Stories From the Brooklyn Scout Camps
Eulogy for Harvey Lefkowitz
Mitch Strauss
When I was asked to say a few words in the
memory of my dear friend, Harvey, I realized it should not be the traditional
eulogy but the celebration of his life. The good he did, the people he helped
and the lives that he enriched...
Harvey and I have been good friends for more than
60 years. To say we were good buddies would be an understatement. I met
Harvey when we both attended elementary school (PS 192) in Brooklyn. There
was a chemistry between us that I recognized immediately and we became very
close friends. There are many people who could say the same thing. The major
difference is we had a common bond that we both loved very much, the boy
scout experience.
Harvey was active in scouting until his passing. This
past weekend the group we call the Brooklyn Arrowhead Oldtimers gathered
at Ten Mile River Scout Camp for the 39th consecutive year. Harvey and I were
founding members of this group that dates back to September,l964. Each year
we gather at TMR Scout Camp for a 3-day retreat where we reminisce about the
memories of our youth and camp out as we did as young men many years go.
Unfortunately, Harvey’s illness prevented his attending this year. Many members
of our group are here today to pay their respects to a man who was so well
liked and respected. Each year we receive a memento of the weekend. This
year it was a small chip of stone from a place in camp that is very sacred
to us: The Indian Cliffs. I have grven Harvey this memento today and I know
he would be happy to have it.
When I lost my mother many years ago, I received a
note from a family friend. She wrote: “your mother was a very special person”.
Surely, Harvey was a very special person to all who are here today. The note
went on to say that when my mother walked into a room with 5 or 6 people,
they all felt that they were very important to her. Harvey also had this
trait; people felt a warm feeling that he so often generated when you first
met him and every time thereafter. All of them felt that they were very important
and special to him...He loved people and people loved him.
He was more than special to me. He was my mentor,
my confidant and even surrogate parent. I would never have become an Eagle
Scout were not for Harvey. He would come by my house on a Saturday morning,
get me out of bed and make me come to Prospect Park to look for birds. Bird
identification was the most difficult merit badge to attain for becoming
an Eagle Scout. He pushed me to go to the Brooklyn Children ‘s Museum to
study for the badge. The museum had models of a large variety of birds. He
helped me through college with term papers, encouraged me to hang in
when times were difficult for me. As a side note to our friendship, my mother
often said to me that I spent so much time with Harvey, that she thought
I would marry him.
Each year in Florida where I now live full time and
Harvey came for the winter months, he helped organize an annual Bird Walk
and Dinner for all The Arrow Brothers who live in, or were visiting, Florida.
He gave time and money to get it off the ground. He paid for fellows who
could not afford the dinner out of his own pocket. Phil Nelson and I who
head the Bird Walk Committee have decided to honor Harvey and name the annual
event in his memory. The next Bird Walk and Dinner will be held March I,
2003 and will be called The Harvey Lefkowitz Bird Walk and Dinner. I can
hear him saying to us how unnecessary this was. He was the embodiment of
humbleness.
Harvey wasn’t perfect. He had a tendency to be somewhat
late. It was especially true when we attended Montauk Jr. H. S. He would
rush out of the house-and grab any bag that looked like it was his lunch.
It was always an adventure when he opened what he thought was his lunch only
to find out it was the garbage his mother wanted to take out before he left
for school. On a few ocassions it was the meat his mother left out to thaw
for dinner that night.
Many of you remember the Lefkowitz Mansion on 18th
Ave. in Brooklyn. The basement was one of the first community centers in
New York City. It was home to Boy Scout meetings, card games, parties, movies
and fellows made it their homes for short periods of time. The good times
we shared there, I am sure many of you will remember and acknowledge, as a
highlight of our youth.
The home was unique in another way. It shared a common
driveway with a shul. At the back of the shul was a yard that was used during
Succas for a Sukka. The back of the Lefkowitz house had a garage. Lenny (Harvey’s
older brother, also a Boy Set) was one of the first in our group to drive.
It did not take much for us to convince him to take out the car for a ride.
One night during Succas, Lenny backed the car out of the garage right into
the Succa, knocking it down. He quickly drove the car back into the garage
and we all ran away promptly. The next morning Harvey’s dad asked him if
he noticed that it was very windy the night before. Harvey said no and asked
why. Max told him that at shul that day the people thought the wind knocked
down the Succa. This is a secret never revealed in public before.
You can see that my memories of Harvey and our relationship
is truly a celebration of our lives together...I am indebted to him for what
he did for me and how he enriched my life. He Who Serves His Fellowman, Is
Of All His Fellows, The Greatest. His memory wi!l remain in my heart forever...Amen.
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the Brooklyn Scout Camps
Last Updated: September 14, 2003
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