Ben Mazur was the kind of guy who you met once but never forgot! He was a true "people person" to his family, his customers, and even to strangers he didn't know. He was an original member of the Optimist Club and always said, "You look so beautiful". Who had more fun in eight and a half decades of life than Ben Mazur?
Born to immigrant parents, Ben grew up in neighborhoods remembered from a former era in Pittsburgh Jewish history--McKees Rocks and East Pittsburgh. He had one older sister and a younger brother named Joseph. He left his formal studies at the University of Pittsburgh to work with his parents at the store.
Ben's meeting Rebecca started a "street car courtship" that made "Bek" His Bride! and His Lady! After their marriage, "MAZER'S" and Ben himself became legends in Homestead. Home and shul were in Squirrel Hill for daughters Myrna (married Alvin Kingsley) and Fran (married Phil_______). They recall dad telling stories and reading books, distributing silver dollars and playing cards, wrapping gum drops and jelly beans in his cigar wrappers and holders, and taking them to Buster Brown for back-to-school shoes. He was absorbed by sports on TV, the books he was reading and the musicals he adored, especially "Bells are Ringing" with Judy Holiday.
A new generation of mishpacha delighted "PAPA" BEN at a whole new stage of family history. The father who had tragically lost a young son in a bizarre accident many years before was now blessed to welcome a whole new generation, beginning with Bruce, Joel, and Phyllis, then Jill and Douglas, Erika (a standout in Cellular Molecular Biology), and Rob (in New York). He saw two weddings of grand children and knewThat there is one great grandchild on the way. The miracle of new life is surely coming to carry on the love and the legacy of PAPA to whom you meant so much.
The hardest days ahead are for Rebecca, who enjoyed almost fifty-eight years as partner and "soul mate" to this unforgettable mentsh. No words can make your sad loss easier to accept or your healing simpler to accomplish. But remember that the "The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude". Ben deserves your thanks for all he was and will forever mean to you.
Yeheh zichro baruch May his memory be for a Blessing