A native Miamian, Irwin Samuel Futerfas was born on January 27, 1926 - nine months before the great hurricane of 1926. He was raised in Coconut Grove on Hibiscus Street and attended Coconut Grove Elementary School and Silver Bluff Junior High. When the family moved to Shenandoah, Irwin attended Shenandoah Junior High.
Irwin’s family owned a dry goods store in Coconut Grove, around the location of Commodore Plaza and Grand Avenue. The family’s dry goods store welcomed many patrons, including Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
Irwin fondly remembers riding his bike throughout the area and on the rugged, unpaved Indian trail now called Old Cutler Road. Irwin and his buddies made kayaks out of wood for boating in the bay. At that time, Pan American Airways flew seaplanes that landed on the bay. As a young Boy Scout, Irwin helped in the highly publicized search for 5-year-old James “Skeegie” Cash, who was abducted on May 28, 1938, near Goulds in South Dade.
During WWII, Irwin enlisted in the Army during high school and, upon graduation from Miami High, was assigned to the Air Force and sent to Keesler Field in Biloxi, Mississippi, for basic training. After training at Truax and Chanute fields in Wisconsin and Illinois, Irwin was assigned to assist in the development of classified radar and bomb-sight equipment at Eglin Field in North Florida. He helped to test and develop this equipment on B-17 bombers.
After the war, Irwin earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Miami and graduated from the law school in 1952. Irwin married his fabulous wife, Charlotte, in 1956. They have loving children, grandchildren, and many extended family and friends.
In his early career, Irwin worked as a prosecutor in the state attorney’s office under Richard E. Gerstein. Later, Irwin was the assistant director of administration for the Legal Services War on Poverty at the federal Office of Economic Opportunity. This office helped poor people with significant legal problems secure representation.
Irwin went on to hold positions as a staff attorney with the Juvenile Court of Dade County and later, as a General Master of the 11th Judicial Circuit. Irwin was the second General Master in Dade County. He retired after 16 years with the county.
Irwin was very active in the former Temple Zion on Miller Road, President of the Greater Miami Youth Symphony, and a member of the Elks, the American Legion, and the Miami Old Timers Club. Irwin was recently pre-deceased by his wonderful son, Neal Daniel Futerfas, and is survived by his wife, Charlotte, daughter Judith N. Futerfas, son Alan S. Futerfas, daughters in law Bettina Schein and Christine Argentina, and grandchildren Arianna Schein Futerfas, Zoe Schein Futerfas, Jack Aaron Futerfas and Harry Nathan Futerfas.
Services will be held at 2 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2018, at Mount Nebo Kendall, Memorial Chapel, 5900 SW 77th Avenue, Miami, FL 33143.
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