Fred Alchek January 1, 1921 - November 24, 2021

Pembroke Pines, Florida - “Every day is a present” was his favorite saying. Fred Alchek, 100, passed away November 24, 2021. He was pre-deceased by his loving wife Edith Alchek. Loving father of Frances Shlomi (Josef), Elliot (Nancy) and Dr. Maxine Alchek and beloved grandfather of Eden, Adam, Avery, Jacob, Olivia, Eli, and Leo and dear brother of Yvonne Benrube. He was born in Salonica Greece and his family fled to Israel and later the USA. Fred is a WWII veteran with a bronze star as well as being a successful self-made businessman. He moved from N.Y. and relocated his family to Florida where he was a founder and president of B’nai Sephardim Synagogue. Service 11:30 am Sunday, November 28, 2021 at B’nai Sephardim Synagogue, 3670 Stirling Road, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312. Arrangements by Levitt Weinstein (954) 963-2400.

Palmetto Bay, Florida Maret Lilian Gregory, age 87, passed away on Thursday November 18, 2021 due to a wide assortment of ailments; a loving family surrounded her near the end of her earthly life.

Maret was born in Tallinn, Estonia in 1934 to Walfrid and Elisabeth Von Kastra-Kastan. During World War II, Estonia was repeatedly contested, invaded and occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union. She saw the worst of humanity at a young age, trying to survive in German forced labor camps, not knowing how her life was going to end. Soviet occupation did not permit her family to return to her country following the war. Fortunately, the American Catholic Church became proactive in its efforts to respond to this crisis and, by the early 1950’s, had resettled just shy of two hundred thousand Europeans who were displaced by the war – including Maret, and a small fraction of her family.

Taking advantage of her new beginning in New York City, Maret learned conversational and written English, received her U.S. high school diploma, became a U.S. citizen,