Bardes to receive OAJC's Sussman award Dec. 4

By JEWISH REVIEW

article created on: 2008-11-15T00:00:00

Leonard and Goldie Barde will receive the Oregon Area Jewish Committee’s 2008 Maurice D. Sussman Award at a dinner in their honor on Thursday, Dec. 4.

The dinner will be held at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy. in Portland. The event begins with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the evening’s program at 7 p.m.

One of the special guests for the evening will be Consul General Akiva Tor, from the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco.

The Maurice D. Sussman Memorial Award is given in memory of the late Maurice Sussman. It is presented annually by the Oregon Area Jewish Committee to honor those individuals whose personal lives and community contributions exemplify the high standards set by Sussman and the OAJC.

Born in Seattle, Leonard Barde moved to Portland with his family during the early part of the Great Depression. He attended Glencoe Elementary School and Benson High School, where he was co-captain of the basketball team, was elected student body president, and inter-city Hy-Wy president.

Leonard attended the University of Oregon on an academic scholarship, where he was selected for both the junior and senior honoraries. On campus he joined Sigma Alpha Mu and became president of the fraternity during his junior year.

Leonard was chairman of the campus War Board in 1942, supervising the collection of metal products for the war effort. A member of ROTC, he entered the U.S. Army in 1943 where he served with no distinction since he was wounded on the rifle range, preventing him from fulfilling his goal of attending Officer’s Training School.

A few months after being medically discharged from the army, Leonard became an employee of Gevurtz Furniture Company, where he worked for more than 50 years.

In the ’50s and ’60s, Leonard served as a board member of Congregation Ahavai Sholom and the Jewish Community Center. Leonard then began his long period of service to the Robison Home, as a board member and later vice president. He served as president of the home during the construction of the Rose Schnitzer Manor.

Leonard was also a board member of Congregation Neveh Shalom, finding his niche of service by joining the cemetery committee, and then chairing that committee for 10 years. In this capacity he arranged patriotic memorial services for Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day, honoring Jewish war veterans. His efforts toward beautification of the Ahavai Sholom and Neveh Zedek cemeteries include finding the means to build a needed new mausoleum on the grounds of the Ahavai Sholom cemetery.

Goldie Barde attended Shattuck Elementary School and Lincoln High School in Portland. At the University of Oregon she was elected president of the Women’s Athletic Association.

Goldie began volunteering at the Robison Jewish Home in 1993 by offering to give manicures to the residents. This eventually led to years of ongoing service at the home. Goldie was vice president and then president of the Robison Home Sisterhood. In this capacity she developed the tradition of Friday night religious services, conducted by Sisterhood members.

After Goldie became a bat mitzvah at the age of 60, she became a regular leader of religious services at Robison Home and Rose Schnitzer Manor.

For 15 years Goldie volunteered in the public schools by assisting teachers and tutoring. Goldie also served on the Board of Education at Congregation Ahavai Sholom and taught Sunday school there. In the 1990s and the early 2000s she worked through HIAS, tutoring Russian immigrants to prepare for American citizenship.

For the past 60 years, Goldie has answered the call to volunteer for countless fund-raising events, particularly for Congregation Neveh Shalom and for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. She was a recipient of the Jewish Women’s Roundtable Song of Miriam award.

Goldie and Leonard met at a party when they were both 13 years old. They were engaged in 1943 and married in 1944. The Bardes have three children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, with one more on the way.

Co-chairs for the Sussman Award Dinner are Phil and Fay Blank, Milt and Cissi Carl, Burton and Bernice Gevurtz, Herb and Jeanne Newmark, and Ray and Dorothy Packouz.

Tickets are $125. To purchase tickets for the dinner, call the OAJC office at 503-295-6761 or email info@oajconline.org.