Obituary for ANNA PRIZANT SERVICES: 1:00 PM WEDNESDAY 5/23/2018 at HEBREW MEMORIAL CHAPEL Age 92, of Southfield, died May 20, 2018. Anna Prizant was a very strong, life-loving woman, a WWII survivor, who lived 92. 5 years.
A talented teacher, she worked in school for over 40 years, educating adult students. She loved her children and grandchildren immensely. Anna was born November 27, 1925 in Berezovka, a small town near Odessa, Ukraine.
She was the only child of David and Rosa Himmelfarb. David worked in finance, and his gymnasium educated wife Rosa had been a housewife. Soon after Anna’s birth, the family moved to Odessa.
As a school girl, Anna was an excellent student. She had the highest grades in all disciplines and also studied classical piano music. When she was a teenager, WWII came to Odessa.
Her father, David, wanted the family to leave Odessa before Nazis take the city. He took a few days off from the army, came home from the front and pushed his wife Rosa and teenager daughter out into evacuation. By organizing his family’s escape from Odessa, David saved their lives.
Anna and her mother Rosa finally arrived to a small town in Central Asia, where life was hard, but they were safe. All the other family members continued to stay in Odessa and were killed. After the war, Anna returned to Odessa where she studied at the Odessa State University majoring in Russian language and literature.
In 1946, Anna met her future husband Yakov Prizant. Yakov was a 26 year old veteran who had just come back from WWII. They married in March 1946.
Yakov worked at a railroad and Anna had started working as a school teacher after receiving her university degree. In January 1948, the couple had their first child, daughter Susan; ten years later their second daughter Aleksandra. Anna was intellectual and passionate about new knowledge; she went back to the university and completed her second degree: in German language and literature.
She wanted to get a Ph. D after that, but hit a stone wall: despite her brilliant knowledge of the subject, she was turned down as Jewish. She wanted her husband to get a university degree, too, which he did, and worked as an Engineer after that for many years.
In their family, Anna and Yakov created a constant atmosphere of love, care and devotion. All her energy and love Anna directed toward her children. She wanted them to have what she missed so much: travel, advanced education, entertainment, richer life.
Anna was blessed with three grandchildren: Nadia, Dennis, and Artem. She loved them unconditionally. In 1995, Anna emigrated to the U.S. with her family.
She remained intellectually active until her death. While in her 70s, she learned to speak and write English, wanted to drive despite her children’s objections, listened to music, politics, philosophy, and read a lot. She was known in the Russian Jewish community as a vivid lecturer on Russian and World poetry; she organized several successful poetry evenings in the Jewish Community Center.
Beloved wife to the late Yakov Prizant. Devoted mother of Aleksandra Mariychina and Susan (late Alexander) Matveyeva. Loving grandmother of Nadia (Vlad) Tovbin, Dennis Matveyev and Artem Mariychina.
OFFICIATING: Rabbi Avie Shapiro INTERMENT: Hebrew Memorial Park Cemetery SHIVA: The family will gather informally through Wednesday evening at the residence of a daughter Aleksandra Marichina 6298 Pepper Hill West Bloomfield, MI 48322 CONTRIBUTIONS: If you would like to further honor the memory of ANNA PRIZANT you may do so by making a contribution to: A CHARITY OF YOUR CHOICE Upcoming Events 2018 MAY 23. 01:00 PM Hebrew Memorial Chapel 26640 Greenfield Rd Oak Park, MI, US, 48237 info @ hebrewmemorial.org www.
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