Herman M. Pekarsky, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Essex County and nationally known federation expert, died suddenly last night of an apparent heart attack at his home. He was 56. Funeral services will be held tomorrow.
He was a member of the board of trustees of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds since 1951, a member of the board of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and was a member of the JTA board’s executive committee. He had been president of the New Jersey Welfare Council and a member of the board of trustees of the Welfare Federation of Newark. He also served as a trustee of the Hospital and Health Council of Newark.
Born in Holland, he came to the United States when he was 20, and received his education at the University of Michigan, the Graduate School for Jewish Social Work and Michigan State College. He had served in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in Kentucky, on the Kent County, Michigan, Relief Commission, and the Michigan Old Age Assistance Bureau. Prior to his accepting his post with the Jewish Community Council of Essex County, he was acting director of the Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation, and managing director of the Council of Social Agencies of Metropolitan Detroit, He also served as supervisor of the employment practices section of the Michigan Works Projects Administration.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
