Dr. Bernadine Healy Loop, Who Led National Institutes of Health, American Red Cross and More, Died Saturday at 67

The Gates Mills resident and wife of former Cleveland Clinic CEO Floyd D. Loop wrote a book about her journey with brain cancer.

Dr. Bernadine Healy Loop, the first woman to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health and past president of the American Red Cross, died Saturday, Aug. 6, at age 67. The Gates Mills resident wrote a memoir about her experience with brain cancer titled The Living Time: Faith and Facts to Transform Your Cancer Journey in 2007. She was named Cleveland Clinic head of research in 1985, NIH director in 1991, Ohio State University college of medicine dean in 1995, American Heart Association president in 1998 and Red Cross CEO in 1999. In 1994, she ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, losing in the primary to Mike DeWine. Healy, who had been a science and technology adviser to President Ronald Reagan…

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Robert M. Namen, 80, retired chairman of Osborn Engineering Co.

Led engineering designs for Cleveland's professional baseball and football venues

Robert M. Namen, retired chairman of Osborn Engineering Co., guided the Cleveland firm through the engineering of the designs for Progressive Field, when it was called Jacobs Field, and Cleveland Browns Stadium. The 80-year-old Beachwood resident, who died April 16, also was in charge during the expansion and renovation of Ohio Stadium in Columbus and the engineering of lighting for Wrigley Field in Chicago. Namen joined Osborn in the early 1950s. He was named president in 1985 and chairman and director of operations in 1995. Some comments on Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel’s online guestbook indicate that Osborn employees regarded Namen as a father figure and positive role model. “Our fondest memories are of the company picnics at…

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Nikki Ferrell

1:30 pm on Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Thanks, Kenneth, for your kind words. I'm sure his family can draw comfort in knowing he was such a respected member of our community.   more ›

Rev. Adrian T. Lynum, 68, pastor at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church

The late Beachwood pastor held degrees from Cleveland State University and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Five years ago – after three years as pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church in Cleveland – the Rev. Adrian T. Lynum was named pastor at what had been his home church, St. Mark’s Presbyterian, now in Beachwood. Lynum joined St. Mark’s in 1968, when the church was located on East Boulevard in Cleveland, and later served three terms as an elder. He was named the church’s “Man of the Year” in 1996. His status as pastor was made permanent on Oct. 11, 2009.  The 68-year-old Beachwood resident died of complications from cancer on March 29.  Lynum, who was born in Manila, AL, was a teenager when he moved to Cleveland with his family. He was educated at East High School and attended Bowling Green State University for two years. Lynum worked as a …

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Daniel Tobin, 82, and his wife, Marilyn, 78, die two days apart

Daniel Tobin owned lighting company; Marilyn was a receptionist for the Cleveland Jewish News

Daniel Tobin, 82, of Beachwood, died March 14, two days after the death of his wife, Marilyn, who died March 12. Daniel owned the K-Line lighting fixtures company. Marilyn, whose maiden name was Eskins, worked as a receptionist for the Cleveland Jewish News. Both were born in Cleveland. The Tobins are survived by their sons, David and Michael; three grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. Daniel’s brother, Bernard, and Marilyn’s sister, Marjorie Paller, also survive. Services for the Tobins will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 16, at Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel, 1985 S. Taylor Road, Cleveland Heights. The family will receive friends following services until 8 p.m. and from 1-8 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at the Tobin …

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Henry W. Billys, 100, Holocaust survivor, owner of House of Lights

The Polish Jew survived the Holocaust by pretending to be a Ukrainian Christian

Henry W. Billys and his family survived the Holocaust in Europe by pretending to be Ukrainian Christians during World War II. The Beachwood resident, who died Dec. 27 at age 100, was living in his native Poland, where he was known by his birth name, Henryk Bialystok, when the Germans invaded his country in September 1939. According to a diary of their wartime experiences, written by his wife, Sophie – then known as Zosia – Billys managed to flee to Lithuania a few weeks later. Sophie's diary was published in the Plain Dealer on Aug. 28, 1994. Sophie and their baby daughter, Emilia, now known as Millie, remained in Poland, where Sophie orchestrated the means of their survival. Wealth and connections enabled them to acquire fake birth …

Donna Bickoff Cohen, 62, community activist, started Beachwood Alumni Association

A scholarship fund has been established in her honor through the Beachwood Schools Foundation

At a standing-room-only memorial service at Embassy Suites Wednesday, mourners shared stories about the late Donna Bickoff Cohen and her commitment to the Beachwood schools and community.  “They kept on calling her ‘the glue,’” said Jo-Ellen Balogh, who initiated plans to create a scholarship in Cohen’s honor. “She was certainly the glue that held her class together. The Class of  ’66.” Cohen, who died of Dec. 31 at age 62, founded the Beachwood High School Alumni Association, helped select inductees to the school’s Gallery of Success and co-chaired two school levy campaigns.  For many years, she served as president of the alumni association and coordinated Class of 1966 reunions every five years. Her class, realizing that she was …

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Aaron Jacobson, 88, Reporter-Turned-Lawyer, Cofounded Medical Malpractice Insurance Firms

He led the "Keep the Median Green" campaign of 2000.

Aaron Jacobson, a former Cleveland newspaper reporter turned lawyer, died Dec. 23 at age 88. The Beachwood resident, who retired as president of one of the largest medical malpractice insurance firms in the nation., cofounded Physicians Insuring Exchange – better known as the P.I.E. mutual insurance company – and became its first president in 1975.  He also started the Jacobson Maynard Tuschman & Kalur law firm in 1985. He retired in 1988. In 2000, Jacobson led the "Keep the Median Green" campaign to stop development of a strip of land in the median of Shaker Boulevard between Richmond and Sulgrave roads.   Jacobson was born in Dayton on Jan. 14, 1922. After graduating from Ohio State University, he enlisted in the Army for service in …

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Alan D. Bennett, 83, Retired Jewish Education Center of Cleveland Executive Vice President

A founder and past president of National Association of Temple Educators

Alan D. Bennett retired as executive vice president of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland (JECC). He was a founder and past president of the National Association of Temple Educators (NATE) . He chaired and directed the Cleveland region of the Association of Reform Zionists of America in the 1990s. Bennett, who died Dec. 21 at age 83, also remained committed to educating small groups of local people. He took time every Saturday morning to lead a Torah study group at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood. He served on Fairmount's board of Jewish education. He acted as a docent at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage. Bennett wrote articles, manuals and books that provided guidance for teachers, helped young adults understand …

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Alvin Arsham, Co-Owned Textile Recycling Business

Also sold real estate until he was 85

Alvin Arsham co-owned Arsham Brothers textile recycling firm in Cleveland with his brother, Sanford, for more than 50 years. He kept the business open for three years after Sanford's death in 1998. He was in his 80s at the time. The Beachwood resident, who died Dec. 1, 2010, at age 91, also sold real estate for 22 years. He retired from Realty One in 2004, when he was 85. Arsham graduated from Glenville High School in Cleveland and received a bachelor's degree in business from Western Reserve University. He had served as president of ZBT Fraternity. More than 60 years ago, he and eight other fraternity brothers started a monthly lunch group called "ZBT plus Art."    During World War II, Arsham served in the Army Air Forces. He taught …