Dr. Edward F. Stein, a resident of Commerce Twp, Michigan, died on January 23rd, 2025 at the age of 93. Funeral services arranged by The Dorfman Chapel.
Religious services will be held Sunday at 5:00PM and Monday at 4:30PM
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A dedicated doctor of optometry, who practiced his profession in the Detroit area for more than six decades until just before his 90th birthday, Edward touched the lives of many individuals and organizations across metropolitan Detroit. He was deeply loved by friends and family especially his three daughters, stepdaughter, sons-in-laws, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. For the past six years, he has been in a loving partnership with Geneva (Cis) Maisel with whom he enjoyed travel (often with her many children and grandchildren), the symphony, and social, culinary and cultural activities.
Born on July 5, 1931, “Eddie” was a proud native Detroiter who was always eager to talk of his days at Central High School, class of 1949. Eddie could regale an audience of one or 100 with a grab bag of intricate stories from his childhood or about some classic car he drove or about diagnostic advances in refractive errors of the eye.
Dr. Stein, as his many patients from all walks of life called him, practiced optometry in his own one-person practice for many years, and much later with his nephew Stuart in his late brother Ben’s practice. He earned his doctor of optometry degree from the Illinois College of Optometry in 1955. He was especially proud of the recognitions given him by his fellow optometrists, including as president of the Michigan Optometric Association and later as its political action committee leader, working with everyone from state lawmakers to U.S. senators to shape laws to help both his profession and its patients.
Eddie was involved in many civic and Jewish organizations – contributing time or money or both -- including the Oakland Literacy Council, Hebrew Free Loan, Temple Kol Ami, and the David Horodoker Organization. Over a period of several years, he spent considerable time and effort searching print and online records and archives for cousins from the Ruzhin area of Russia where his father was born. His efforts paid off when he discovered a first cousin – who he had not known existed -- and her family who had settled in Israel. The result was a lifelong deeply meaningful relationship.
He got great joy from a trip to Costa Rica with other health care providers where he delivered free vision care to hundreds of low-income residents. The story goes that after several long days of communicating with patients in his rudimentary Spanish, he had switched to Yiddish without realizing it – much to the befuddlement of his patient -- until his colleague pointed it out.
Eddie loved a good laugh, and especially loved to tell a story, perhaps a meandering one, with a solid punchline. As a devoted fan of Sherlock Holmes and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he was a longtime member and leader of the Detroit area Amateur Mendicants Society, to which he donated his substantial collection of Holmes literature.
If he were reading this, Eddie could tell you the Holmes’ book this quote –- one of his favorites --comes from: “You mentioned your name as if I should recognize it, but beyond the obvious facts that you are a bachelor, a solicitor, a Freemason and an asthmatic, I know nothing whatever about you.”
He was predeceased by his parents, Harry and Ida Stein, his brothers Benjamin and Morris, his second wife Marcella Gottlieb Stein, and stepson Jonathan Ackerman.(Eddie is also predeceased by the old Tiger Stadium on Trumbull Avenue, where he sold hotdogs in the stands at the Tigers World Series win in 1945.) Eddie was married twice. His marriage to Nancy Fisher Stein, the mother of his three daughters, in 1956, ended in divorce; Nancy died in 2022. He was married to Marcella Gottlieb Stein in 1977 until her death in 2012.
He is survived by his partner Cis Maisel, three daughters, his step-daughter, six grandchildren and two great grandsons: Elise Stein; Rita Stein and husband Tom Precious, and their children Zach Precious and Ariel Precious and husband Eric Randall and their son Cameron Randall; and Jenny Stein and husband Scott Thompson and their sons Joseph and Elijah Stein. Step-daughter Allison Ackerman Bellemore and husband Dave McCloskey, and her children Carley Lee and Alex Bellemore. He is also survived by his many cherished nieces and nephews.
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