Funeral Details

Dr. Benjamin Garber

December 15, 1938 - September 23, 2026

SERVICE INFORMATION

Date and Time

Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 1:30 PM

Graveside

Shalom Memorial Park
1700 West Rand Road
Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004
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Service

North Shore Congregation Israel
1185 Sheridan Road
Glencoe, Illinois 60022
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The service will be at 3:00PM, following the interment.


Clergy

Rabbi Wendi Geffen
North Shore Congregation Israel

Shiva

The Garber Residence
2520 Augusta Way
Highland Park, Illinois 60035
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Following the service until 8PM
Monday evening from 4PM to 8PM

Memorial Contributions

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place Southwest
Washington, DC 20024
www.ushmm.org
or
Barr-Harris Children & Family Grief & Loss Center
Attention: Maddie Warren
8 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 700
Chicago, Illinois 60603
Please specify Barr-Harris Child & Family Grief & Loss Services
chicagoanalysis.org/donate





OBITUARY

Dr. Benjamin Garber, age 87

Beloved husband of Wylie Garber nee Segenreich. Dear father of Rebecca (Michael) Baim, Louise (Adam) Langsam, and Deborah (Bobby) Shapiro. Proud grandfather of Jonah, Jacob, and Joshua Baim; Emily, Hannah, and Jeremy Langsam; and Simon and Talia Shapiro.

He was born in Vilna, Poland in 1938, survived the Holocaust by hiding underground for almost a year, moved to the United States at the age of 12, graduated medical school to become a prominent child Psychoanalyst in Chicago. His psychiatric career spanned four decades, helping adults and children. He shared his expertise through teaching at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Chicago and director of the Barr-Harris Children and Family Grief & Loss Center. He was a devoted husband for sixty-three years, a present and loving father and grandfather who never missed an opportunity to spend time with his family, especially on weekly Wednesday night dinners, and traveling around the world. He was passionate about sports, music, good food, and wine. He had a voracious appetite for all books and was passionate about his support for the State of Israel.

Interment at Shalom Memorial Park Sunday at 1:30 PM, followed by the service at 3 PM, North Shore Congregation Israel, 1185 Sheridan Road, Glencoe, Illinois 60022. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl SW, Washington, DC 20024, www.ushmm.org or Barr-Harris Children & Family Grief & Loss Center Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute, Attention: Maddie Warren 8 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 700 Chicago, Illinois 60603 and please specify Barr-Harris Child & Family Grief & Loss Services, chicagoanalysis.org/donate/. To attend the funeral livestream, please visit our website. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.co


GUEST BOOK

We encourage you to share your personal condolences and stories of Dr. Benjamin Garber below and we will share them with the family.
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The Heart Connection, the bereavement program for children at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Ill. was so gratified by the caring and professional guidance that Dr. Garber so frequently offered to the volunteer facilitators, who deeply benefited by his learning skills and his caring ways of guiding them to support the grieving children, whose heartbreaking loss was often complicated by the manner of death, often traumatic. Dr. Garber was immensely present, thoughtful and generous in his guidance. He will be deeply missed, but has earned Heaven’s welcome.

Peg Schneider
September 26, 2026
Ben supervised me during the first 16 years of my therapy services at the Barr-Harris Children's Grief Center, as it was known then.
I was a novice in that I came to child therapy through early childhood education, rather than through social work like those who preceded me. I think my lack of experience troubled
him a bit but throughout all my early struggles to back away from being the educator, I began to learn the difference and Ben's patient support facilitated that achievement.
At the end of that supervisory relationship,Ben suggested I teach in the Child Therapy program. That was indeed a compliment considering the chance he'd taken in hiring me.
Ben's support also consisted of requiring that I take on unexpected challenges which resulted in learning beyond the interactions between the child and therapist but took
me into schools and courtrooms where I represented what Barr-Harris had to offer the community ; namely, how to help children continue the developmental process while
adapting to the lifelong impact of parental loss. Learning through my relationship with Ben Garber has created a special place of gratitude in my heart for his investment in me.
My condolences to Ben's beautiful family . May his memory be for a blessing,: alav l'shalom.

Barbara Hozinsky
October 1, 2026