Baruch Haviv battled COVID-19 for two months before passing away on May 24.

Haviv was born on Nov. 7, 1937 in Haifa to Aaron and Shoshana Chybovsky, who had fled Poland ahead of World War II and the Holocaust. He lost his father, a merchant marine, at sea when he was only 4. Haviv grew up on a kibbutz in his early years but then was moved to an orphanage, where he was known as a rambunctious and resourceful child.

Though he didn’t finish high school, Haviv found work as a mechanic before serving as a fighter pilot and instructor in the Israeli Air Force. He took those skills and left for the United States in 1962.

Despite losing most of his money during a stopover in France, Haviv managed to make it to America, working odd jobs and finishing his high school equivalency. That led him to Columbia University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

Haviv, also known as “Barry,” met his wife, Suzanne, in 1967.

With his education and flight experience, he gave flying lessons at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey until becoming a commercial pilot for American Airlines, where his success was secured.

Haviv relished music, particularly opera, and was a regular at the Metropolitan Opera. He used his earnings to invest in several buildings in burgeoning neighborhoods in New York City in the 1970s and ’80s, sometimes doing minor work on them himself.

He also owned and cherished a vintage 1964 Ford Falcon that was used in a cable-TV action series, “The Deuce.”

In addition to his wife, Haviv is survived by their four children, as well as two nieces and two nephews.

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