Eleanor Pollack Lutzk died on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014, after a difficult battle with Parkinson’s disease. Graveside services were held on Sunday, Dec. 14, at Mount Carmel Cemetery.
Eleanor was a caring friend, a great wife and mother, and grandmother. She was a giving volunteer and a valuable employee. She grew up in Chicago, Ill., the daughter of Abe and Anna Tatz Pollack. She enjoyed school, her friends, her family and the Jewish home her mother and father provided. She attended Von Steuben High School.
She met her husband, Bernie, at a USO dance in Chicago; he was originally from New York. They really enjoyed each other’s company and became a couple quickly. They used to go to the theatre in downtown Chicago, often. They saved playbills for many plays they had seen together as a young couple. They loved music and theatre and musicals.
Bernie was invited to dinner every Sunday. Eleanor’s mother would cook pickled tongue every week. But after they married, Bernie told Eleanor he didn’t like tongue — would she cook something else?
Bernie finished optometry school in Chicago. Eleanor’s father did not want her to leave Chicago, but Bernie was offered a great job opportunity with King Optical in downtown Kansas City, Mo. An aunt lived there so they moved. Soon her cousin Gloria married a Kansas City guy, Gil Bernstein, so they also moved to Kansas City and there was more family in town. She and Gloria were close.
Each had three children, all about the same age. Their families spent every Jewish holiday together — the High Holidays, Hanukkah, Pesach. They enjoyed cooking kosher delicacies from scratch. Their families were both members of the same synagogue, Congregation Beth Shalom.
Eleanor made sure her children had a good Jewish home and good education — piano lessons, dance classes, participation in baseball and basketball leagues, also. She and Bernie wanted to make sure their children went to college.
As their children grew, she volunteered. Eleanor worked for Sisterhood.
She helped out so much she eventually became a life board member after 21 years of volunteering for Sisterhood. Later she showed equal dedication for the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, becoming the Volunteer of the Year.
Then it was time to help Bernie in his office as receptionist for several years. Later it was spending time with her grandchildren — she had eight and they were all born within six years. They are all still close as friends, too. They all graduated from college and several are in graduate school.
She had few relatives in Kansas City, so trips to Chicago and occasionally to New York to visit family were frequent. She cherished her Kansas City friends, especially the ones who were “transplants” to Kansas City from New York, like Bernie, or from Chicago. They were a clever and talented group, pulling tricks on each other, enjoying hobbies, and raising their children together. They often played cards and enjoyed each other’s company at the theatre or opera.
The last five years included Scrabble, Bingo and performances at The Atriums where she and Bernie lived. Gloria lived there, too. Bernie passed away two and a half years ago but she continued to be active as much as she could.
She leaves her three children and their spouses: Howard and Dion Lutzk, Cheryl and Barry Kantor, Alison and Dr. Norman Heisler. Grandchildren are Aaron Lutzk, Brittany Lutzk and fiancé Ben Caruba, and Shane Lutzk, Josh Kantor, Asher Kantor, Drs. Alex Heisler and Samantha Weinstein Heisler, Zachary Heisler, and Ilana Heisler. Also sister Dorothy Pollack Berman of Walnut Creek, Calif., brother Harold Pollack of Northbrook, Ill., and Roslyn Pollack of Evanston, Ill., and their 13 children and grandchildren, and dear cousin Gloria Bernstein and family of Overland Park. She was predeceased by Bernard Lutzk, her husband of 61 years, Jerry Berman, Beverlee Pollack and Philip Pollack.
The family suggests donations to Congregation Beth Shalom, Congregation BIAV or the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy.