Carol was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and graduated from Drake University with a B.A. in Spanish and a minor in Education.  She and Bob were married in 1976, and a short time later, moved to California in February of 1977.

After the birth of their second child, Jenni, the Warsaws joined Temple Bat Yahm in the summer of 1982, where Jenni was named in the Temple Social Hall, as the sanctuary had not yet been completed.

It was the 1990’s, she and Bob now had three children, and as each one grew and attended the Temple Preschool and later the Religious School, Carol started to become involved in volunteer activities.  She was part of the Pre-school PFO that raised over $10,000 to fund a new playground in the play yard.  She chaired the Dinner Committee for the Chanukah Gala, and co-chaired the Joanne and Elliott Mercer Gala, raising over $50,000, that went toward the temple’s operating fund.

Carol served on the Temple Board as VP of Membership for two years and Chavurah Chairman.  She was a member of numerous committees, including the Nominating Committee for the Temple Sisterhood Board, and the Contract Committee for both the Temple Administrator (who was Ossie Sladek at the time), and the Cantor.  As a sisterhood member, she served as Scrip Coordinator, was part of the committee for the first Home Tour, and sat on the Nominating Committee for past Women of the Year.  She has been in charge of Camperships, and in 1996, was honored as Woman of the Year for Temple Service.  For almost 20 years, Carol sang in the temple choir, first under the direction of Cantor Alan Weiner, and then under Cantor Jonathan Grant.

Carol has been part of many Jewish community organizations as well.  She is a Life Member of Hadassah, and is also a member of Women’s Division of Federation.

When her children attended Corona del Mar High School, she was active in the PTA for many years, serving for a year as Membership Chair, and later co-chairing the Corona del Mar High School Home Tour for two years in a row.  She currently is a member of the “Small World Guild” in Irvine, raising money for CHOC, and also Program Chair for Charter 100, an organization that raises money for single mothers, who want to complete their education and start a career.

Born in Los Angeles, Bob grew up in Beverly Hills, and attended grammar school and high school there.  His college years were spent at the University of Oregon and at the University of Southern California, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business.

Bob has been in the headwear business for over 40 years.  He started out in the family business, Sport Specialties, with his father and late brother, Jim.  Several years after Bob and Jim sold their business to Nike, he started another headwear business, Covee, which he owns and runs today.

Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Bob was a founding member of the B’nai B’rith Chapter in Newport Beach.  He played a major role in the late 90’s, sending Jewish Youth to Israel, and helping the Bureau of Jewish Education start the first TIES trip, for Orange County kids.

Bob and Carol have been committed and dedicated to Jewish Life in Orange County.  They were donors to the Jewish Community Center of Orange County’s Initial Capital Campaign for their campus, as well as donors to the initial Capital Campaign for Temple Bat Yahm’s Building Fund in 1982 and again in 2000, to expand the Temple campus.  Bob and his brother, Jim, gave a special gift to TBY to help build the outdoor amphitheater.  The Warsaws have been members of TBY’s Circle of Honor for many years, and they continue to support such organizations as the ADL and AIPAC.

Bob and Carol are donors to the University of Oregon, and Bob continues to carry on the legacy of Jim, with his involvement in the Warsaw Sport Marketing Center at the University.

 

Steve and Jill Edwards have been members of Temple Bat Yahm since 1977.  Over the course of 38 years they have been actively involved in many aspects of Temple life. Steve is a Past President in addition to holding several different Board positions including Endowment Chair, Budget Chair, and Parliamentarian and sitting on numerous committees over the years.  Jill is a Past WTBY President, Woman of the Year, Continuing Service Award Recipient, past recording secretary, past Gala Chair and current Social Action Chair, in addition to sitting on various committees.  

Together they chaired the Yachad Torah Project and Co-Chaired the Jerusalem Wall Project.  They have led Interfaith classes and discussions.  All three of their children attended Religious school at TBY and marked all the milestones through Confirmation.

In addition to their active participation at TBY, they have both been active in multiple community organizations.  Steve has been on the Federation Board, Wellness Community Board, and currently sits on the Rose Council.  Jill is the past Board Chair of the Friendship Shelter, Wellness Community, and numerous  school organizations.  Steve and Jill currently sit on the Advisory Board for Be’chol Lashon, an advocacy group for the growth and diversity of the Jewish people.  They are through this group very involved in the Abayudaya Jewish Community of Uganda.

Steve continues to practice Real Estate and Transactional Law at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLC.  

They are very proud of their children. Ben is a 5th grade teacher, and his wife,  Roselyn, teaches first grade.  They have two boys, Wyatt, age 3 and Henry, born January 26th of this year.  Asher is  completing his Residency in Internal Medicine at Harbor UCLA Medical Center with an emphasis on Palliative  and Hospice Care and his wife, Heather, is an orthodontist.  Leah is the General Manager of the Oceana Hotel in Santa Monica. All three of the Edwards children graduated from Lehigh University as did Asher’s wife, Heather.

 

Heather and Jon Kline have been proud members of TBY since moving to Newport Beach from New York in 2003.  

During this time they have been actively involved in many aspects of Temple life. Heather served three terms on the Board as Trustee of Education, was a founding member of and continues to serve on the Education Strategic Planning Committee (which developed JCAL), and serves on Strategic Planning.  She has also served on Rabbinic Search, Nominating, Gala, Torah Project and other special committees over the years.  She was honored as the WTBY Woman of the Year for Temple Service in 2013.  Jon has served on Rabbinic Search, Strategic Planning and Finance Committees of the Board of Trustees.  

Heather and Jon are also engaged in other Jewish organizations in Orange County.  Heather currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Woman’s Philanthropy of JFFS, Orange County. Jon serves on the Board of Trustees of Heritage Pointe.  

Jon and Heather met at Emory University, later graduating from New York University and Boston University Law Schools, respectively.  Jon is the CEO and founder of Clearview Hotel Capital, a privately-held hotel investment company and serves on the Board of Directors of CareTrust, a publicly-traded healthcare REIT.

They are the proud parents of Meredith, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, Max, a senior at Corona del Mar High School and Ellie, a freshman at Sage Hill School.  Each is a graduate of TBY’s Preschool and religious education programs and celebrated their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs at TBY.

 

Barry & Debbe have been members of TBY since 1994. During that time both have been extremely involved and dedicated to the community of TBY.

Barry , for over the past 20+ years has been involved in many roles at TBY. It began in 1990 with playing on and later managing the TBY softball team, occasionally still fills in for a game. He later served as Men's Club President, back when we had one, continued on to organizing and BBQing with his team of guys for many of our wonderful Purim carnivals. This tradition still continues.

He has also served on the finance committee as well as the TBY Board as Trustee of Facilities.

His most important role has been supporting his wife, Debbe and their two children, Jason and Michelle, with all that they have been involved in and surprising Debbe for their 30th anniversary by being the highest bidder and purchasing the Mediterranean cruise at last year's TBY gala.

Debbe began her involvement back in 1990 as well, volunteering in our preschool while her son, Jason and later daughter, Michelle were in attendance. She became the PTO president in 1994 and helped organize the many fundraisers, which allowed the preschool to purchase the equipment on the playground. Preschool didn't end when her own kids graduated...she then began teaching the parent/toddler program in 1998 and still continues to do so today.

Once the kids started Religious School, so did Debbe...teaching the 7th grade Hebrew class and tutoring many of our kids for B’nai Mitzvah. She served on the Religious Education Committee and Temple Board of Trustees as VP of Religious School education.

She eventually moved on to other positions on the Board such as VP of Activities, which allowed her to organize many of our wonderful Purim Carnivals. Debbe served as a TBY board member over a period of 12 years in many capacities. One of those capacities, as Chair of Ways and Means, Debbe co-chaired with Denise Molnar our Cirque de Bat Yahm Gala in 2011. She created the Tribute book for this, as well as many other galas.

Debbe later became involved with WTBY, serving as president from 2006 to 2009. She was presented with the honor of Women of the Year in 1999 and Continuing Service Award in 2007 by WTBY. One of her most passionate roles was co-chairing the Torah Project with Ronda Kushner in 2010. Additionally, Debbe has had the honor of chanting Torah for the HHD for over 10 years.

In 2011, her role at TBY changed and although she continued to volunteer, she became Cantor Grant's Administrative Assistant and just recently changed her title to Clergy Administrative Assistant to Rabbis Zylberman, Gevurtz and Miller. Debbe considers TBY her temple family.

 

2015 Temple Bat Yahm Honorees

 

The following members have been nominated for this status as a result of their notable contributions to the advancement of Temple Bat Yahm as well as their ability to make a difference in the lives of the many people they touch. As an honoree, their presence and commitment to assist is deeply appreciated. Engaging honorees—who are respected for their accomplishments and acknowledged for their service—is a best practice which has been employed by Temple Bat Yahm.