Newlywed single mom, Venezuelan Jewish couple die in Surfside’s condo collapse
Entire families gone missing when a condominium near Miami Beach collapsed last week have begun to be reunited in death as rescue crews search through the rubble for survivors.
On the day the body of her 26-year-old son, Luis Bermudez, was recovered from the remains of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, his mother, Ana Ortiz, 46, was also added to the list of those killed in the unexpected collapse of the condo tower on Thursday.
“They are in heaven, and they left together. They died together,” said Ortiz’s sister, Nicole, in an interview with daily El Nuevo Día.
And on Sunday, the couple Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74, and her husband, Leon Oliwkowicz, 80, Venezuelan nationals with deep connections to their Jewish community in Chicago, were identified. Both were buried Monday night.
The remains of 11 people have now been found, with rescue teams still searching for as many as 150 others in the building’s ashes and rubble, according to Monday’s information from Miami-Dade police. On Monday night, police announced the remains and identities of three new victims: Marcus Joseph Guara, 52, whose body was recovered Saturday; Michael David Altman, 50, whose body was recovered Monday; and Frank Kleiman, 55, whose body was recovered Monday and is the husband of Ana Ortiz.
Devoted to a special-needs son
Ortiz — Annie to her friends — was a hard-working mother devoted to her adult son, Luis Bermudez, who had muscular dystrophy and used a wheelchair. They lived together on the seventh floor with her newlywed husband, Frankie Kleiman.
Frankie’s mother, Nancy Kress Levin, lived on the same floor. And Frankie’s brother Jay was visiting from Puerto Rico at the time of the collapse. The families occupied the units 702 and 712, according to Miami-Dade property records. Nancy and Jay are still listed as missing.
Ana Isabel Ortiz, who was Puerto Rican, attended the Nuestra Señora de la Providencia school in Cupey, a neighborhood on the outskirts of San Juan. Mother and son went on excursions around Florida and Puerto Rico, visiting the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Wynwood Walls in Miami, and Old San Juan back on the island.
Luis, who had difficulty writing because of his condition, penned her a note that read in part, “You have taught me what it means to be a gentleman.... I thank you for always being here for what I need, for giving me helpful advice and for raising me and helping me become the person that I am today. That’s why I am proud to be your son every day of my life.”
“She’s a rock star,” said Alex Garcia, a close friend of Frankie and Annie.
It was Garcia who set up the couple on a blind date. They married three weeks before the condo collapsed. Garcia last saw Annie, Frankie, and Luis at a Father’s Day party in Boca Raton, where a group of tight-knit Puerto Rican friends congregated for an open-air pig roast.
A deeply spiritual Venezuelan-Jewish couple
Although Christina and Leon Oliwkowicz hailed from Venezuela and recently moved to Surfside, they had strong ties to the Lubavitch community in Chicago, where their daughter, Leah Fouhal, lives, according to Chabadinfo.com.
They were active and generous members of the Jewish community in Chicago. In 2019, the couple donated a Sefer Torah to Yeshivas Ohr Eliyahu – Lubavitch Mesivta of Chicago, where their daughter works, according to The Chicago Jewish Home.
There was a parade beginning at Fouhal’s home with a fire truck, music and a giant velvet and gold crown to commemorate the new scroll. Oliwkowicz said in Yiddish at the ceremony that it was a privilege to be able to donate the Torah in memory of parents.
Brian Fincheltub, the director of Consular Affairs of the Venezuelan Embassy, tweeted his condolences . The funeral was held on Monday, according to Chabadinfo.com.
“Nobody prepares us for such tragedies and harsh news,” he wrote in Spanish.
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 7:40 PM.