Obituary: Shephard Melzer a”h, 66

By Mayer Fertig

Issue of March 20, 2009 / 24 Adar 5769

Shephard Melzer a”h, chair of the Village of Lawrence Board of Appeals and one of the architects of the merger between Hillel and HILI that formed the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, died suddenly last Friday.

Over the last 20 or so years Melzer had faced significant challenges to his health and received two kidney transplants. He was 66.

Melzer, who graduated from Yeshiva College and Columbia Law, was “a voice of reason and calm and reconciliation in all the venues that he found himself,” said Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Congregation Beth Sholom, in an interview Monday. “Just ask anybody who’s ever appeared before the zoning board in Lawrence. They’ll tell you Shep Melzer was always the dignified voice who tried to resolve arguments.”

In addition to his involvement at Beth Sholom, Melzer also performed “a tremendous amount of kindness to individuals,” said Rabbi Hain, getting them jobs and medical help. “He definitely deserves a lot of hakarat hatov (gratitude) from this community.”

“I said at the funeral that some of the leadership of HAFTR said, ‘We may have had the guts, but Shep had the brains to do what we did.’ But he also had a lot of guts, particularly in fighting for his life over these past couple of decades,” noted Rabbi Hain.

“I lost a dear friend of over 20 years,” he added.

An estimated 900 people attended the funeral at Beth Sholom on Sunday morning.

Melzer is survived by his wife, Judy, and their sons, Adam and Eric, their wives, and a number of grandchildren.