Vladimir Gershovitz, 73, his wife Lena Ostrovsky, 68, their son Dima Gershovitz, 42, and his wife Lucille Jane Gershovitz, aged 29, who were killed in an Iranian missile strike on Haifa, were laid to rest on Tuesday.
Dima was Vladimir and Lena's only child. He and his wife Lucille Jane married in 2024 and resided in Herzliya. On Sunday afternoon, they arrived in Haifa to discharge Vladimir from Rambam Hospital. The mother, Lena, was a graduate of the National Academy of Music of Ukraine and was a known vocal coach and an expert in the field of voice and stage.
Actor Orna Pitussi eulogized her in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet: "She was my coach at Nissan Nativ. To tell the truth, she taught generations upon generations of students, who are all shocked and broken now. She had a giant heart. Lenchik was so motherly and so loving, she gave everyone one of her students the feeling that they were the apple of her eye, that they are the most perfect, successful, and worthy, and with endless compassion and love without criticism."
"Maybe that's what characterized her," she continued, "That together with her professionalism , and in such a competitive profession, she was our corner of sanity and endless love, like a mother. A little mother. She had students who were a few heads taller than her, but she gave everything the feeling that they are her most successful children. People remember her amazing blue eyes, which would shine every time we succeeded.
It is believed that the four did not manage to reach the shelter in their residential building. According to the Home Front Command, they were found at the bottom of the building near the stairwell, which delayed the clearing of rubble and access to them.