Violetta F. Murshak

Violetta Faingold Murshak, lovingly known to her friends and family as “V”, “Grandma V”, “Baba”, and “Veyta”, died unexpectedly at home on Saturday, September 19, 2015, at the age of 69. Violetta was born on July 26, 1946 in Tbilisi, Georgia (in the former USSR) to Samuel and Berta Faingold. She lived in the Haslett/East Lansing, Michigan area from 1982-2015 with the love of her life, husband Isaiah Murshak, raising their 3 children and 8 grandchildren.

Violetta and her younger brother, Jacob “Yakov” Faingold spent the majority of their childhood growing up in Tallinn, Estonia after her father moved there to be a professor of Chemistry at the Technical Institute of Tallinn. She spent her summers playing on the beach on the Baltic Sea at their family cottage, usually surrounded by cousins and friends.

She married Isaiah “Zeke” Murshak on January 14, 1965. The couple celebrated their 50th Golden Anniversary this past year surrounded by family, friends, and colleagues. Zeke and V met through friends at the University at the age of 18 and eloped 1 year later. They had a small ceremony surrounded by their mutual college friends, despite their parents’ disapproval. They were quickly beloved by both families as they pursued their education in Technical Chemistry (now referred to as Chemical Engineering) and through graduate school.

Education was always Violetta’s top priority, for herself and her children. Violetta graduated high school at the age of 16 and was the youngest in her college class. She and Isaiah obtained their Masters Degrees in Chemistry in 1968. Isaiah immediately entered the military as required by the Soviet government. While pregnant with their first child, Violetta followed him to Siberia where he was stationed as a captain. When Isaiah was sent north to the Polar Circle, Violetta moved home to have their daughter Maya, born April 14, 1969. Isaiah joined her in the summer of 1970 to finally be together as a family. Violetta worked and attended classes at the Estonian Academy of Science where she earned her PhD in Organic Chemistry; through her research, she obtained three patents.

In 1980, Violetta and Isaiah courageously made the choice to leave their homeland, family and friends. With only a few dollars in their pocket, no knowledge of the English language, and only their education to rely on, she and her family, including her beloved mother-in-law Sophia Murshak, daughter Maya, and son Mikhail (age 2), and baby Isaak on the way), fled the Soviet Union, traveling through Austria and Italy, where Isaak was finally born. With help from the Jewish Federation, the family then emigrated to America, settling in Kansas City, near some of Violetta’s relatives, where they lived for two years.

In 1982, the family moved to Michigan for a job opportunity and settled in Haslett, primarily for the school system. The family has been in this area ever since. After spending two years at Michigan State University doing research in the Chemistry Department (where she met life-long friend, Julie Teague), Violetta was hired by Michael Goergen at Snell Environmental, initiating their 30-year business relationship and close friendship. In 1987, Violetta and Michael ventured out on their own to open Fire & Environmental Consulting Laboratories (FECL), now Merit Laboratories.

Isaiah almost immediately joined Violetta at the laboratory and the two worked together until the time of her passing. Several former employees of Michael and Violetta’s joined them on their new venture and the company quickly grew from two chemists with a vision to over 40 employees. All three of her children worked for her and nothing brought Violetta more joy than to be surrounded by her children and later, her grandchildren. Her daughter Maya began working with Violetta at the age of 16 and her son Isaak joined a few years after he graduated law school, both are still there. Her four oldest grandchildren, Alex, Justin, Alexandra, and Sam have all worked there in different capacities. Violetta was the heart and soul of the company and Michael often would say, “I could not have asked for a better business partner.” Their philosophy was simple: provide high quality results, in a timely manner, and to always treat their employees like the valuable human beings they were. Through good years and bad, Violetta was the quintessential optimist praying to her “Angels” to save the day and always finding a creative solution to solve their troubles. Violetta led the company with courage, intelligence, heart, creativity, and compassion. It brought her great joy, as an immigrant to America, to be a job creator and provide a safe place for so many to earn a living and feel valued.

Violetta was the “boss” of the Murshak family and ruled with an air of courage, kindness, generosity, passion, and humor. She always made family her number one priority. Rarely did she take vacation without all of her children, grandchildren, and later her children’s spouses and friends. Rather than saving for her future, she insisted that her kids have worldly experiences spending summers camping on Lake Michigan, road trips to Disney World, touring Washington DC, Toronto, Chicago, etc. And despite her fear of flying, she took the entire family to Jamaica in 1991. She often said, “I live for my kids.” No one ever doubted that.

She also made her kids’ education her top priority. All three children graduated from Michigan State in Chemical Engineering, something that gave her tremendous pride. They all continued to graduate school, Maya receiving a masters in Chemical Engineering, and Mike and Isaak in law school. Violetta always told her kids, finish college then do whatever you want! It was her dream to be sure her children had the tools to be on their own.

Mike and Isaak remember being carted around as kids with their friends to various events and vacations playing video games and watching movies. Violetta and Isaiah loved road trips, traveling hours for the perfect blueberries, a random polish store, the perfect sausages or duty-free vodka!

Violetta’s greatest joy ultimately came from loving and spoiling her grandchildren. She & Isaiah helped send three of her grandchildren abroad for educational opportunities. They drove across the country to watch Sammy and Alexandra perform in figure skating and gymnastics – never flying in planes, always traveling in their signature conversion van that was loved by all. Violetta also joined her grandkids on college visits traveling to remote parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Vermont, New York, Maryland and Massachusetts. As the world’s greatest grandmother, she never hesitated to drive her grandsons Alex and Justin to the East Coast to visit their dad Mike while he was in law school, ensuring that her family stay connected. Her last few years were blessed by the addition of her grandkids Maks and baby-Zeke who instantly became the next “loves of her life!” Her and Isaiah never missed an chance to visit them in Ann Arbor and give Isaak and Amanda a well deserved break. She smothered them both with kisses, love, and food every time they came to visit. She even had a bassinet and a myriad of toys in her office just in case she was lucky enough to have Isaak bring them to work.

Most people thought of Violetta as being the most generous and loving person they had known. Her family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, all admired her for her generous heart, her warm personality, her intoxicating sense of humor, her strong opinions, and her intelligence. Her home was open to everyone – especially her children’s friends and families. There was always food on the counter and meat in the oven. She was an amazing cook, no one made better meat dishes! The Thanksgiving table grew every year which made her so happy to invite everyone to join the celebration. Not only was everyone invited, she would go out of her way to accommodate guests with unique food allergies (like offering lamb instead of turkey) or diet restrictions like her vegetarian daughter-in-law or kosher relatives from Israel. Her home was a home to everyone! V always thought of others before herself. Violetta demanded that New Year’s Eve would be celebrated together as a family – which her children would sometimes grumble about and later realize how right she was to have each new year start together.

Violetta was one of the lucky ones who was able to spend almost her entire life with the love of her life, Isaiah. In her mind, there was no one more handsome or perfect. She loved that he worked with her at the lab and constantly reminded her children that her greatest success was selecting the perfect father for them. In her last few years, the couple even shared the same office, essentially spending almost every hour of the day together! She and Isaiah had hilarious quirks like having giant modular air conditioners in their bedroom to enhance the central air system of the house and bring the room to a cool, comfy, 50-something degrees. Her family would laugh at her version of the English language like referring to the “Lord” as “Lard” when she did a reading at her nephew’s bar mitzvah. Everyone’s favorite quote was, “Vee Enjoy!” when referring to their long road trips sleeping in various places on their van’s built-in queen bed. Her family would laugh when she would say, “Sanks God!”, “Thpu, Thpu, Thpu, Thpu!”, and “Bo-ghee-moy” (meaning ‘Oh my gosh!” in Russian). In February 2015, her children threw her a surprise 50th anniversary party which brought guests and relatives from around the world. She spent the next few months glowing with pride and love, daily watching a recorded video of the event over and over again. Over 100 submissions were made contributing to their surprise “congratulations on 50 yrs!” video.

Violetta was courageous, smart, driven, loving, and generous. She moved her family to a new world, having no money, no language, only her family, her education and her determination to succeed. She raised a family, cared for her elderly parents when they eventually joined her in America years later, raised her grandchildren, educated her children, built a home, built a business, opened her doors to the world, and shared her love and generosity with everyone! Violetta was a gift to this world and she will be forever missed.

Violetta is survived by her devoted husband, Isaiah, daughter Maya Murshak (Steven Parks), son Mikhail Murshak (Leah Morin), son Isaak Murshak (Amanda Murshak), and her eight grandchildren, Alexander and Justin Murshak, Alexandra and Samuel Parks, Maksim and Isaiah (Zeke) Murshak, and step grand-daughters Sasha and Mia Morin-Chip.

She was proceeded in death by her brother Jakob Faingold, and her parents Berta and Samuel Faingold, and her mother-in-law Sophia Murshak.

Violetta’s family is hosting a memorial celebration at Merit Laboratories, 2680 East Lansing Dr., East Lansing, MI 48823 on Saturday October 10, 2015, at 4PM. Food and beverage will be provided. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the MSU Hillel Jewish Student Center, 360 Charles St, East Lansing, MI 48823 (www.msuhillel.org; 517-332-1916).

The family is being served by Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, Lansing Chapel. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.grlansing.com.