Abraham Ehrenhaus, 96

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Abraham (Ab) Ehrenhaus passed away on Jan. 22 at home. He was born March 31, 1924, in Fall River, Massachusetts. He was the son of the late Samuel and Rose (Rabinovitz) Ehrenhaus. He was a true Renaissance Man: educated, knowledgeable in a myriad of areas, a thinker, a problem solver, a musician.  He and his late wife, Marilyn (Silverman), were the loves of each other's lives, sharing more than 70 years of living and loving life together. In the year since Marilyn’s death, he missed her deeply and, although he tried hard to go on, the loss of his partner was hard to endure.

Abraham grew up in Fall River. After graduating from high school, he moved to Providence while he attended Brown University. After one year at college, he enlisted in the US Army knowing that it was his duty and honor to serve his country during WWII. During the war, he was on active duty in the European theater as a rifleman and then in the Engineering Corps. On his return after the war, he completed his studies at Brown, graduating with a BS in Economics and met Marilyn. He was class orator for his graduation, and his professors encouraged him to pursue a doctorate in Economics.  He was accepted to a Ph.D. program in Economics at the University of Chicago; however, upon graduation, he decided to join his father in his business, American Wallpaper Co. He grew the business and was happy with his choice. But, he never stopped studying economics throughout his life. After his retirement from the business, he took on leadership positions with Union Savings Bank. The bank grew and eventually became BayCoast Bank and Ab served as the chairman of the board for many years. He loved his work there and especially cherished the wonderful, talented banking professionals with whom he collaborated.

For enjoyment, Ab loved long days at the beach, where he took walks, collected his favorite banded stones, read, swam, ate and talked with all of his beach buddies. Even into his eighties, he taught his grandchildren how to body surf, build the best drip castles and how to love the simple things in life while spending time with family on the beach.

He read the New York Times daily and every Sunday, he would make sure that he completed the crossword puzzle. He did the puzzles in pen, because he knew most of the answers.  For almost 70 years, he and Marilyn would sit together on the sofa until the puzzle was completed. As recent as two weeks ago, he was completing the daily puzzles and worked on the Sunday one which he was finding increasingly challenging. 

He was a talented flute player who practiced every day of his life. Even to the end, he played at least 20 minutes a day. He had the most beautiful tone and loved his very special wooden flute. For years, he played with the New Bedford Symphony and the Swansea Community Band. He encouraged his children and grandchildren to learn and master a musical instrument and many succeeded.

He was a collector of so many things. He loved his stamp collection and taught lots of history and geography lessons to his children and grandchildren by studying the stamps. He loved, beautiful glass, Fall River history items, trade cards and art.

Abraham was a mentor to many young people.  Even in the last few years, he would engage in conversations about career choices with the young people who worked at Laurelmead.  He connected them to his friends and he wrote recommendations on their behalf.  

Abraham valued volunteerism. He believed that everyone should find the time to serve one’s community. He was the chair of the Fall River Red Cross twice. He helped found the Fall River Soup Kitchen and was very involved in the Fall River Food Pantry, the Fall River Historical Society, the Public Library and the Marine Museum. He modeled this philosophy and behavior, which has been passed onto his children and grandchildren.

He loved his family – his daughters, Barbara (Joel) Gereboff and Leah (Kenny Hersh) Ehrenhaus-Hersh.  He also had a daughter Ellen. He had an amazingly strong relationship with his grandchildren: Avi (Rachel) Gereboff, Arielle Gereboff, Noah (Irena) Gereboff, Ami (Elana) Hersh, Eitan (Julia) Hersh and Shayna (Michael) Fel.  He spoke with them often, enjoyed family vacations with them, advised them, challenged them to be their best and loved hearing about all of their accomplishments. And, more than them, he adored his 14 great-grandchildren. He was a penpal to those who were old enough to read and write. He taught the art of letter writing as opposed to emails and how to play chess and backgammon. He taught all of them in a variety of ways depending on the age of the child. He loved his frequent Facetime or real in-person visits with all of them.

Although he was very independent to the end, he had assistance from his aides, Andrea, Vandira, Celina, Alcinda, Candida and Ilda. They were kind and caring to him.

Donations would be appreciated to be made to the: Fall River Food Pantry, Temple Emanu-El in Providence, Peninsula Sinai Congregation in Foster City, California, and the Jewish Community Day School of RI.

We have lost a wonderful man, a fabulous father, a good friend to many and a mentor to too many to mention. But, we are all so fortunate to have had Ab in our lives.

obituary, Abraham Ehrenhaus