Sunday's Obituary ~ Sam Handler, 1954

I've been writing about the Sam Handler family and recently wondered where Sam and Sadie died. I searched for Sam Handler on Archives.com and found a Sam Handler in the death index in Los Angeles, California that possibly fit. When I asked my husband if he remembered any relatives going to California, he did! He remembered a meeting a Simon (which was David Simon, who married Sam and Sadie's daughter, Esther) at a Handler cousin wedding in Ohio in 1988. When I found Sadie Handler in the California death index in 1988 with mother's maiden name of Hershkowitz, that confirmed that I found them.

I noted this in an email to the reader in Ohio who has taken an interest in this research and once again I must thank him for directing me to another Cleveland, Ohio, research source - the Cleveland Public Library website.

The Cleveland Public Library has a Research page with information about how to search for Death Notices, Obituaries and Death Certificates. One section is the Cleveland Necrology File. From the initial search page is the following description:

The Cleveland Necrology File was produced from a microfilmed copy of an alphabetical card file containing local cemetery records and newspaper death notices gathered by the staff of the Cleveland Public Library. 

The database includes paid death notices published in the following newspapers:

• The Cleveland Plain Dealer - 1850-1975
• The Cleveland Herald - 1833, 1847-1848, 1876, 1878-1879
• The Cleveland Press - 1941-1975

Searching for Sam Handler, I find the following:

Id#: 0534346
Name: Handler, Sam
Date: Jun 14 1954
Source: Cleveland Press;  Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #115.
Notes: Handler, Sam, formerly of Cleveland, passed away June 8 at his residence, Sherman Oaks, Calif., beloved husband of Sadie, dearly devoted father of Arthur Handley [sic] of Cleveland and Mrs. Esther Simon of Sherman Oaks, Calif., dear brother of Mrs. Regina Solomon of Cleveland, and dear grandfather. Services and interment were held on June 9, at Los Angeles, Calif.

Note that the obituary doesn't indicate that he was predeceased by an older brother, Joseph Handler.

Update: See his death certificate.