Murray Brill's Obituary
Murray Joel Brill, son of Cecilia (Caster) and Isidore Brill of blessed
memory, passed on September 4, 2021 after 93+ years of a wonderful
Journey, 54 with his cherished wife Helene (Freed) who survives him.
“Uncle Murray” is also survived by his niece and nephew, Dinah
PoKempner Kushen (of South Orange, NJ), and Marc PoKempner (of
Chicago, IL and New Orleans, LA. Additionally, he leaves behind his
nephew- and niece-in-laws, Lisa Falkowitz (of Burke, VA), Kenneth
Falkowitz (of Knoxville, TN), Stephen Falkowitz (of Tampa, FL), Brian
Freed (of South Riding, VA) and Rachel (Freed) Townsend (of
Alexandria, VA), as well as sixteen grand nieces and nephews. Murray
dearly loved his nieces, nephews and their progeny and was always
willing to and did share with them his advice — solicited or not!
Born in Pottsville PA, Murray joined the Navy right out of high school
and served in WW II as an aircraft carrier radar operator. From there the
GI Bill enabled his enrollment in Penn State University where he
received a Bachelor degree in Business Administration. Murray then
opened and operated for several years a Ladies Ready-to-Wear business
in Hazleton, PA.
He and Helene met and married in 1967. In 1971 they moved to
Maryland where they opened and operated The Paper Doll, a Hallmark
card shop in Rockville, MD, and The Perfect Touch, a gift store in
Gaithersburg, MD. During their time in Maryland, they were both
active in and Board Members of B’nai Israel synagogue.
In 1982 Murray became an Insurance Agent for Connecticut Mutual and
then Mass Mutual in the greater Washington DC area, his profession
until retirement in 2005. Upon his retirement, they relocated to Boca
Pointe in Boca Raton FL where they resided on the edge of and
overlooking the golf course, eventually moving to nearby Edgewater at
Boca Pointe, a staged continuing care retirement community.
Both before and after the move to Boca, Murray was an avid golfer who
loved the game’s challenges and its comradery --even though the game
itself did not always love him back! His other major avocation was
regular “let’s see the world” travel with Helene, all over and by air, land
and cruise ship— the Far East, the near East, the Caribbean, Europe, and
throughout the US, including Alaska and Hawaii.
Murray’s family had a long-established commitment to charity and he
and Helene have continued that commitment with their establishment
and funding of a number of charitable trusts. In lieu of flowers,
donations in his memory may be made directly to any of the following:
Support Hadassah Hospitals; Children’s National Hospital; Support
Johns Hopkins Medicine (Suburban Hospital); National Jewish Health.
Services will be held Thursday, September 9, 2021 starting at 1:00 pm, Beth Israel Memorial Chapel, Delray Beach. Entombment to follow at Eternal Light Memorial Garden, Boynton Beach, Florida.
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