Reared in the public school system in East New York, he was a cross country track runner in high school. One of his greatest childhood memories was winning the New York City track and field championship. He attended college at Colorado University in Boulder. After three years, he accelerated his number in the draft and joined the US Army at the outset of the Vietnam War. After basic training, he hit the Army lottery by being ordered to serve as a lifeguard on the beaches of Honolulu and as a Chaplain’s assistant to Rabbi Ron Goff. He used his leave to travel the world, hitching rides on military cargo planes.
After the army, he met met a beautiful, intelligent, kind and gentle soul name named Karen Kirschner. They married in 1970 and had two sons, Greg in 1973, and Josh in 1975. Following family and seeking warm weather, they moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1979.
Mel was a proud Brooklyn native, who embodied all that is New York grit and hustle, with a dash (ok, more than a dash) of existential angst (which he no doubt passed on to his children).
Mel was special and original in more ways than can fill a book, let alone this page. He held ‘steady’ jobs selling pharmaceuticals, Electrolux Vacuum Cleaners, pots and pans, commodities, "advertising specialties" (whatever that means), insurance, and anything else he could get his hand on. He also owned and operated a Jewelry Store and a Kosher Chicken Joint, of course.
But his real passion was to make people happy and make them laugh. He had a lifelong side gig as a standup comedian, going by the stage name "Mr. Excitement" Mel "L." Even though only a tiny fraction of that career was on actual stages in comedy clubs, he made the people around him laugh and smile in his day to day encounters.
He loved people so much that it made his heart ache. He loved his wife and children so much that it made his heart cry constant tears of joy. And he made all those that encountered him better for having met him. He was a once in a lifetime human being - and we will miss him every second of every day.
Loving, devoted husband to Karen, father to sons Greg and Josh, "Grampops" to Lila, Carter and Mia, father-in-law to Gillian, uncle to Aaron, Dana, Jaclyn and Jeffrey, brother in law to Debbie, Cathy and Peter, and cousin to many - but especially close to Jeffrey Dubin and David Levitt.
We will miss him always, but laugh, smile and fill our hearts with joy at the memories of one of the finest humans to roam the earth. Mel "L" forever.
