flora and Frida and his sister-in-law, Rita Felsenfeld. Funeral services will be held at Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh, 180 Still Road, Bloomfield, TODAY, at 1 p.m. The family will be sitting shiva at their home at 45 Timrod Road, West Hartford, Monday through Thursday from 2 - 5 p.m. and 7 - 9 p.m. and Friday from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Donations in memory of Manfred may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 20 Walnut Street, Wellesley, MA 02481, The Jewish Community Center, 335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117, or Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh, 180 Still Road, Bloomfield, CT. For further information, directions or to share memories of Manfred with his family please visit online at www.weinsteinmortuary.com