Julius Amber Dead at 72

Julius B. Amber, noted Zionist, communal leader, and president of the Jewish National Fund of Cleveland for 25 years, died Sunday in Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights, Cleveland at the age of 72, it was announced here today by Dr. Samuel Cohen, executive vice president of the JNF. During his 38 years of service to the JNF in Cleveland, both as secretary and president, Amber was known throughout the Midwest as “Mr. JNF.”

One of nine children, born in Sokoly, Poland, Amber emigrated to the United States in 1921. He received his A.B. degree from Western Reserve University in 1931, and his law degree from Western Reserve University Law School in Cleveland in 1934. After graduation, he was appointed secretary to Roy H. Williams, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio, where he served for eight years before joining the law firm of Horwitz, Kiefer and Harmel of Cleveland.

In 1942 he became secretary of the Zionist District, and at the same time undertook the position of secretary of the JNF in Cleveland, where he served for 14 years until his election to the office of president of the JNF of Cleveland in 1955. During his service to the Jewish community of Cleveland, he also held positions on the boards of various Jewish communal, educational; and social service organizations. He was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees of Park Synagogue, and the Bureau of Jewish Education.

Listed in Who’s Who in America and the Encyclopedia Judaica, Amber has been honored by the planting of the Julius B. and Alice N. Amber Forest in Israel, by the dedication in his name of the Ohio Pylon at the JFK Memorial in Israel; and by the JNF Distinguished Service Award. He was honored at a luncheon last March, at the JNF National Assembly, where he was presented with a citation for his many years of devoted service and dedication to the continued development of the State of Israel.