Arye Ravoz Ephrath

Arye Ephrath, beloved husband of Peggy and father of Tricia Pierce, passed after a long, valiant fight with Stage 4 Lung Disease. He died at home in his sleep, just as he had wished, surrounded by his immediate family.

Arye will be remembered by family and friends as a humble, kind, thoughtful, considerate, brilliant, fun and funny man, who brought home flowers for his wife most every Friday (Shabbat). He was passionate about his family, friends and his work with Leidos and the Dept. of Homeland Security; he worked up to 3 weeks before his death. He was multi-talented and had many interests; he played the harmonica, trumpet and piano. He was a private pilot. He loved telling jokes and performing card tricks.

Arye was a child-survivor of the Holocaust, and this informed every aspect of his life. He was born in 1942 in Bardejov, Slovokia, on the very day local authorities collaborated with Nazi Germany to deport the Jews of the village. You can see him tell his story of how his parents survived and kept him safe with the help of the good people of Sisov, Slovakia, by clicking on these links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd3aQxwZIko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGLPctAVp5I

Arye, his parents and his baby-brother arrived in Israel in 1948, the year Israel was recognized by United Nations as a country. He served 7 years in the Israeli armor core and left the military as a decorated war hero in 1967, after which he came to America to attend college. He studied aeronautical engineering and attained his BS at the University of Florida, then his Masters and Phd at MIT. He worked at NASA, then as a professor/researcher at the University of Connecticut, MIT, and TUFTS University, then he moved to Bell Labs in NJ, where he met his wife, Peggy.

In addition to his wife Peggy, he is survived by his daughter Tricia Harbin Pierce, grandchildren Jacob, Carter, and Claire Pierce; his brother and sister-in-law, Effie and Hana Ephrath, and their children, Tamar, Jonatan, and Daniel. He was predeceased by his beloved son, Mickey Ephrath, and his parents Miriam and Shmuel Friedman.