Class Correspondent

Rabbi Bernie Frank ’55, P’81, P’84, P’92, shares the sad news of the death of his wife of 58 years, Toby Frank, P’81, P’84, P’92 (see In Memoriam): “I am sorry to have to inform you of Toby’s demise after years of being sick with Alzheimer’s. The last four to five were the toughest. She died on March 1 at 11:22 p.m. I was holding her hand and talking to her, telling her that I was with her and would always be ‘her Bernie.’ It was then that she died as her hand loosened her grip. She was as beautiful as the day I met her. I love her so much.” Tania Grossinger wrote a Huffington Post essay about her friendship with Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to integrate Major League Baseball and the subject of the movie “42.” As a 13-year-old, Tania met Jackie at Grossinger’s, the famous resort hotel owned by her family in New York’s Catskill Mountains, where they played Ping-Pong and he invited her to be his friend. She recently wrote an illustrated children’s book about her relationship with Robinson, “Jackie and Me: A Very Special Friendship.” In her Huffington Post essay, she shared a letter that Robinson wrote her while she was a Brandeis student following a fire at Grossinger’s that killed many staff members:

Dear Tania,

I was so shocked about the tragedy and I can only imagine how terrible you must feel. I immediately interrupted spring training to write and tell you how much you are in my thoughts. At least we can thank God that there were others who were lucky. Tania, I hope nothing ever changes your ideas about God and his doing. I know how horrible it was and sometimes when disaster strikes near we want to question but, Tania dear, we must always understand. Please, for my sake, try.

Love, Jackie

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