ZELDA LUKE REIZ Obituary (1922 - 2017)

Zelda Luke Reiz passed away on 9/27/17. Funeral services will be at 11:00am Sunday, October 1, at The Louis Memorial Chapel with burial to follow at Mt. Carmel Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Beth Shalom Synagogue, 14200 Lamar Avenue, Overland Park, KS 66223 or the Jewish Community Center of Greater KC, 5801 W. 115th St., Ste 101, Overland Park, KS 66211. Zelda was born in Kansas City, MO to Sara and David Luke on April 20, 1922. She was the youngest of three children. Her brother was Yudell Luke (Laverne), the famous Mathematician. Her sister was the legendary Ida Rose “Skipper" Feingold (Leo). She and Skipper, known as “The Luke Sisters” were a song and dance team and performed in the local and regional night club scene in the 1930’s up until World War II. For many years through their 80’s, they performed for various organizations Zelda began her career as an elementary teacher at the McCoy School in Kansas City, MO. Later she taught in the Beth Shalom preschool which her sister “Skipper” founded. At one point, our good friend Harris Winitz, a professor of Linguistics at UMKC convinced Zelda to return to study to become a speech therapist. She accomplished this at a time when she and her husband had three growing boys. She taught in the Shawnee Mission School District for 25 years. Zelda leaves her beloved husband of 70 years, Andrew Reiz and three sons of Overland Park: David (Pam), Nathan (Nancy), Joel (Lana), and daughter Miriam (Bill), of Keturah, Israel. Nine grandchildren: Mirra Siegel (Shmuel), Baltimore, MD; Alissa Murray (Alyn), Junction City, KS; Rabbi Yudell Reiz (Leeba), San Diego, CA; Shmueli Reiz (Simcha), Montreal, Canada; Gordon Reiz (Christina Pyle – fiancée), Westwood Hills, KS; Samuel Reiz (Mary Carlson, partner), Fort Collins, CO; Yahav Erez-Slott, Idan Erez-Slott, Heddi Erez-Slott, all of Keturah, Israel; 10 great-grandchildren and 5 step-great-grandchildren. There will be a Shiva service at 6:00pm on Sunday, October 1st and Monday, October 2nd, at Village Shalom.