Fim Zarankin, of Pawtucket, Passes at 95
Wednesday, September 08, 2021
Fim Zarankin, age 95, of Pawtucket, RI, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 4, 2021, at Rhode Island Hospital. He was the loving and caring husband of the late Evgeniya (Pesin) Zarankina for 68 years.
Born in a poor Jewish family in Klintsy, Russia, Fim was the son of the late David and Sonya (Reznikova) Zarankin. He was named Khaim at birth but to avoid antisemitism in Russia, his name was changed to Fim.
As a teenager, he did very well at school. Also, he liked sport and played successfully for the town’s soccer team.
Fim's happy teen years were interrupted abruptly when the Nazis occupied Klintsy and began hunting down and killing Jews. Fim was only 15 years old. He managed to escape the Nazi occupation with his parents and his sister Dusya, leaving their house and possessions behind. They endured many horrors and hardships of the war in the following months until finally getting evacuated to Omsk City in the Ural region. There, at the age of 16, Fim began to work twelve-hour shifts at the factory building military airplanes to defend his homeland from the Nazi invaders.
After World War II, Fim served in the armed forces. Later on, he graduated from college and worked as an engineer and team lead in the metal industry for many years. In 1952 he married his lifelong love Evgeniya, and in 1953 a beautiful daughter Irina was born.
Fim lived and worked in the town of Khimki near Moscow until retirement, and in 1995 he and Evgeniya immigrated to Pawtucket, RI. They made a lot of new friends in America and were members of the Jewish Community Center and Temple Emanuel. Fim and Evgeniya loved the United States and truly enjoyed their lives here.
Fim was a wonderful loving husband, father, and grandfather. He devoted his entire life to his family, which meant everything to him. He is survived by his daughter, Irina Rendar, her husband Boris, and his grandson Alexander Rendar.
He will be always loved and remembered by family, and by all people who knew him.
Burial is private.
