Maurice M. Friedman

Maurice is better known as Maury, Dad or Opa.

Maury was born in Pontiac, Michigan February 28, 1920.

His parents moved to a farm in Missouri. At the age of 4, he lost his father John in an accident on the farm. His mother

Grayce remarried and moved to a dairy farm in Neola, Iowa.

Milking cows twice a day and delivering milk before school taught him a strong work ethic. What is remarkable, Dad was

challenged very early in life with the death of his father, a sister Beatrice at 3 years old and a very difficult stepfather.

A sister Helen precedes him in death. A sister Grace and brother Bernie survive.

To overcome these adversities he met the challenges with ambition and determination. Playing basket ball at St Joes

started his interest and enthusiasm to be involved in sports in any capacity. Dad followed the local schools and college

teams as well as the Nuggets, Rockies and Broncos. Some of Maury's class mates remember his nickname “ Mush”,

because he carried cold mush in his lunch. A sign of the times.

In December 1939 he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps. Dad graduated Photography School Lowry Field, Colorado.

His service included:

40 Combat Missions in B 25 s,

China Burma India Theater and was awarded Distinguished

Flying Cross and Air Medal as an Aerial Photographer/ Gunner.

Aerial photography instructor and supervisor at Lowry AFB.

North East Air Command Special Projects Photographer and was awarded Commendation Medal Pepperrell AFB,

Newfoundland.

Following his tours Dad was an aerial photography instructor and supervisor at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado.

Dad completed his military service of 23 and a half years at Lowry Ari Force Base and retired in 1962.

We know you were proud of your Air Force service.

We are proud of you too.

After retiring from the Air Force, Dad worked at the Bureau of Reclamation, and Photography training supervisor at Lowry

AFB, he retired US Civil Service 37 years.

Not only was he dedicated to service of his country, Dad proudly displayed the USA flag on the collar of his shirt every day

year after year. Dad was also a dedicated husband and father.

On leave, he met Jeannette Letterhos. His sister, Helen was the match maker. Helen was a classmate of Mom at Mount

Carmel School of Nursing. He married Jeannette in 1948 Columbus, Ohio and moved to Denver, Colorado. Married 62

years. Faithful, thoughtful, generous and loving.

Six children, 9 grand children and 2 great grandchildren.

Dad had a passion for his family and friends, celebrating life, with photography and home movies. He was never without a

a subject and never with out a camera.

He preserved our family memories, (pause), Priceless!

Personality wise: Dad was quiet, easy going, fun, thoughtful, humble and had a sense of humor and wit.

I just want to share some of Dad's perspectives and strengths.

Life's challenges never derailed Dad. He took them in stride. Never in a hurry, many times he replied, “ No rush.”

From the time that we were toddlers, and grown with toddlers of our own, Dad was always generous with his time,

spending hours playing games and entertaining us with books and stories.

The support never ended. Graduations, sports, coaching, homework, school projects, marriages, private counseling

at times, and drivers ed. All six of us learned to drive with a stick shift, the Ford Falcon. You were always there for us Dad.

Thoughtful.

Dad remembered important family dates, birthdays, and anniversary. He always sent a card or called us with a personal

message.

A sense of humor and a unique individual perspective is required to make it through life. On a fishing trip to the South

Platte river, his son Tim remarked, “The water is too shallow to catch fish.” “Don't worry, fish are not very tall”, replied

Dad.

Dad brought a new definition to reality.

In rehab, Dad entered the dining room one evening. Jimmy an aid asked Dad, “Where would you like to sit Maury?” Dad's

reply, “On a chair, I hope.”

“Do you have new seeds? Let's try new seeds this year.” Dad

said to Mom. Dad always had a vegetable garden and fruit trees. Sow we did.

Did you know, one apple tree with 5 different apples? Dad had to wait but the tree did produce 5 different apples. No

Suprise!

We were doubtful, but supportive. Dad was always up for a challenge, never lost hope .The farmers almanac was just a

guide, no worries.

Besides gardening, golf, bowling, chess, and checkers were activities that Dad enjoyed. He was quite competitive.

Just ask any grandchild how many times they won a game. Strategy and competition, “Know your opponent”, was Dad's

lesson.

A highlight in Dad's accomplishments was a “Hole in One.”

On the Aurora golf course ( pause ) 4 witnesses, and published in the Aurora paper, this is something I need to share. An

Exuberant Golfer!

Thank you Maury, Dad and Opa, for your Love, and friendship.

We Love you and will miss you so much.

Maurice M. Friedman

Opa

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Hello, my name is Justin Friedman and I am the oldest Grandchild of Maury and Judy. It is an honor for me to share with you today a few thoughts about my Grandfather and the incredible life he lived.

Ever since I was born, Maury has been referred to as “Opa”, the German term for Grandfather. I have many fond memories of Opa from as far back as I can remember. So many holidays and birthday parties celebrated and enjoyed. As a faithful grandparent, Opa attended nearly all of my football, basketball, and baseball games from elementary school through my high school career, greeting me with a firm hand shake and an encouraging word. I’ll never forget his handshakes. Surprisingly strong and solid even to his 90th year. He was always informed on the Denver sports teams, and he ALWAYS had an opinion on what they should do to improve.

Opa loved to celebrate, from Christmas to Easter to our families myriad of birthday parties. I will always remember Opa and Oma’s house being decorated to the hilt for Christmas, reminders in every room of the season. Opa always had the presents stacked and piled around the tree perfectly and I know he loved to see our faces when we saw them all there. As my siblings, cousins and I grew and learned how to read, Opa would have us pass out presents to everyone helping us read the cursive names on the tags. He was always very thoughtful in the gifts he chose for us and he never missed anyone. Opa always had the holiday tunes playing on the stereo. Those images will be ingrained in my mind for the rest of my life, and if it were possible for me to forget, every single celebration is documented by at least one picture hanging in their house. This Christmas, he will be greatly missed.

Opa and Oma have inspired all of us in the Friedman Family to be good and decent people. In Judaism this concept is called Tikkun Olam, which means we need to make the world a better place by how we live our lives and how we treat others. Opa and Oma have been amazing examples of this for our whole family, with their example being our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Opa was also very patriotic and never missed our national holidays. He taught us to be proud Americans and to respect the flag. I can remember one fourth of July he called to see if we had remembered to put our flag out.

I’ll never forget one summer weekend my sister Grace and I were staying with Opa and Oma. I must have been only 10 or 11, and Grace was 8 or 9. That first night on television we watched a documentary on WWII and I can remember Opa wanting us to understand the war and why it was important. I had known he was involved in the war and that he was in the air force. His medals were proudly displayed in the basement and I looked at them every time I was there. WWII is a lot for a 10 year old to grasp and it wasn’t until years later that I understood his passion and desire to serve our country.

At one of our Friedman Summer birthday parties Oma brought a small booklet, it was a compilation of stories from WWII written by US service men who had served in China, Burma and India during the war. Opa had contributed to the booklet and after Oma showed me the specific story I gained a much deeper understanding of Opa. As I remember it: Opa’s squadron, the 491st, was tasked to bomb some Japanese targets in the far east. They left on their sortie and as they approached their target destination, the Japanese began shooting at the plans with anti-air craft guns. Opa worked in the bomb bays and had to photograph the targets to ensure they were hit and destroyed. The flak became very intense and their plane was hit, one of the crew men on Opa’s plane was hit and died in Opa’s arms.

For Opa the war had become personal. He and millions of other allied men and women had taken a stand against evil, a stand for liberty. He had been inches from death himself in that plane, the sacrifice was real for him, he knew that the man who died in his arms would never be able to exercise the freedoms he was fighting for, and that is why Opa wanted his grandchildren to understand what fighting in the war meant to him. After the war, Opa lived his life and daily enjoyed the freedom he himself fought for: He got married, had children, went fishing, joined bowling leagues, played baseball in the park, took lots and lots of pictures, had grandchildren, watched them play sports, had bar-b-ques, went to movies, was involved with the church, became a member of the Elks, voted, contacted his elected representatives, bought a house, paid taxes, cheered for his teams, had great-grandchildren and lived free.

My uncle Jonathan had a conversation with Opa recently following a game of scrabble, and Jonathan had the chance to ask him if he would have done anything different in life or had any regrets. Opa adamantly said “No,” he didn’t have any regrets.

And so today, Opa, we honor you as the Patriarch of our family. Your faithfulness and devotion we will always remember. Your example as a follower of Christ and willing servant will motivate us in our own walks.

We honor you as our teacher. You taught us how to live free and the responsibility that goes with freedom. You taught us by example how to be a valuable member of society.

And we honor you as our hero. A man of The Greatest Generation who stood up against the evil of that time and made it possible for us to live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. You won’t ever get to know all of your great grandchildren, or your great great grandchildren but we promise that they will know who you are, how you led our family, and fought for our country.

Thank You Opa, We Love You.