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Obituaries

Irwin Balefsky | Accountant, 82

    Published 

Irwin Balefsky, 82, a retired accountant formerly of Northeast Philadelphia, died of pancreatic cancer Wednesday at Virtua West Jersey Hospital Marlton.

Mr. Balefsky graduated from West Philadelphia High School and immediately joined the Army, serving in a tank division in Europe during World War II. In 1945, he was wounded in combat in Germany and was awarded a Purple Heart.

After his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree from Temple University and became a certified public accountant. In 1949, he married Mary Yaskin, whom he had met on a blind date. They lived in the Northeast until moving to Mt. Laurel nine years ago.

For more than 30 years, Mr. Balefsky was a controller for Weinberg's Department Stores in Chester, Havertown and Plymouth Meeting. He then was a controller for American Metal Moulding in Philadelphia for 10 years until retiring in 2004.

He was a devoted husband and father, said his son, Lee, and turned down a lucrative position with an accounting firm in New York because he didn't want to disrupt his family.

Mr. Balefsky loved to read and was a big sports fan. He had Eagles season tickets for more than 40 years, his son said.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Balefsky is survived by a daughter, Sharon Eisenberg; a sister; and six grandchildren.

A funeral will be held at 11:30 a.m. today at Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael-Sacks Suburban Chapel, 310 Second Street Pike, Southampton. Burial will be in Shalom Memorial Park, Huntingdon Valley.