Ira Garbuz

April 6th, 2022

We worked together at our first jobs in senior year of high school in Chicago. We grew apart (distance and life) but reconnected with him a year ago and it was like old times. We had many great long-winded calls, talking sports and growing up. So glad we had a great visit in person together in Chicago last November.

~GARY MADDEN
~friend, NewYork, NY

March 29th, 2022

So sad to hear of his passing just when we would all have been able to see Ira again at reunion. Ira was a great spirit in high school and I remember him fondly a kid with grace beyond his years. May his memory be a blessing to all who held him dear.

~Ken Wolnak
~Classmate, Madison, WI

February 22nd, 2022

Thank you for live streaming Ira’s funeral service. Ira and I reconnected at one of the Von Steuben High School monthly dinners some years ago when I was in town. We would talk or text long distance through many time zones on Messenger or What’s App during the last few years. He was a delight in every way: positive, caring and compassionate. This is the Ira I knew in high school and he never changed as an adult. I will miss him. May his memory be a blessing.

~Myra Kraut Vinner
~High School Friend, Nairobi, Kenya

February 21st, 2022

Another photo – more recent than the last one

~Sheri Sprung Morrison
~High school friend, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA

February 21st, 2022

Thank you for livestreaming the funeral so that I could attend. Ira and I reconnected at our 40th high school reunion and became very close friends. We always got together when I came to Chicago and would talk for hours. I usually stayed in Skokie when I visited which is also where the Temple that I had grown up in had moved to. Once we went to Fri night services there together which both of us really enjoyed. Other times we’d go out for Jewish deli. He joined us for my husband’s 60th birthday dinner in Chicago and discovered that he and another of my close friends worked for the same company, so we all got together for dinner the next time I visited. Ira and I texted frequently. He always sent pictures of his grandkids, who he adored and kept me up to date with what was going on with his sons and with his health. He was so incredibly proud of all 3 of his sons and all of his grandkids. He loved spending time with his family and would make that a priority over everything else. One thing that really touched me is that during COVID, when my synagogue in California began offering Shabbat services via Zoom, he would join us online when I led the service and would even do an English reading if I asked him to. His eyes would always sparkle. He kvelled when I became a grandma recently and I had anticipated exchanging many more pictures as the kids grew. It’s so hard for me to imagine him not being in my life in those ways anymore, although he will always be with me. I already miss him.

~Sheri Sprung Morrison
~High school friend, MOUNTAIN VIEW

February 21st, 2022

Dinner with Von Steuben friends.

~Starlene Gurber
~H.S. Classmate, Skokie

February 21st, 2022

I remember Ira from Von Steuben as a classmate. More recently at dinners and reunions from Von. He always approached me to say hi, and we spoke as if we never missed a beat even though years had passed. He was kind and funny. Him and Jan Kodner were a couple of characters to be around. My deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, he will be missed, I’m so grateful to have gotten to know him.

~Starlene Gurber
~H.S. Classmate, Skokie

February 21st, 2022

I worked with Ira for a couple of years and i so so enjoyed his presence. I’m completely shocked by his passing, but so blessed to have had the opportunity to know and enjoy his wit, wry and dry humor and most of all just getting to know him. Ira you’ll be missed by so many.

Peter Godding

~PETER GODDING