Lottie Rebecca Engler Goldstein
December 22, 1910 - July 2, 1965

My mother, Lottie Rebecca Engler was born in Kosow, Austria on December 22, 1910. Her parents were Samuel Engler and Sophie Finder Engler. Samuel was born in 1880 in Lemberg, Austria and died in Detroit, Michigan in 1936. Sophie was born January, 1880 in Kosow and died May 19, 1953 in Detroit.

Samuel and Sophie were married in Kosow. They had three children. Clara (Chaik) was born April 26, 1908 in Kosow and died May 29, 2005 in Detroit. Lottie Rebecca was born December 22, 1910 in Kosow and died July 2, 1965 in Detroit. David was born April 14, 1924 in Detroit and died April 5, 1992.

Clara married Ruben Alzofon September 2, 1933 in Detroit. He was born March 10, 1900 in Basarabia, Romania and died February 17, 1861 in Detroit. They had one child, Judy Riva born January 30, 1937. Judy married Jack Kaufman August 11, 1956. Jack was born October 2, 1934 and died January 2, 2000. They adopted two children Richard, born December 22, 1966 and Sandra, born September 21, 1969.

David married Celia Katz on June 16, 1946. They had two children. Phyllis, born December 3, 1947 and died January 31, 2016. Paul was born July 4, 1969.

My mother, Lottie met and married my father, Philip David Goldstein on January 26, 1930 in Detroit at the Westminister Schul. He was born May 8, 1900 in Nashelsk, Poland. In later years after being discharged from the Polish Army he managed to come to the United States. After originally going to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where there was some family to support him, he decided to move to Detroit, Michigan where he had heard about the strong automotive industry and felt that might be a good place for him to have success, earn a living and start a new life. He met other "newcomers" after he arrived and developed friendships.

My father decided that the automotive industry was strong and he would try to begin selling automotive parts which he stored in his own basement. It was a positive decision and he eventually opened his first store selling automotive parts. His wife, Lottie, worked with him assuming all necessary responsibilities until the business grew and other employees were hired. It became a family business with Lottie's brother, David, working there as well as his wife, Celia. She had been an employee in the office at the switchboard. David had been in the army and when he completed his service, he joined the family working at my dad's first store in Detroit, United Automotive Supply Co. That is where he met Celia and eventually they married.

Philip and Lottie had one child, Beverly Vita Goldstein born January 8, 1936. I was an only child and while both parents were working hard, my grandmother (my mother's mother, Sophie Engler) lived with us. Our first home that I grew up in and remember was on Pasadena in Detroit.

Though my mother and dad worked every day they found time to do things with me. I remember on some Saturdays taking the bus with my mom and going shopping downtown at the J.L. Hudson Co. and then having lunch at Sanders. That was always an exciting day for me with my mother. Every summer, my dad would drive us up north to Charlevoix, Michigan which was a popular family resort. He would drop us off, get us settled and Metcalfs Rooming House where we stayed every year. Then he would drive back home to go to work the next day. On the weekends he would return to be with us.

My mother and dad had long time friendships with other couples who had come to this country at about the same time and had a wonderful social life over the years. My parents were founding members of Temple Israel where I went to Sunday school. I was confirmed there and also graduated from Temple Israel High School. They got me a tutor so that I could learn to read and understand Yiddish. With my grandmother living with us I had learned to understand Yiddish early on since my parents spoke to my grandmother in Yiddish all the time. She did speak English as well.

My mother was always supportive of my decisions. When I graduated from Wayne State University as a Speech Pathologist, my mom made a party for me with my school friends. My parents were very proud of me. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks after the party, my mom suddenly passed away on July 2,1965. She and my dad had planned a trip to Israel that August. They had never made a major trip like that before. After WWII, my dad's sister, Miriam, decided to go to Israel to live and my dad had never seen her since their years together in Poland. It was to be a big reunion after many, many years. Miriam had married Menachim Gross and had two children: a son, Abraham and a daughter, Bruria. My parents were going for the wedding of Bruria and David Eidelheit in Tel Aviv, Israel. When my mother died, it was decided that I would go with my father. We would be there for the wedding but it would enable him to be reunited with his sister that he hadn't seen in such a long time.

In 1948, my parents brought my cousins to this country and helped them get settled into their new life after the war. Sadly, their parents were killed after the war in Poland and were never able to see the accomplishments of their children in the United States and the lives they had built for themselves in married life. Leo, Mark, Ann, and Rae Wygoda adjusted slowly as they got an apartment and found work until Mark and Leo were able to start their own business. Rae enrolled and graduated from Central High School and went on to Wayne State University and graduated as a teacher. She taught math in the Detroit school system.