Eliot I Sommer

Eliot I. Sommer, 87, died on Thursday, Feb 4, 2016 at home. He leaves his wife of 52 years, Paula (Teich) Sommer, daughter Deborah Sommer of Cambridge, son Jacob and his wife Rachel, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Eva Sommer, all of Medford. His extended family includes nieces and nephews in FL, MA, MI, NY, OK, TN, and Washington D.C. He was predeceased by his sister, Ada Mae Israel. He was born in Brooklyn NY, son of Isadore and Yetta Sommer, and lived in Massachusetts for almost 50 years. Sergeant Sommer was an army veteran of the Korean War, serving in Germany. He graduated from Boy’s High School in Brooklyn, received his bachelor’s degree in math and physics from Columbia University and his master’s degree from Worcester State College. A Registered Professional Engineer, he was a senior member of IEEE, and worked for several companies in MA and NH, including Raytheon and Sanders Associates. He enjoyed teaching in the CETA program, where he designed and taught courses to help retrain people for jobs in computer hardware. Eliot was a member of Congregation Beth Israel for over 40 years, and a long time member of the morning minyan and the ritual committee. He was a High Holiday shofar blower at Jewish Health Care. He relished study. He was a member for decades of a Talmud study group. In recent years he enjoyed WISE courses at Assumption College and classes at Worcester State University. Eliot enjoyed active sports, hiking in the White Mountains, walking, skiing and especially bicycling. When he raced on ice skates he was poetry in motion. He was a founding member of Charles River Wheelmen and led cycling trips for American Youth Hostel. He also made three volunteer trips to Israel with Sar-El, helping on a moshav in Gaza, a hospital in Tel Aviv, and an army base in the Golan. He enjoyed family trips to National Havurah Summer Institute, and Tanglewood. Funeral services will be held at Congregation Beth Israel, TODAY Friday, February 5 at 10:00 a.m. Burial will be at B’nai Brith Cemetery. Memorial observance will be announced. Memorial contributions may be made to Congregation Beth Israel, 15 Jamesbury Dr. Worcester MA 01609 or to a charity of the donor’s choice.