Joshua and Angelic Burgin announce the arrival of their son Xander Ray at Swedish Hospital in Seattle on November 30, 2006. He weighed 6 lbs., 9 oz. and was 19 in. long.
Xander is the grandson of Dr. James and Linda Burgin of Potomac, Md. and Signe and Rondie Keith of Denver, Colo. He is the great-grandson of Glenna and Paul Clark of Manhattan, Kan. and Marie Doedyns, also of Manhattan, Kan., the late Dorothy and Howard Russell, the late Leo and late Inez Burgen, and the late Robert Romans.
Xander’s middle name honors both maternal grandparents’ family names, Russell and Romans.

Carrie Robyn Green and Stuart Brian Gottschalk were married on August 26, 2006 by Rabbi James Mirel at the Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club.
Carrie is the daughter of Eve-Gail Green of Mercer Island and Norman Green of Snoqualmie Ridge. She is the granddaughter of the late Sylvia and Irving Green and the late Claire and Henry Goldstein. Carrie is a graduate of Mercer Island High School and the University of Washington, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. She is an account executive for Housevalues.
Stuart is the son of Rhonda and Mark Gottschalk of Bellevue. His grandparents are Estelle Altabet of Seattle and the late Sol Altabet, and Reinee Gottschalk of Bellevue and the late Herbert Gottschalk. Stuart is a graduate of Newport High School and the University of Washington, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. He works in sales for Ikon.
Carrie and Stuart live in Kirkland.

Sol Altchech died on November 15, 2006 at the Kline Galland Home in Seattle.
Sol was born in Salonika, Greece on December 13, 1919. He was a Holocaust survivor, liberated from Auschwitz on May 5, 1945. He emigrated to Seattle in 1951 and married Mary Solam on March 8, 1953. He was proud to become an American citizen on June 23, 1956.
He will be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather and brother.
Sol is survived by his wife Mary; sister Paula Soulema of Los Angeles; sons Steven (Diana) of Bellevue, Jeff (Shari) of Issaquah, and Allen of Los Angeles; and five grandchildren, David, Marissa, Zach, Daniel and Joe.
The funeral service was held at the Sephardic Brotherhood Cemetery.
Remembrances may be made to the Kline Galland Home, 7500 Seward Park Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98118.

Deborah Kaplan died on November 12, 2006 at the age of 53. She was born in Chicago, Ill. in 1952.
Kaplan was an assistant professor of communication at the University of Washington, where she taught narrative journalism. Her entire career was spent in journalism, including stints at the Detroit Free Press and the Metro Times in Detroit. She was known for her immersion-style reporting on social issues such as poverty and migrant workers. In May 2005, she earned her Doctorate in Journalism and Sociology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She moved to Seattle three years ago.
Deborah is survived by her brothers, Gordon Kaplan and Lawrence Kaplan, and five nieces and nephews.
Those wishing to make memorials may give to the “Deborah Noel Kaplan Fund to support narrative journalism and graduate student research on social issues, with preference for field research at the Department of Communication University of Washington,” which is being created in her name.

Hunter will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on January 6, 2007 at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation on Mercer Island.
Hunter is the son of Jerry Goldberg of Mercer Island and Julie Finholm of Gig Harbor, and the brother of Julian and Christian. His grandparents are Len and Dolly Goldberg of Portland, Ore., and the late Fred and Laura Hildebrand of Tacoma. His great-grandparents are the late Henry and Sophie Goldberg and the late Charles and Minnie Finkelstein.
Hunter is a 7th-grader at Islander Middle School. He enjoys baseball, sports, video games and music.

Joshua will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on December 30, 2006 at Great Synagogue Gardens in Cape Town, South Africa.
Joshua is the son of Andrew and Michele Appelbaum of Bellevue, and the brother of Julia. He is the grandson of Rhoda Appelbaum and Sarah Daitsh of Cape Town, the late Jack Appelbaum and the late Joseph Daitsh.
Joshua is a 7th-grader at the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle. He enjoys playing premier soccer, reading, listening to music, and attending Camp Solomon Schechter.

Rachael will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on December 16, 2006 at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation on Mercer Island.
Rachael is the daughter of Aileen and Aaron Okrent and the sister of Joshua. Her grandparents are Phyllis and Leon Moss of Spokane, Joan Okrent of Bellevue, and the late Eugene Okrent.
Rachael is a 7th-grader at The Jewish Day School. She enjoys camping, playing volleyball and basketball, reading, and spending time with her friends.

Hannah will celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on December 9, 2006 at Temple Beth Am in Seattle.
Hannah is the daughter of Michael Collins and Heidi Noun of Seattle and the sister of Kate. Her grandparents are Joan and Norman Noun of Minneapolis, Minn. and Kevin Collins of Staten Island, N.Y.
Hannah is a 7th-grader at Washington Middle School. She enjoys playing soccer, reading, listening to music, and hanging out with friends.

Murray Shiff died in Seattle on November 19, 2006. He was 84.
Murray was born in Sandomierz, Poland on April 2, 1922. He emigrated to Toronto, Ont. with his family in 1931, and earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1949 and a Master’s of Social Work from the University of Toronto in 1951.
Murray dedicated his entire professional life to the Jewish community. One of his first jobs, with the Canadian Jewish Congress, involved traveling to support isolated Jewish communities throughout Ontario. Subsequently, he worked for the Jewish Theological Seminary and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. He was instrumental in establishing Camp Ramah in Canada and served as its first administrator.
Murray was associate director of the Jewish Welfare Federations in Dallas (1966-68) and San Francisco (1970-72). In New York he directed the United Synagogue Book Service (1962-66) and the Large City Budgeting Council of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds (1968-70).
In 1972, Murray moved to Seattle to head the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Among his many accomplishments in Seattle, he was most proud of his role in the development of the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Washington and the creation of the Federation’s Endowment Fund.
Richard Fruchter, the current CEO of the Jewish Federation, was hired by Murray in 1982 for his first job with the organization. A week before Fruchter started, Murray asked Fruchter to join a small delegation to Israel and Lebanon at the height of Operation Galilee. The group was packed into an armored bus and driven up the coast, where they saw munitions caches hidden in caves by the PLO and the smoke rising from Beirut as well as the Western Wall in Jerusalem. That trip set the tone for Fruchter’s tenure, and showed Murray’s dedication to the Jewish community and for Israel.
“He was an intellectual and he had a good heart,” said Fruchter. “He had a good vision of what this Jewish community could become.”
Rabbi Anson Laytner, executive director of the Pacific Northwest chapter of the American Jewish Committee, was also hired by Murray in 1982.
“For me, he was the consummate Jewish professional: organized, committed, scholarly,” Laytner wrote in an e-mail. “I don’t think any of us realize the extent to which he helped to transform our community because of the quiet, modest way he went about assembling the essential building blocks for a healthy Jewish community. We owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude.”
In retirement, Murray discovered a new interest in harpsichord making. He built four instruments, two of which are frequently used on Seattle’s concert stages.
He served on the board of the Seattle Early Music Guild in its early years, where his nonprofit experience was invaluable to the fledgling organization.
Murray is survived by Naomi, his wife of 56 years; brother J. Richard Shiff of Toronto; children Aviva (Karl) Boedecker of Tiburon, Calif., and Jonathan Shiff of Charlottesville, Va.; and granddaughters Karen and Robin Boedecker.
Memorials may be sent to the Jewish Studies Program of the University of Washington, Development Office, 1200 5th Ave., Ste 500, Seattle, WA 98101-1116 or the Seattle Early Music Guild, 2366 Eastlake Ave. E., Suite #335, Seattle, WA 98102-3399, or a charity of your choice.

Sheldon Garber of Kirkland died on October 28, 2006 in a motorcycle accident. He was born in Dayton, Ohio on July 20, 1953 and most recently served as a machinist for the U.S. Post office.
Sheldon is survived by his mother, Selma; siblings Linda (Richie) and Martin, both of Eugene, Ore, Jonathon (Dianne) of Woodinville, and Nancy (Robin) of Kingston.
Donations can be made to Jewish Family Service of Seattle or the charity of your choice.