https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/ann-arbor-mi/leonard-kafka-11228022
Leonard (Lenny) Kafka was born in Brooklyn, New York. He lived on Bay 31st Street in Bensonhurst.
He attended the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn where he received a bachelor degree in electrical engineering. He moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1973 at age 21 for a job with Chrysler. Initially he lived at the Highland Park YMCA for $5/night!
He met his future wife, Barb, at a pick-up soccer field in the autumn of 1980. He moved into his Ann Arbor home in 1986. He worked for Chrysler/Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for 34 years as a test equipment designer (“I had nothing to do with the car”). He retired in June 2007.
Lenny was kind, intelligent, generous, funny, sociable, courageous, thorough, dignified. He “fixed everything”. For the record he was a procrastinator, played the clarinet badly, could never clean the mess he made in the kitchen and saved EVERYTHING. He loved music, especially jazz, e.g. trad in New Orleans, and the blues. He loved to make and eat food and was a pretty good cook, including specialty items. He loved cooking meals for friends. He loved travel, his favorite place being Paris. He was active most of his life participating in many sports, his special love probably downhill skiing. He also loved gardening, biking, hiking and “loafing – advice given”. He made friends easily and had many.
I will miss my partner, my best friend. Lenny is survived by his wife, Barbara Kafka, his sister Hedda Kafka, his niece and nephew Naava Broxmeyer and Eddie Grupper.
A memorial visitation for Leonard will be held Sunday, April 30, 2023 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Muehlig Funeral Chapel, 403 S 4th Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104. A celebration of Lenny’s life will occur Sunday, April 30, 2023 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, 403 S 4th Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104. A time of fellowship and luncheon will immediately follow from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
Most of his cremains will be buried in a cemetery in New York.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Leonard’s memory may be made to a charity of your choice;Compassion & Choices, https://join.compassionandchoices.org; American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying., https://www.acamaid.org/donateonline/; Death with Dignity, https://deathwithdignity.org/c4-donate/; or the Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, https://form.jotform.com/202464178707055.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.muehligannarbor.com for the Kafka family.