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IGRA Remembers
Our association has benefited from many volunteers and supporters over the years, and here we recognize those who have contributed to IGRA and the the world of genealogy, but have sadly passed. These people are sorely missed – as volunteers, supporters, and as friends. Each was unique in his/her contribution and we encourage you to read about these special people.
Leesa Goren 1950-2020
Leesa Freedman Goren grew up in Granite City, Illinois. After atrtending Harvard, and getting her MBA at Washington University, she and her family made aliyah in 1985. She worked for an international investment company, was active in her kehilla in Petach Tikva, and volunteered for the Emunah Organization. Leesa was a founding member of IGRA, serving on the board, as the first Treasurer, and later on the Audit Committee.
Harvey Krueger 1929-2017
Leesa Freedman Goren grew up in Granite City, Illinois. After atrtending Harvard, and getting her MBA at Washington University, she and her family made aliyah in 1985. She worked for an international investment company, was active in her kehilla in Petach Tikva, and volunteered for the Emunah Organization. Leesa was a founding member of IGRA, serving on the board, as the first Treasurer, and later on the Audit Committee.
Martha Lev-Zion 1940-2014
Martha Levinson Lev-Zion was born in Los Angeles, CA and made aliyah in 1977. She was a historian of modern European intellectual history at the Ben Gurion University, in Be’er Sheva, Israel. She wrote and lectured about the Jews of Franconia and Thüringen [Germany] and Courland [Latvia] in many international conferences. Martha was founder of the Negev (southern) branch of the Israel Genealogical Society (IGS) and was associated with the Center for Judaic Studies of the University of Latvia. She was a founder of IGRA and served on the Executive Committee for several years.
Mathilde A. Tagger 1933-2014
Mathilde A. Tagger was born in Tangiers, Morocco. She had an MA degree in Library and Information Sciences from Hebrew University in Jerusalem; was Chief Librarian of the Atmospheric Sciences Department, Hebrew University and then the Scientific Advisor for Special Information Projects at the Ministry of Science and Development. She went on to become a specialist in Sephardic research, especially names (onomastics) in the Sephardic world. She single-handedly created many of the databases on SephardicGen.com. She was a founding member of IIJG and served for many years on the Institute’s Executive Committee and was a founding member of IGRA.
Ingrid Rockberger 1946-2023
Ingrid Rockberger was born in England and came on aliyah with her family in 1981. Ingrid has been involved in community work and volunteering since her teenage years. She was involved in WIZO (Womens International Zionist Organization) while still living in England, and prior to her aliyah was Aviv (Young Womens Division) Chair. While living in Israel Ingrid was also Managing Editor and Publisher of an English-language news magazine called IN ENGLISH, and was Head of the English Department of Docostory, a Ra’anana-based company documenting peoples life stories. During this period, in conjunction with Yad Vashem, Ingrid wrote and edited numerous books on the lives of Holocaust survivors. She was Chair of World WIZO Publicity and Communications Division and Editor of their magazine WIZO Review.
Barbara Ann Ellman 1951-2023
It was with great sorrow that IGRA received word that Barbara Ellman suddenly passed away at the end of January. In addition to all of the amazing work she contributed to JewishGen, Barbara found time to work on transcribing databases for IGRA as well. For our year 2014-2015 Barbara was awarded the Mathilde Tagger Prize of Recognition for Volunteering with IGRA Databases.
Rabbi Henry (Hank) F. Skirball 1929-2022
In great sorrow, we announce the passing, on Rosh Hashana, of our founding member and loyal friend, Rabbi Henry (Hank) F. Skirball z”l. He was a graduate of Harvard and Hebrew Union College HUC. He earned his doctorate from Columbia as well as an honorary doctorate and the presidential medallion from the Hebrew Union College. He was a member of the faculties of Northwestern University and HUC. He was a U.S. Army chaplain in Washington, DC and Germany, served the Hillel Foundations at Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University. Hank served as National Director of the National Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY), the Association of Jewish Youth Directors of North America among other positions.
