They walked the Normandy beaches together on the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
So, of course, Lynn University professor, author and noted historian Robert Watson threw a 99th birthday outdoor brunch for Abe Lurie, his friend and a WWII vet.
At the table next to Lurie’s family and friends were a contingent from Boca’s VFW Post 10556. They’ll be back to organize this year’s Palm Beach County Memorial Day observance at 9:30 a.m. at the memorial plaza in Veterans Memorial Park, Commander Barry Goldin said. https://vfwpost10556.org/
“When we were at the cemetery, everybody stopped to salute him,” Watson said about the Normandy trip. “We landed in Cherbourg with my outfit on the fourth or fifth day,” Lurie said.
Lurie was persuaded by his wife Francine Schwartz to go on an Honor Flight and considers that another memorable occasion.
Lurie was in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps stationed in England. “We set up a store and kept the officers in uniforms,” he remembered. Later he became a tool designer and formed his own company. He still keeps in touch with the New York firm run by his son, he said. “I didn’t stop going in every day until I was in my 80s,” he added.
“He’s the best father a person can ever want,” agreed daughters Leila and Susan, who flew in from New York for the occasion. They hadn’t seen him in person for a year because of the pandemic, and call him their “national treasure.”
The Lurie table was decorated in red, white and blue and guests were asked to dress accordingly. Fran even had blue bangs for the occasion at Oli’s Fashion Cuisine in the Boca suburbs.
By Marci Shatzman
