She is survived by her sons Jerry and Ricky Fishel; grandchildren Brian Fishel and wife Vivian, David Fishel and wife Bari, Eve Tarlo and husband Michael Welford, Eric Tarlo and wife Chanel, and Liba Stern and husband Todd; great grandchildren Dylan Bennett, Courtney and Savannah Fishel, Max, Elise, and Theodore Fishel, Oliver and Fitz Stern, and Samantha Welford. She is also survived by her sister Nancy Dziengel, her brother Harry Melnick, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was proceeded in death by her parents Dina and Joseph Melnick, her sisters Betty and Jennie, her daughter Esther, and her granddaughter Deena.
Pauline was born in Pultusk, Poland on February 25, 1930. She was 9 years old in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland and she became a Holocaust survivor. Along with her mother, four siblings, and future brother-in-law Michael Dziengel, Pauline fled Pultusk and trekked for three weeks to make it to Russia. After the war, they returned to Poland to find that other family had not survived. They then lived in a relocation camp in Germany until 1948 when they could come to Houston, where Pauline’s father had already immigrated prior to the war in hopes of bringing his family there.
Having survived conditions most of us could not imagine at such a young age, Pauline was known to those who loved her as “one tough lady.” Family and Judaism meant everything to her. She wanted her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to have everything they ever wanted. She hosted big family gatherings for the Jewish holidays where there was never a shortage of food, and she would insist that everyone go home with leftovers. Her happiest times were when she was with her family.
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