Las Vegan honored for work in Jewish community

“Tzedakah” is a Yiddish word that means “to give,” said Eric Goldstein, director of the agency, adding that the award is meant to highlight community members who have contributed their time and effort to helping the community.

Brewster has given years of support and advocacy to help the agency provide indigent burials to Jews who needed financial assistance, Goldstein said.

Brewster accepted the award at a fundraising luncheon earlier this month with a characteristically humble attitude, said his wife, Ruth Brewster.

“It was a surprise to me, actually,” Allen Brewster said. “Maybe personally I felt there were other people who should be recognized before me. I was very, very grateful. And they raised some money which was one of the purposes.”

Giving comes naturally to Brewster, 86, who grew up during the Depression. His father kept a small can in the house for family members to put their change in. That money was for the poor, he said.

Brewster, who retired at the end of last year, started working for Palm Mortuary in 1978. It was then that he recognized a need for Jewish burial services and a cemetery, he said.

He was instrumental in Palm Mortuary’s development of Las Vegas’ first Jewish burial garden in 1978, Ruth Brewster added.

In 2001, Brewster co-founded King David Memorial Chapel and Cemetery and then helped develop the Chessed Burial Fund for the Jewish Family Service Agency.

“He had been wanting that for 20 years,” Ruth Brewster said. “He finally got his wish.”

The Chessed fund pays for a proper burial in the Jewish faith, Goldstein said. All fees are covered, including the ceremony, headstone and burial plot. About three to four families a year have received assistance.

“There are times when families are unfortunately in an indigent condition and cannot afford to provide a dignified burial,” Allen Brewster said. “When we opened King David we vowed that no person would be denied a dignified burial.”

Brewster also served as director and vice president of the Jewish Family Service Agency and as president of Temple Beth Sholom.

In other news:

* The Clark County Bar Association recently selected its leaders for 2008. Karl L. Nielson, Esq., a stockholder in the Las Vegas office of Jones Vargas, has been named president; Eighth Judicial District Court Juvenile Hearing Master Frank Sullivan was named president-elect; and A. Wayne Carter, of the Law Office of Katherine M. Peck, was named Secretary/Treasurer.

* Las Vegas resident Domingo Castañeda, 31, has been named a finalist in PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian Contest to select a vegetarian boy and girl next-door. To vote in the contest visit GoVeg.com. The winners will be announced in mid-March.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-4564.