Doris Bailin's graduation with Bachelor of Hebrew letters (early 1980's) Doris Bailin (1988?)

Recollections

This page contains recollections and memories of Mager relatives.

Doris Bailin (aka Baw)

by Joel Gottlieb

Doris Bailin was born in Syracuse, but lived most of her adult life in Cleveland, Ohio. She was married to Jack Bailin until his death in 1960.

To her four grandchildren (Joel and Bob Gottlieb, Jerry and David Wish) Doris was known as Bawbe. She taught Hebrew school in Cleveland for 62 years. She was an incredibly giving, warm person.

For me, Doris represented the concept of unconditional love. No matter how bad you were, you had a definite sense that she loved you.

In the last few years of her life, she and I began to have deeper, more penetrating conversations, less typical of grandmother and grandson. I treasure my memories of those conversations. She was a very insightful observer of human behavior, and never forgot to tell you what she thought.

She loved candy (Want a Velamint?). I can remember one time when we were eating Starburst out of a bag. I asked her how many she'd had and she sheepishly showed me four fingers.


joel.gottlieb@gmail.com