This is a letter I had hoped to write in many years from now. Unfortunately, with the untimely passing of Pinchos Gershon “PG” Waxman, I am writing it now.

Back in 2000, I had outgrown my basement apartment and was looking to purchase a home. On a Kollel budget, we did not have much to spend and were looking for a simple budget priced home. With none of the many “weeklys” now available, I used to search the local paper’s classified ads. I remember calling Diane Turton Realty in Brick about a home they had listed in Lakewood, only to be told it was sold. When I asked them if they had any other listings in Lakewood, the agent replied “for Lakewood, best bet is to call PG Waxman”. So I called PG and met him in his office.

He first asked us how much we were paying rent and how much we were looking to spend on a mortgage. He then proceeded to list all the other expenses we would encounter as part of homeownership. When I looked at him quizzically, he told me that if you plan on staying in kollel, you have to realize how once you buy a home, expenses pile on quickly. He found that many yungerleit that purchase homes, find themselves going out to work soon after. I was impressed by his unbiased concern for my learning.

For the next few months, PG took me to look at dozens of houses. I once asked PG why he kept taking me around when he knew I couldn’t spend a lot and he replied Hezaharu b’bnei aniyim shemayhen taitzai Torah. We needed a house and he would try to find us one. As an aside, I remember going to a few neighborhoods in Lakewood that were not yet frum and having some of the neighbors giving us looks. While I tried to quickly move away, PG would walk right over, give them a smile and ask how they were doing. Often Kmayim panim el panim, they would smile back and engage in brief congenial conversation.

One day, PG called me and told me about a house that he had previously listed but was in very poor condition and people weren’t looking at it. The owner redid a good part of the house and it was going back on the market. We took a look and decided to buy it.

Shortly afterwards, PG called me and said an investor came in with a higher offer and can close in cash which was very tempting to the seller who was looking for a quick sale. I told him we would increase our offer but as a first time homebuyer, we would need time for the mortgage. When the investor counter offered, PG told me I’ll need a couple more thousand dollars to make it happen. I told him I can’t be held over a barrel and I’m not going any higher. If it gets sold to them then it wasn’t meant to be.

PG called me back later and told me the house is mine, I should try to close as soon as possible. When I asked him how, he told me that he convinced the buyer to sell it to me. When I responded that the other buyer had offered more, he replied cryptically  “it’s a free country, you can sell a house to whoever you would like to”. When I met him later in his office, he asked me to call the seller and thank him for agreeing to sell it to me.

Before the closing, the lawyer was looking over the HUD-1 closing document and noticed that there was no commission to the agent. I called PG and asked him why his commission wasn’t on the HUD-1. He replied that he couldn’t let the house be sold to an investor over a few thousand dollars when there was a family that needed it. I said PG, but you took me around and showed me houses for months, don’t you deserve to be paid for that? He replied nonchalantly “its OK, just don’t tell anyone”.

So while I had harbored thoughts about PG enjoying the bidding war to get more commission, he was working, for free, to make sure I had a place to call home.

Yehi Zichro Baruch.