RABBI H. BRUCE EHRMANN ofCanton, Massachusetts, formerly of Randolph, Brockton, and Brookline, passed away on December 3, 2019, at 101½ years of age. Devoted son of the late Herbert B. Ehrmann and Sara (Rosenfeld) Ehrmann. Beloved husband of Nancy (Lehman) Ehrmann. Loving father of Ann and her husband, David Shagam; David and his wife, Barbara; Johanna; and Jonathan and his wife, Debra. Cherished grandfather of Benjamin, Sara, Scott, and Hannah and great-grandfather of Isaac and Aaliyah, Ernest and Felix. Dear brother of the late Dr. Robert L. Ehrmann. He is also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Rabbi Ehrmann grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, and was active in scouting, public speaking, dramatics, and summer camp. He earned an AB degree from Harvard College (’39), and a Master of Hebrew Letters degree, semicha, and an honorary DD from Hebrew Union College (now HUC-JIR).
In his own words, he wanted to lead a life “not of acquisition, but of service,” and in his senior year of college, aware of the rise of Nazism in Europe, chose the rabbinate as a career in which he could help the world—and the Jewish people and their faith—to survive. He served as rabbi of Temple Israel, Brockton, Massachusetts, for 38 years; was a longtime chaplain at the Brockton VA hospital; and, post retirement, conducted religious services at various institutions, including Temple Emanuel in Marlborough. He led the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, Brockton Ministers’ Union, and the Rotary Club (of which he was a life member), served as a trustee of the Brockton Public Library, and held other volunteer positions.
His strong sense of justice led him to march through Montgomery, Alabama, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in 1965, and to speak at a rally protesting the Vietnam War in Brockton.
He had a passion for unusual cars, food, and travel and looked back with pleasure on a cross-country trip in a 1929 Model A Ford during college.
For much of his life he savored the slower pace of summers with family and friends on a small Maine island.
Service at Schlossberg Family’s Chapel on the Hill, 824 Washington Street, Canton, Massachusetts, on Sunday, Dec. 8, at 10 a.m. Interment to follow at the Plymouth Rock Cemetery, 1000 Pearl St., Brockton.
Memorial Observance details to follow.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the HUC-JIR L’Dor Va’Dor Scholarship Fund https://donate.huc.edu/friends; Birch Island Memorial Garden, c/o Culbertson, 33 Webster Rd.,East Milton, MA 02186; or Orchard Cove Scholarship Fund, 1 Del Pond Dr., Canton, MA 02021.
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