Benesch Thatch: A Straight-Up Guy
Esther Allweiss Tschirhart / Special to the Jewish News

The rock of his family and a beloved mentor and adviser to many, Benesch Thatch told his daughter Rhoda Kamin before his death that he wanted to be remembered as a “straight-up guy.” And so he was.

A vice president of Silverman Construction Company, Mr. Thatch “loved people and treated them uniformly with genuine respect and kindness,” said his son, Dr. Leonard Thatch. “Whether they carried a broom or briefcase, it didn’t matter.”

Mr. Thatch, 91, of Walled Lake, died of cancer Jan. 16, 2003.
In conversations with Mr. Thatch, eulogist Rabbi E.B. Bunny Freedman learned something of “the unspeakable horrors” he witnessed in the city of Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania, its ghetto and Dachau German death camp.
“To know that the man who saw all of that turned into the gentle and regal bearing of the Benesch that all of us know is one of the great testaments to the potential of all human beings,” the rabbi said.

Mr. Thatch had been an attorney-turned-successful entrepreneur when World War II broke out in Europe. He was 30 and on his honeymoon with his young bride, Riva.

Both he and Riva survived the Holocaust. In 1946, after recovering his wife and their hidden child, Aviva, Mr. Thatch administered a program in Germany that trained Jewish boys whose education was interrupted by the war.

American Jews came to see how their money was being used. That led to a fateful meeting with a group of Detroiters including the late Joseph Holtzman and the late Louis Berry, said daughter Aviva Sandler, “who became friendly with my dad.” Giving him their cards, they told him he’d have a job if he came here.

The Thatch family, now including baby Rhoda, eventually moved to Detroit to take them up on the offer. Arriving in November 1949, they were met by members of the Holtzman and Silverman families, who were connected by marriage and the real estate construction business.

Joining the company as a novice, Mr. Thatch quickly learned the building trade and went on to have a 52-year career with what is today the Silverman Companies, headquartered in Bingham Farms.
Mr. Thatch received a lifetime achievement award at a 1999 company luncheon. A video from the event is filled with loving tributes and “Ben” stories. Coming up in the organization, current chairman and CEO Buzz Silverman was mentored by Mr. Thatch.

In the video, Silverman said, “For over 50 years, Ben has made the whole business stick together with his attitude, leadership, wisdom and stories.” Among the advice from his mentor: “The more you’re in construction, the more you need jokes. If you don’t laugh, you’re going to be crying a lot.”
With his wife, a retired teacher at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit, the Thatches, members of Adat Shalom Synagogue, supported Israel Bonds, Magen David Adom and the JCC Maccabi Games.

Rhoda Kamin said her attentive dad “packed the school lunches, darned the socks, built the science project with us, drove the carpool, trimmed my nails.” Last Chanukah, he made a mountain of latkes “filled with equal measure of potatoes and love.”

The grandchildren enjoyed swimming in the Thatches’ lake and visiting sites of his building projects. He also played soccer with the kids at age 82.
Rabbi Freedman said Buzz Silverman and his dad Gilbert Silverman had their last visit with Mr. Thatch in the hospital. The men thanked him for his loyalty and said they would miss him.

“‘Don’t feel bad,’ Mr. Thatch told them. ‘Every person is given a key. I lived a good life. It’s time to turn my key in.’ He was ready.”
Mr. Thatch is survived by his wife of 61 years, Riva Thatch; daughters and sons-in-law, Aviva and Robert Sandler of Commerce, Rhoda and Michael Kamin of Illinois; son, Dr. Leonard Thatch of Mattawan, Mich.; grandchildren, Elizabeth Sandler, Eric Sandler, Jennifer Sandler-Bowen and Lance Bowen, David Kamin, Carrie Kamin and great-grandson, Ian Sandler Bowen.

Interment was at Adat Shalom Memorial Park. Contributions may be made to the Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network, 24123 Greenfield Road, Southfield, MI 48075 and the American Red Magen David for Israel, 23470 Riverview, Southfield, MI 48034. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

© Copyright 2002 Detroit Jewish News
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