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Family Is All That Matters 146 Aer the remodeling, Iosif took a job in a small shop that repaired automobile generators and alternators. Iosif quickly learned how to operate a machine that balanced large turn shas for compressors. Eventually he was promoted to quality control and monitored the quality of products going out the loading dock. He also had to be strong for the sake of Yeva. The New York State Health Department had advised Iosif to put Yeva in a nursing home or hospital. But Iosif was determined to keep her at home with him. When Margo and Lev went on their honeymoon, leaving Iosif alone with Yeva, Iosif saw the necessity of getting professional help. There was no way he could take care of Yeva by himself. Lev and Iosif identified a private group home in Rochester. It was, in fact, the first group home with residential living established in the state. In its early stages, the home needed more diversity among its residents, and since Yeva was Jewish, she secured a spot. "The home is the best thing that ever happened to her and to us," her brother Lev explains. Every day aer work, Iosif would visit his daughter and see how happy she was. "It's a wonderful facility with lots of programs. Every five years, the clients receive new wheelchairs," he says. Yeva lives there to this day with four other people plus staff. When Iosif moved to Virginia, he considered moving her closer, but there was no group home of such quality there. On Yeva's 55th birthday in 2006, Iosif threw a big party, inviting all her iends om the home, school, and recreational programs. It was a wonderful party. On June 16, 1984, Lev married the "beautiful girl with the big, beautiful eyes" his mother had noticed. Lev and Margo Kirzhner were married in Toledo, Ohio, where Margo's family lived. At the wedding reception, Iosif met a fellow guest, Hannah Blaustein, a Toledo widow whose husband (a Jewish man om Romania) had died a few years earlier. In Chicago some weeks later, Iosif again met Hannah and learned more about her life. She was born on October 24, 1925, in Moldova, Romania. She was very iendly, good company, and Iosif was lonely. Aer a two-year courtship, Iosif moved to Toledo and married Hannah on June, 8, 1986. It was a lovely Jewish wedding. Through the marriage, Iosif now had two more daughters: Ruth, born on July 22, 1948, in Italy, and Rita, born on May 19, 1954. In Toledo, Iosif worked as a drasman and detailer. Hannah also had a number of houses that were rented out for income, which Iosif helped maintain. Iosif and Hannah had six happy years together before Hannah died of a heart attack. When it came time to settle the substantial estate, Hannah's family was very concerned that Iosif would want a major share of the estate Above: Margo, Lev, Iosif, and Yeva Volsun in Toledo, Ohio, 1984. Facing page: Hannah and Iosif Volsun in Toledo, Ohio, 1987. Previous page: Lev and Margo's wedding in Toledo, Ohio, on June 16, 1984. From le to right: Ira Storizitsky, Yefim London, Aleksander and Rita London (back), Margo and Lev Volsun (ont), Alla and Yakov Udler, Rosa Braverman Kiderman, Yeva Volsun, Ilona Kirzhner (back), Leonid Laber, Klara Braverman Laber, Gary, Fira and Roman Grinev, Iosif Volsun, Manya Volsun London and Nicolai London, and Elena Starozitsky.

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