A 95-year-old Florida man, a championship fencer in the 1950s, died after accidentally setting himself and his house alight with a Havdallah candle.
Byron Krieger of Boca Raton died early Nov. 9 from injuries sustained in the accident the night before, the local news station WPTC reported.
His wife, Joyce, 92, suffered minor burns. They were married for 57 years.
Krieger competed as a foil fencer in the Olympics twice for the United States, in the 1952 Games in Helsinki and the 1956 Games in Melbourne.
In 1957, he won the gold medal in the foil and sabre at the Maccabiah Games. He was inducted into the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1986. — jta