Everyone Has a Story By Sima K Needleman

Table of Contents
Darien and Stephen Arnstein ........................................................................................................................ 2
Carol Rose Battle ......................................................................................................................................... 10
Bill Solomon and Barbara Bianco ................................................................................................................ 18
Beatrice Borenstein..................................................................................................................................... 25
Kaaran Bowden ........................................................................................................................................... 32
Lauren Buchsbaum...................................................................................................................................... 33
David and Susan Cort .................................................................................................................................. 37
Rabbi Mark and Mrs. Alice Fasman ............................................................................................................ 44
Phyllis Hyken ............................................................................................................................................... 56
Margaret and Martin Israel......................................................................................................................... 62
Stephen and Nancy Keyser ......................................................................................................................... 68
Joyce and Bob Olshan ................................................................................................................................. 74
Cynthia Payant and James White................................................................................................................ 83
Harlan Radinsky .......................................................................................................................................... 89
Leslie Birenbaum and Susan Roth ............................................................................................................... 95
Kay Sandweiss ............................................................................................................................................. 98
Mitchell and Janice Shenker ..................................................................................................................... 103
Leo and Sara Wolf ..................................................................................................................................... 109

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Darien and Stephen Arnstein

Darien Arnstein’s father, Erwin Alpern, an attorney and CPA, whose expertise in
finance was utilized and valued by the military, had served stateside in WWII. A few
years after that war ended, he was called back to active duty to serve in the Korean
War. Darien, an only child, was born in the army hospital on the grounds of Camp
Atterbury in Franklin, Indiana. When she was about 6 months old, Darien and her
parents moved to Oklahoma City, where: (1) both sets of her grandparents lived
and played a big part in her life; (2) her father established a law and accounting
practice; (3) her mother, Adell Alpern was a social worker and volunteer publicist;
and where Darien has very fond memories of times spent with her “wonderful,
loving family.”

Oklahoma City had a small Jewish population of about 2,500-3,000 people, and both
sets of grandparents as well as Darien’s parents were very involved in the Jewish
community. Her mother volunteered for many organizations, was president of the
synagogue’s Sisterhood, frequently wrote publicity for the synagogue and both
organized and ran programs for senior citizens and other groups. In the 1960’s her
mother was part of a panel of American women who recruited Catholic, Protestant,
Jewish and African American women to speak to civic and church groups in an
effort to break down stereotypes. Her father, whom she describes as a “wonderful,
wonderful, very meticulous, very honest attorney and accountant,” served as
president of a number of major organizations in Oklahoma City, and although he
worked behind the scenes for the synagogue, he never wanted to be President of
the Conservative Emanuel Synagogue to which their family belonged.

It’s interesting to note that both Darien’s maternal grandfather and her maternal
great-grandfather were spiritual leaders in their respective communities. Her
mother’s grandfather, who lived in Grand Forks, N.D. for many years, served as the
rabbi in a number of small towns, and his son-in-law (Darien’s grandfather) who
was also a learned and observant man, had a smicha (one of various spellings,
simply defined as “rabbinic ordination”) from Latvia or Lithuania. But, because he
did not go through ordination in the United States, he was referred to in this
country as “reverend,” not “rabbi.”

Darien’s mother and both her grandmothers were able to keep kosher in Oklahoma
City by arranging with local merchants to import kosher foods from larger nearby
cities.

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Darien attended Hebrew School and Sunday School, became a bat mitzvah and was
part of a confirmation class at Emanuel Synagogue. For her bat mitzvah, Darien’s
maternal grandfather taught her the haftorah, which she chanted not during the
Shabbat morning service but during services the previous night. (However, her
father was called up for an aliyah.)

Darien attended the James Madison Elementary School in Oklahoma City through
the 6th grade, and was the only Jewish student in the entire school! While in grade
school, Darien took piano lessons. Her Aunt Shirley Hellman, who lived in Wichita,
KS and was a proficient musician, introduced Darien to the piano when Darien was
about 4 or 5 years old. Whenever their families visited each other, the two of them
sat down at a piano together, and soon Darien was taking lessons with local
teachers through 6th grade.

Darien attended John Marshall Junior-Senior High School from the 7th through the
9th grade. In addition to going to public school, Hebrew School and playing the
piano, Darien was a member of USY and joined the Campfire Girls (similar to Girl
Scouts) while she lived in Oklahoma City.

Just before Darien entered tenth grade, a friend of her father’s named Bill
McCandless, who was a close friend of an Oklahoma senator, received a
presidential appointment in the Commerce Department. He was appointed by
President Johnson to be Chairman of the Ozarks Regional Economic Development
Commission (OREDC). Mr. McCandless asked Darien’s father to come to
Washington, D.C. and be his assistant with the official title of Assistant to the
Federal Chairman of the OREDC.

Erwin Alpern was pleased to accept the offer and moved to Washington, D.C. with
Adell and Darien, who began 10th grade at Walter Johnson High School in
Bethesda, MD.

Soon after arriving in the D.C. area, her family joined a large Conservative
synagogue called Adas Israel, where Darien became a member of a Washington
USY chapter and joined Adas Israel’s confirmation class of 45 students and was
confirmed with that class at the end of the 10th grade.

In her junior year at Walter Johnson High, Darien became a member of a girls’
service-based organization called the Keyettes Club and served as its president in
her senior year. Also, she became a member of the Student Council, which was

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rather remarkable because she was relatively new to the school. Darien graduated
from Walter Johnson High the next year.

After her graduation, her parents moved back to Oklahoma City. Richard Nixon
had become president by then, and her dad and Bill McCandless no longer worked
for the Commerce Department. Meanwhile, Darien started her freshman year at
Tufts University in Medford, MA.

One summer while she was in college, Darien went to the same summer camp that
her mother had attended in the 1940’s called the Brandeis Camp Institute, which
according to a Google reference, “is a 26-day exploration of self and Judaism within
a safe, pluralistic community, bringing together young Jews from all over the world
with some of our people’s most compelling talented scholars and artists to
experience the multi-faceted aspects of Jewish life and culture.” While her mother,
Adell, was a camper there, she met and befriended Bernie Lipnick (who later
became rabbi of B’nai Amoona in St. Louis). Adell, who was a prolific writer,
continued to keep in touch with Rabbi Lipnick for many years. In the years they
were at the camp, it was located in upper NY state or NH, but when Darien
attended, it had moved to Simi Valley, CA.

Darien graduated from Tufts with a B.S. degree, summa cum laude and Phi Beta
Kappa, in Mathematics. After Tufts, Darien went back to Washington, D.C. and
worked for one year as a programmer for a software information systems
consulting firm called American Management Systems (AMS). Then she moved to
Boston and was a software specialist for Digital Equipment Corporation. Many of
the employees at AMS had MBA’s from Harvard and recommended that Darien do
the same thing.

Darien decided to apply to the Harvard University Business School, was accepted
and graduated with an MBA degree two years later. Soon after graduating, she was
hired by Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc. in Dallas, TX as Management Consultant. She
worked for that firm for two years and then accepted a job in St. Louis as
Merchandise Controller for the Edison Brothers Stores.

The summer she arrived in St. Louis, Darien met Stephen (Steve) Frederic Arnstein.

Steve, the first of Frederic and Sidonia (Dolly) Arnstein’s two sons, lived in Clayton,
MO in the early years of his life. His only sibling, Joseph (Joe), is 3 ½ years younger
than Steve. Their father, Frederic Arnstein, who graduated from the University of
Michigan and was in the stock brokerage business for his entire career, working for

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Stix and Company until 1981 and then for a small company downtown until he
retired, served on the boards of the Jewish Family and Children’s Service and the
Delcrest (now the Crown Center). He was a very enthusiastic tennis player who
passed on his love of the sport to Steve. Their mother, Sidonia (Dolly) Arnstein, a
graduate of Fontbonne University, has always been a community volunteer, giving
much of her time to worthy organizations and cultural institutions, especially the
National Council of Jewish Women and the Art Museum, where she was a docent
for many years.

Steve was a student at the Maryland School in Clayton from kindergarten through
5th grade. He took private piano lessons for about four years and learned to play
the clarinet in elementary school. When his family moved to Ladue after 5th grade,
Steve transferred to the Reed School for 6th grade. Hoping to help Steve get to
know his classmates and make new friends, Dolly initiated a little chess club for
Steve and about five other boys, who met at their home once a week that
year. From 7th through 12th grade, Steve attended John Burroughs (Junior-Senior)
High School. His favorite subjects were math and science, especially physics and
chemistry. In high school, he sang in the chorus and always played sports. In
addition to tennis and basketball, he ran cross country for two years, about which
he said he thinks he “recorded the slowest times in the school’s history.” Also, Steve
became involved in a John Burroughs service project, collecting clothing for the
Grace Hill Settlement House. Steve led the drive for two years.

None of Steve’s grandparents seemed to want to have anything to do with

organized religion. His maternal grandmother was Catholic while her husband
(Steve’s grandfather) was Jewish. He belonged to Shaare Emeth Congregation
although he hardly ever attended services there. At the same time, Steve’s paternal
grandparents, who were both Jewish, “were totally non-observant” according to
Steve. (However, it’s interesting to note that his father’s father was one of the
founders of the St. Louis Ethical Society.)

It’s not surprising that Steve’s nuclear family hardly observed any religious practices
at all and that Steve did not become a bar mitzvah. Steve’s mother, however, did
occasionally go to church; sometimes, she took Steve and his brother, Joe, with her.
However, over the years, she has worked for Jewish causes, and most of her friends
are Jewish.

After graduating from John Burroughs, Steve attended Duke University in Durham,
NC. He made a lot of friends there, including some who were Jewish. In his
sophomore year, he found himself going with them to High Holiday services (for the

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first time in his life) at a Conservative synagogue. He even fasted on Yom Kippur
while he was at Duke. A couple of those Jewish friends became and have remained
two of Steve’s best friends today.

When he graduated from Duke with a B.A. in Economics, he found employment at

First National Bank of Atlanta in Atlanta, GA. It seems that southern banks
interviewed and recruited students from southern universities, and a friend of his
who was ahead of him in school was recruited and hired by the bank. She
encouraged Steve to apply. When he did, he, too, was hired as a management
trainee. While living in Atlanta, Steve went to High Holiday services at the Emory
University Hillel with one or more of his Jewish friends. He stated that “in my mind,
I felt Jewish.”

Steve worked at the bank for two years and then moved back to St. Louis where he
accepted a job at Mark Twain Bank.

Interestingly, when Steve came back, he began to meet his dad for lunch once a
week. In addition, Steve took his grandfather to Shaare Emeth for High Holiday
services during the last two years of his life.

Steve met Darien in the summer of 1980 at a party given by a friend of

Darien’s. Not only was the hostess a friend of Darien’s but her step-brother was a
friend of Steve’s. Steve enjoyed talking to Darien that day and called her on Labor
Day for their first date. Steve liked Darien right away. She was a good sport, had a
good sense of humor, liked to play bridge, and seemed to like him, too! Soon after
Labor Day, Darien invited Steve to go with her to a Jewish Federation Young
Professional Division fundraiser, where they had a good time and Steve “met some
very nice folks.”

Steve converted to Judaism after taking a conversion class with Rabbi Jeffrey
Stiffman. Fourteen and a half months after meeting Darien, Steve and she were
married by two rabbis: Rabbi Stiffman and a (rabbi) cousin of Darien’s.

After they married, Steve and Darien did some shul-shopping. Darien wasn’t
comfortable at a Reform temple and luckily Steve was willing to join a Conservative
synagogue. They decided to join B’nai Amoona for a number of reasons: (1) Darien’s
mother knew and respected Rabbi Lipnick; (2) Steve and Darien both liked Rabbi
Kula, whom Steve thought “was an inspirational guy,” and they both found the
members of the congregation to be very friendly. Soon after becoming members,
Darien and Steve joined a Chavurah group.

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At the time that the 1981-82 recession hit, Steve had left banking and looked for a
job in the brokerage business, but brokerage firms were not hiring then. However,
someone at Merrill Lynch suggested that Steve get experience selling and then
come back to talk to them. Steve took the advice and found a salesman position at
the Tension Envelope Co. After getting experience selling there, he was hired by
Shearson/American Express as a financial advisor.

Their first child, Jonathan (Jon) Micah was born in 1984.

In the late 1980’s (from 1986-1988) Steve had a “life-changing” experience. He

learned about the Les (and Abigail) Wexner Heritage Foundation Program, which
educates Jewish lay and professional leaders around the world, especially in North
America and Israel. Steve decided to apply because he wanted to become more
knowledgeable about Judaism. He was interviewed and then accepted in the
program, which included attending two classes each month for two years and a trip
to Israel, to which he took Darien.

Darien continued to work at Edison Brothers after Jonathan was born until 1987
when she decided to stay home to take care of her family. However, shortly after
that, Darien became a member of the Board of the National Council of Jewish
Women (NCJW) for the first time. She was a good board member for several years,
working diligently on various projects even though her responsibilities at home
increased with the birth of their second son, Benjamin (Ben) in 1989.

As things wound down (temporarily) for Darien at NCJW, they increased when she
joined the Board of the Solomon Schechter Day School and became VP of
Fundraising and chair or co-chair of many committees, always putting in lots of
time and energy and achieving much for the organization. As a result, Darien was
presented with the Schechter School’s Leo I. Mirowitz Distinguished Service Award
in 1997.

That same year (1997), when their son Jonathan celebrated his bar mitzvah at B’nai
Amoona, both Darien and Steve chanted the Torah - - and then chanted the Torah
again for Benjamin’s bar mitzvah in 2002.

In 2006, Darien returned to the Board of NCJW with always increasing

responsibilities and challenges. She became the liaison with the Missouri Coalition
for Lifesaving Cures and was trained as a speaker for Amendment 2: Stem Cell
Research, which passed! The NCJW bestowed its Advocacy Award on Darien in 2007
and its Leadership Award in 2009. This past May, 2013, Darien was installed as

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President-Elect of the St. Louis chapter of NCJW and will be installed this coming
May, 2014, as President.

In addition to working on the boards of the NCJW (twice) and the Solomon
Schechter Day School, Darien has served on the boards of the Jewish Federation
Young Professional Division and Shaare Zedek (now Kol Rinah) and has been a
member of the Tufts University Alumni Admissions Program and of the
literature group called The Pioneers, which is more than a book club; it is a serious
discussion group.

In 2004 or 2005, the Arnsteins joined Shaare Zedek partly because of the
encouragement of Darien’s very good friend, Harriet Shanas, who has served as
president of the congregation and is a very active member and enthusiastic
advocate of the shul, but more because their second son, Ben, was a member of
the Shaare Zedek USY, and SZ was where he wanted to hang out with his many USY
friends. It didn’t take long for the congregation to ask Darien to serve on its
board. She then served on the Planning Committee.

In 2007 (6 years ago), Darien moved her parents from Oklahoma City to St. Louis so
that she could better look after them. They now live in the Gatesworth with
caregiving support.

In 2011, Steve’s father died and Steve began going to shul daily to say Kaddish. The
people who participated in the minyan were very supportive of Steve and,
according to Darien, “formed a community for him” at a difficult time. As a result,
Steve has tried to go to minyan once a week ever since then.

Today, their older son Jon, who graduated from Duke University in 2007, works in
New York at Rock View Capital, a small hedge fund. Younger son, Ben, who also
went to Duke, graduated in 2011 and is working at Morgan Stanley in their Private
Wealth Management division in Manhattan.

Steve, who has played tennis just about all his life, is passionate about the
sport. He plays several times a week and competes in tournaments all over the
country. He and Darien thoroughly enjoy traveling to the tournaments. Another
thing Steve enjoys is his work. After nearly 30 years, he is still working as a financial
consultant in St. Louis for the same company, although it has evolved over time and
has a new name - - no longer Shearson/American Express - - now Morgan Stanley.
(Incidentally, Steve and his son, Ben, now work for the same company.) Steve really

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loves the work. He finds it fascinating and has found that he has formed some
wonderful relationships; some of his clients have become his personal friends.

Darien, who has achieved so much personally, professionally and societally through
her work on behalf of others, enjoys reading, cooking, playing bridge and
traveling. But of all the good things in her life, she is most proud of and grateful for
her children and for Steve, stating that she and Steve are “still happily married”
after 32 years, “and that’s one of life’s true blessings.”

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Carol Rose Battle

Carol Rose Battle’s parents, Albert and Caroline Graff, had three children, who were
spaced about 2 ½ years apart, with Ralph coming first, Judy in the middle and Carol
last. Their father, Al, was the only person in his family to go past the 8th grade. He
also began boxing at a young age and became good enough to box
professionally. As Johnny Kid Alberts, Al earned enough money to be able to
attend high school. After graduating, Al, wanting to go to Washington University,
became the boxing coach at the university in exchange for tuition. The only course
of study that was available to him was law, and that was no problem. Four years
later, Al received his law degree, which at that time was just a four-year
program. Albert’s law practice was limited to Workmen Compensation cases, and
Carol stated that her “father wrote a lot of law in that area.” Also, at some point in
his life, Al helped organize the Golden Gloves in St. Louis.

Her mother, Caroline, grew up in Chicago, moved to St. Louis in 1931 and became
Women’s Director of Physical Education at the “Y” (YMHA), which was the precursor
of the JCC and was located on Union and Delmar. At the same time, Albert was
coming to the “Y” on a regular basis to work out, and that’s where the two
met. Even though her father was ten years older than her mother, they were
attracted to each other, and, in time, got married. According to Carol, her mother
was a dynamo. In addition to working in the field of physical education, Caroline (1)
was very active in the Brandeis chapter of B’nai Brith, (2) was appointed to the Civil
Rights Commission (at the same time as former Missouri Lieutenant Governor
Harriett Woods), (3) was a true help-mate to Carol’s father, and (4) was, incidentally,
a very good friend of Micki Kingsley’s mother. (Interestingly, Carol didn’t know Micki
until recently when SZ and BSKI merged!)

Her parents, who had a strong, close relationship, were devoted to each
other. They were very responsible people and set a good example for their
children. Each child had specific “chores to do as part of the family,” and the
children were taught to be responsible for what they did. Her parents were also
economical. For example, they didn’t drive their car frivolously, reserving it for
important matters such as doctor appointments.

At first, the Graff family lived in the city of St. Louis, and Carol attended Hamilton
Elementary School for kindergarten, but, when she was six, the family moved into a
four-bedroom house on Washington Avenue in University City, and Carol
transferred to Flynn Park Elementary School.

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 The majority of people living in their private subdivision were Catholic, and her
family learned later that the subdivision had restrictions on Jews. Apparently the
family didn’t know about the restrictions, and the neighbors didn’t know that the
Graff family was Jewish. Years later when a family named Cohen wanted to buy a
house in the subdivision, they were told it was restricted. Mr. Cohen laughed and
said that it couldn’t be restricted because the Graffs lived there. In effect, the Graffs
broke the restriction without knowing it, and the Cohens bought their house.

By the time Carol’s family moved to University City, her paternal grandmother
Sarolta Graff had died and her Uncle Frank and Grandpa Emil, who emigrated from
Hungary and was a tailor as well as a great storyteller, came to live with
them. Carol remembers that, because her uncle worked nights, the children had to
be quiet during the daytime. That situation didn’t last very long, however, because
her uncle got married, and he and his wife established a home of their own.
However, her Grandpa, who was not only Shomer Kashrut but also was one of the
founders of the original (Orthodox) Brith Sholom Synagogue in St. Louis, continued
to live with the family until 1959. On Friday nights, while he lived in their home,
Carol’s mother lit the Shabbat candles, and her Grandpa prepared the Shabbat
dinner in “his” kosher kitchen downstairs, and they all ate together.

Carol’s mother’s parents, who had come to the States from Russia were very
different. Grandpa Abraham was actually a rabbi, who was trained in Slobodka but
never had a congregation or earned an income. Grandma Sarah was the family
provider. She was a successful actress in the Yiddish Theater, adored her husband,
and in her senior years became a sculptor.

In the 2nd grade, Carol began to wear eyeglasses, which frequently broke because
of the amount of time she spent playing sports. Carol, who had two especially close
friends in grade school, was not only a good student, but also was a member of the
Girl Scouts, played piano, and sang and danced in various school performances. At
her 6th grade graduation exercises, Carol was selected to play the piano and
remembers the words used to introduce her: “Carol can tumble and sing soprano,
but today she will play the piano.”

Thinking back over those years, Carol stated that, although her family didn’t go on
vacations in the summertime as a rule, she did go to Girl Scout Camp three
summers, was a “happy kid,” really liked school and “did what (she) was supposed
to do.”

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 Once she entered Hanley Junior High School, Carol’s time was spent attending
classes, doing homework, going to the public library, participating in after-school
sports, dancing at Madame Cassan’s, and singing in the school choir.

All three Graff children went to Sunday school at Brith Sholom. Interestingly, Carol
began Sunday school when she was three years old because that was the year Judy
started, and Carol “refused” to be left behind. As a result, Carol was in the Sunday
school’s kindergarten for three years! However, since it was not customary for girls
to become B’not Mitzvah at Brith Sholom at that time and because Judy didn’t want
to go to Hebrew School anyway, their parents decided not to enroll either daughter
in Hebrew School. Nevertheless, both girls continued going to Sunday school until
they were confirmed at the age of 14. Carol’s parents “were totally assimilated in
the community” and didn’t strictly adhere to all the teachings of Judaism, but they
were very good people who lived by their Jewish values.

Both her sister and brother kept busy pursuing their individual activities. Ralph was
very methodical and scientific, and Judy, who received a B.A. from Washington
University and an M.A. from Mills College, became an accomplished artist as well as
a teacher of ballet and modern dance in New York. Ralph, on the other hand, was
not only a successful artist and sculptor but also a physician with a long and
distinguished career in surgery and tissue transplant research.

While Carol was at U. City High School, she not only did well in her classes, which
included chemistry, physics, English, Spanish, and 3 ½ years of math, she also
participated in many activities. She was on the Honor Roll and the yearbook staff
as well as a member of the Art Club. In addition, Carol tutored other students, sang
in the choir and danced in various performances. During those years, she was not
part of just one group but cultivated a wide spectrum of friends and still maintains
contact with several of them today. One example is Joyce Peromsik Eisenberg, who
was in her confirmation class at Brith Sholom and is also a member of Kol Rinah
today.

Carol’s parents always tried to treat their three children equally. Ralph did his
undergraduate work at Washington University with the hope of later going to the
university’s medical school. Since her sister, Judy, went out of town for her
freshman year of college, Carol knew that her parents would want Carol to attend a
school outside of St. Louis, too, for her first year. Carol chose Northwestern
University (where Judy had gone) and was very pleased to be accepted since she
learned that the school had a Jewish quota. Her year at Northwestern was an
unbelievably wonderful year! Carol not only had a major part in a theatrical

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performance, but she didn’t shy away from difficult courses and found herself
excelling and making the Dean’s List. She stated that Northwestern “was the most
academically-friendly atmosphere” she’s ever been in.

After that year, Carol transferred to Washington University, believing at that time
that she wanted to become a medical technologist, which according to Wikipedia is
“an allied health professional who exercises technical and scientific functions in
medical laboratories.” However, because W.U. did not offer a bachelor’s degree in
medical technology, Carol decided to pursue science classes but major in
English. As a result, she took quantitative analysis, chemistry, zoology and
microbiology, as well as several teaching classes and a great many English courses.
She graduated with a B.A. in English three years later (in 1959 - - the same year
Brith Sholom merged with Kneseth Israel).

Upon graduating, she passed up a job offer in Kansas City writing greeting cards for
Hallmark and another offer at the U. City High School (from which she graduated),
and chose instead to teach English to eighth to eleventh graders in the Maryland
Heights School District. Although she liked her students very much, she did not
care for other factors affecting her teaching. Consequently, Carol “went back to
(her) first love” and enrolled in the Barnes Hospital School of Medical
Technology. She had all the course requirements but needed to complete a one-
year internship, which she did by working in the Barnes Hospital laboratories.

Upon completing all the requirements for certification as a medical technologist,

Carol then studied for and passed the licensure examination, which enabled her to
become a practitioner. Her first job in that capacity was at the Barnes Hospital
Blood Bank, where she spent one year typing blood, drawing blood and doing
compatibility tests. She found that she flourished under the stress of the job.

Wanting to go to San Francisco (SF) the next year to get training in the specialty of
Blood Banking, which was offered by the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank of the SF
Medical Society, Carol asked for a leave of absence from Barnes Hospital. When
her request was granted, she was told that it was the first time a leave of absence
for educational purposes was given to a woman. The training consisted of taking
courses, doing research, identifying antibodies and having an internship at
Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco. She was in SF from September 1962
until September 1963, part of which time was spent working on blood mobile units.
Toward the end of her internship, Carol lived in the Haight Ashbury area. All this
was during the Cuban Missile Crisis when she learned that one “can be in a

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situation where you have no control and the consequences are serious.” Carol felt
that she learned self-reliance there.

After SF, Carol returned to her Barnes Hospital Blood Bank position and stayed
until she became supervisor of Jewish Hospital’s Blood Bank in 1964. Two years
later, she met a widower named Ken Battle, who was an orchid grower for Nettie’s
Florist Shop as well as a member of the Orchid Society in St. Louis and a judge of
orchids in orchid shows. Carol’s mother, who grew orchids, herself, got to know Ken
from the Orchid Society. She hired him to build a greenhouse for the Graffs at their
Washington residence. In the summer of 1966, Carol’s mother introduced Ken, who
was 43 and not Jewish, to Carol, who was 28. They liked each other right away, and
it didn’t take long for them to fall in love and decide to marry. They had already
discussed all the important issues about their faith differences before Ken
proposed to her. She told him then that if she were to marry him, they would have
to have a Jewish home and that their children would have to be raised Jewish. Ken
had no problem with those terms. At the same time, Carol didn’t ask Ken to
convert. She didn’t want him to become Jewish solely because of her, insisting that
he not convert unless he genuinely wanted to do it for himself.

After meeting with Rabbi Benson Skoff about their situation and their intentions,
Carol and Ken were married on November 17, 1966, which was a pretty amazing
accomplishment because they became engaged on a Friday and married the next
Thursday! And, theirs was probably the first interfaith marriage at BSKI! Soon after
their wedding, they bought a house in Fenton on a 1½ acre lot, which seemed “way
out in the country” at that time.

In 1967, Carol stopped working at Jewish Hospital because she and Ken wanted to
start their family. Over time, they had three children: William Dan (Bill) was born in
the early part of 1968; Ruth Ellen came along a little more than a year later; and,
10½ years after that, Leah Ann completed their family.

In the early 1970’s Carol, who had two children at that time, taught Blood Banking
at Forest Park Community College for two years. Then Carol worked at St. John’s
Medical Center in the Blood Bank, second shift, from 1973-1978.

In 1976, Rabbi Skoff’s High Holiday sermon made a big impression on Carol. He
spoke of Israeli soldiers, who regretted not becoming B’nai Mitzvah at 13 and
approached their chaplain with a request for him to help them rectify that situation,
resulting in the chaplain’s preparing each one for his Bar Mitzvah. After that
sermon, several members of Brith Sholom, primarily women, went up to Rabbi

14
Skoff and made the same kind of request. Rabbi Skoff organized and offered two
classes. One was a Basic Hebrew class; the other was preparation for Bat Mitzvah.
Carol took both classes. At the age of 39, she, along with four other women - - Rita
Fineberg, Frankie Radinsky (z’’l), Linda Makler, and Phyllis Hyken - - celebrated the
B’not Mitzvah that they didn’t have as teenagers. Linda and Phyllis are still active
members of Kol Rinah. Carol is proud to say that the women davened Musaf, too -
- a first for women at Brith Sholom.

In 1978, Carol returned to Washington University in order to get a lifetime

Certificate for Teaching English, Grades 7-12. Although she did complete the course
and receive the certificate, Carol, chose to accept a job at St. Anthony’s Medical
Center in the hospital’s general laboratory in 1980, where she remained until she
retired in 2003. At times during those years, Carol served as a “liaison instructor” at
SLU’s School of Medical Technology. Carol mentioned that she taught whenever she
could because she always liked to teach as well as to learn.

That same year, she began to sing in the BSKI choir. The next year, Leah was born,
and Ken left Nettie’s and opened a floral business of his own that he called The
Flower Farm. He had a very good attitude and the business was beginning to do
well. Since Ken and Carol didn’t have medical insurance for the family at that time,
Carol went back to work to get coverage so that their daughter Ruth could get
braces. Six weeks after the insurance was in effect, Ken suffered a massive stroke,
was partially paralyzed and remained in the hospital for 30 days.

This was a very stressful time for Carol. She was working at the hospital full-time
and was responsible for the care of her home, her three children and her
incapacitated husband. In addition, her son Bill was going through a difficult time,
too. Carol felt he needed structure and a strong male presence, which she couldn’t
provide. She decided to enroll him in the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico, MO.
When he graduated from the Academy, everyone concerned agreed that his going
there had been the right decision for Bill.

According to Carol, “What got me through that difficult time was going to shul on
Shabbat. That’s where I got to know the members of the synagogue. I would say the
prayers and I truly felt at peace and loved it. The time I spent in shul was a respite. I
could put everything behind me, and I came to understand the benefit of praying in
a community.”

15
 In the early 1990’s, Carol began to chant the haftorah from time-to-time during the
Shabbat service. According to Carol, Rabbi Skoff had given her the tools, and each
time she recites the Haftorah she thinks of him.

Ken passed away January 3, 2000. Three years later, when Carol was 65, she
retired. Although her brother had been active in BSKI for years, Carol never had the
time to get involved before. One of the first things she was now able to do was to
go to evening minyanim two or three times a week. Also, over time, she has served
on the Ritual Committee and the Membership Committee, first at BSKI and now at
Kol Rinah. In addition, she has joined Irene Belsky and others cooking for Shabbat
Kiddush and other occasions and has served as Secretary of BSKI’s Women’s
League, which is now the Kol Rinah Women’s Social Group. Furthermore, Carol is
currently Secretary of the Kol Rinah Board.

By this time, Carol’s children have all grown and have homes of their own.
Therefore, Carol decided to move in 2004 from Fenton to the Creve Coeur area
near the JCCA in order to be closer to the synagogue, her friends and her activities.

Her son Bill, who is single, graduated from the Military Academy, where he won
awards in journalism and sports photography, received a Bachelor’s degree in
Communications from Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO State), and
currently lives in Washington, Missouri, where he has been sports editor of the
Washington Missourian newspaper for 17 years and was named ‘Sports Writer of
the Year’ five times.

Carol’s daughter Ruth Ellen lives in Olivette with her husband, Walt Chaboude, and
their ten year old son, Anthony, who works hard at whatever he does, is a happy
child and very sociable and really wants to become a Bar Mitzvah. He sometimes
comes to synagogue with Carol and feels comfortable there. Ruth has a B.A.
degree from SEMO State and an MBA from Fontbonne College. She recently
became the chief underwriter for the Central Bank Company. Her husband, Walt,
who had worked for many years as general manager of various restaurants, is now
doing consulting work in restaurant management.

Leah graduated from the University of Missouri - Rolla, was hired by Raytheon
(where she still works) as a metallurgical engineer, and went on to get an MBA
degree at the University of Texas in Dallas. She lives in the Dallas area with her
husband, Russell Hull, a graduate of Texas A&M, who works for a firm named SAP
System, and their baby daughter, Naomi Rifka, who was named at Kol Rinah this
year.

16
 Since retiring, Carol has a freer, more leisurely life. In addition to her work on
behalf of the synagogue, she exercises regularly, has time to read, enjoy art in its
many forms, and spend as much time as possible with Anthony because she is
virtually the only grandparent he has and he is the only grandchild Carol has in St.
Louis. They both enjoy their time together.

Thinking back over her life, Carol feels very fortunate to have had two such
wonderful parents, a good life with Ken, who, she said, “was a very, very wise
person, and (she) earned a lot from him.” She’s grateful for and proud of her
children and two grandchildren and pleased that she was able to pursue her two
lifetime interests, teaching English and working as a medical technologist. Finally,
she seems forever grateful to Rabbi Skoff for his support and help over the years.
She feels that all-in-all she’s had a good life and is “extremely happy to be in the
position” she’s in.

17
Bill Solomon and Barbara Bianco

The Story of a “Merged” Couple.

Part I

Early in the 20th century all four of Bill Solomon’s grandparents emigrated from
Eastern Europe - three from Romania and one from Russia. After arriving in the
United States, they settled in St. Louis. Bill’s father’s family was very poor and was
helped by several Jewish welfare organizations. Max, Bill’s father, dropped out of
school at age 14 to get a job in order to help with family expenses. Then when WWII
broke out, Max worked in steel mills doing defense work. Around 1945, Max
became a pressman at the St. Louis Globe Democrat. When the St. Louis Post
Dispatch was contracted to print for the Globe, Max became a pressman for the
Post Dispatch, a position he held until his retirement. Bill described his father as a
happy, outgoing person, who didn’t complain and who not only read a lot but also
wrote poetry, greatly enjoyed classical music, and was a good dancer. In addition,
he was in such good physical shape that at 92 he was able to walk 1-2 miles every
day. According to Bill, his Dad “had a positive attitude until the day he died.”

Bill’s mother, Cecile Stein Solomon, was very different from her husband. She came
from a middle class family and was a secretary before she got married. Cecile was a
”sharp,” loquacious, and sociable woman who was a good cook, really liked to shop
and to dance. Bill has one older sister, Frances Solomon Rothchild, who was always
very pretty. When their mother was asked if one of her children could babysit, she
would reply, “Do you want the pretty one (Fran) or the good one (Bill)?”

Bill lived in the city until he was 10, and then moved to U. City where he graduated
from University City High School in 1956.

While he was in high school, Bill had a strong desire to earn and save money for
college. He took any job he could during high school and college and rightfully feels
very proud that (with a government loan, which he repaid as soon as he could) he
paid for all 4 years at Washington University by himself!

Bill’s family didn’t actually belong to a synagogue when he was very young. When
his father wanted to attend services, he selected a shul, where services were
predominately in Hebrew. Bill, himself, attended Hebrew School for a while and
then his parents hired a tutor to help prepare him for his Bar Mitzvah, which took
place in the old Tferith Israel Synagogue, now Bais Abraham, in U.City. In retrospect,

18
the Bar Mitzvah was meaningless to Bill because none of the service was in English!
The Haftorah and prayers were in Hebrew and his speech was in Yiddish! Bill didn’t
understand any of it!

However, in 1961 or 1962, friends of Bill’s parents, who were enthusiastic members
of Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel (BSKI), invited Bill’s parents to come to services
there. In a short time, Max and Cecile decided to join BSKI, too. Bill’s parents went
to synagogue weekly, and after Cecile’s passing in 1990, Max attended minyan twice
daily.

After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering in 1960, Bill
applied for a job with Anheuser Busch Breweries. In the written application for
employment, Bill was asked to fill in his religious affiliation and he wrote “Jewish.”
Bill believes that his reply was the reason he didn’t get the job (then). However, he
was hired by Sigma Chemical as a Production Supervisor.

After graduating from WU, Bill joined the National Guard. While employed by Sigma
Chemical, Bill’s National Guard unit was activated because of the wall the Soviets
erected separating East from West Berlin in August 1961. Before active duty, Bill
married Karen Galperin from Huntington, WV, whom he had been dating during his
senior year at WU. Bill said she was “the only poor Jewish girl from out of state to go
to WU.”

Bill mentioned that he didn’t really care for the army much but he had some good
times while he was in the service. For one thing, he began to write skits. (Bill
believes the officers were afraid of him because if he didn’t like them, he would put
them in one of his skits.) Also, he was sent to North Carolina, where he and Karen
had a great time with similarly young married National Guard friends. In addition,
Bill “taught radio” to the first group of men going to Vietnam.

By August of 1962, Bill was a civilian again and in St. Louis, working for Sigma
Chemical Co. In addition, he enrolled in a night MBA program at St. Louis University
and graduated in 1968. (Meanwhile, Karen, who had been awarded a Washington
University scholarship and had been pursuing a degree in Education, lost her
scholarship when they got married. She therefore transferred to Harris Stowe
Teachers’ College, now Harris Stowe University, where she completed her degree.)

In 1969, Bill again applied to Anheuser Busch, and this time he was hired. Bill feels it
was because he now had a master’s degree and because new Civil Rights legislation
prohibited asking a prospective applicant his/her religion. Over the 24 years he

19
worked for Busch, Bill held many positions, “always taking jobs that nobody else
wanted” because he liked learning new things. In time, he became Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer of Anheuser Busch Recycling. He worked for Busch
from 1969 until he retired in 1993.

Bill indicated that he didn’t do much volunteer work until he retired, but at BSKI, he
has been serving as usher for High Holiday services, has been a member of the
Social Action Committee and was Treasurer of the Board.

Probably his most notable volunteer activity was through the United Way as a
“loaned executive,” where he mentored and taught classes to many Salvation Army
staff members (from 1994 to 2003). A close second to his work at Salvation Army is
the years he has spent at Kids’ Place (near the Delmar Harvard School in U.City),
which provides structured afterschool activities to neighborhood children. He was
first a volunteer, next a member of the Board and then President of the Board. Bill
was honored by and received many well-deserved awards from numerous
institutions (including Washington University’s Business School, Kids’ Place, and
Solomon Schechter Day School) for his philanthropic work, but he attributes these
honors to the sale of Anheuser Busch stock when AB was bought by InBev Brewing
Co. in 2008.

When asked what person or people influenced his life, Bill mentioned two: (a) his
deceased wife Karen, who was President of Hadassah and an active volunteer for
numerous institutions and organizations in the community; and (b) Barbara Bianco,
who, he said, is very spiritual and who had a great idea for him. When he
mentioned his Bar Mitzvah experience to her, she said, “It’s not too late” to rectify
that event. She encouraged him to do the Haftorah from his Bar Mitzvah over
again. Bill decided to take her suggestion and worked hard at the task but was very
pleased with the result. Since that time, Bill has chanted many Haftorahs at BSKI
and one at Shaare Zedek, which was in 2007 for Barbara’s special birthday!

Bill and Karen had a good life together for 43 years. They had 3 children: Wendy,
who lives in St. Louis; Amy, who lives in Chicago; and Josh, who is in Arcata, CA.
Their family has grown with the addition of 8 grandchildren and one great
grandchild. In 1999, Karen learned that she had breast cancer and sadly died in
2004.

Part II

20
Barbara Benkof Bianco’s paternal grandparents, Morris and Jenny Benkof were
Orthodox and members of Tferith Israel Synagogue when Barbara was young, while
her mother’s parents, Rebecca and Harry Katz, belonged to United Hebrew Temple.
The two couples knew each other and actually introduced Barbara’s mother, Alice
Katz , to her father, Julius Benkof.

Julius Benkof, owned a credit store at 4500 Delmar Blvd. He went to customers’
homes to cash checks and collect payments on merchandise bought on credit.
According to Barbara, “he was warm, friendly and everyone liked him.” In addition
Barbara said, “We had a special relationship.” She was his firstborn, his princess,
and the first grandchild on both sides of the family. Sadly, her father was "killed on
the job” when he was 57 and Barbara was 31.

Barbara’s mother, Alice, was the oldest child in her family. She had a strong
personality and was the leader in her group of friends. Barbara is the oldest child in
her family, too. Her 3 siblings, all married, are Richard Benkof, Nancy Benkof and
Debbie Trevisano. When Barbara was growing up, she was not close to them and
just tried to ignore them (much to her regret as an adult).

Until Barbara was 9 years old, her family lived in University City on Leland Avenue in
a 3rd floor apartment in the Loop. Barbara remembers that milk was delivered
from a horse-drawn milk truck that drove up the alley behind her building. Barbara
first went to Delmar Harvard Elementary School (K-2nd grade) where she
remembers walking to school through a now closed tunnel under Kingsland Avenue
to avoid traffic. When her family moved to Roth Avenue, she transferred to
Pershing School (for 3rd - 6th grade), and when they moved to Swarthmore Ave.,
Barbara attended Brittany Junior High and then U. City High School.

Barbara has fond memories of summertime as a child - playing ball in the parkway
across from her Leland apartment, throwing mud pies against the building,
catching fireflies and going with her family to the airport to watch planes take off
and land. (In those days, people were able to go right next to the tarmac.) Because
Barbara’s parents wanted their children to have experiences that they didn’t have,
Barbara went to summer camps - first to day camps, Ivanhoe and Pegnita, then to
over-night camps, Taum Sauk in MO and later to Belle Aire, a Jewish camp in TN. In
addition, Barbara remembers family trips to South Haven, MI. and Miami Beach, FL.

Barbara’s parents were members of Shaare Emeth in the early years, but, when
Shaare Zedek was built on Hanley Road, they (and her paternal grandparents)
joined SZ. Barbara attended SZ’s Sunday School and was confirmed in the same

21
confirmation class as Barbara (Kopperman) Becker, Sara (Raskas) Myers, and Carl
Bianco, (who would later become her husband).

Barbara really wanted to go out of town to college, but the only school acceptable
to her parents was the University of Miami because Barbara had a high school
friend who moved with her family to Coral Gables and because her great aunt lived
in nearby Hollywood, FL. However, Barbara wasn’t very happy at U of M. First, she
had little in common with her roommate and many of the other students she met.
Also, being used to living in a small community where she felt she knew everyone,
Barbara was not comfortable at the U of M.

As a result, Barbara studied hard and made all A’s so that she was able to transfer
to WU for her sophomore year. There, she joined Sigma Delta Tau Sorority and
majored in elementary education.

Carl Bianco and Barbara started dating in Barbara’s sophomore year at WU. They
got pinned and eventually were engaged. Shortly after each graduated, they were
married and moved to Indianapolis for Carl’s basic army training and then to
Seattle to fulfill his 2 year military commitment. Barbara taught elementary school
in Seattle. They loved the Pacific Northwest, but at the end of 2 years, moved back
to St. Louis to be closer to family.

Barbara has 3 sons: Aaron, born in 1966; Jeff in 1968; and David in 1970. While the
boys were growing up, she became an active volunteer in a number of Jewish
organizations, including the Jewish Federation and Shaare Zedek. In 1981, she got
divorced. At that time, none of Barbara's friends or relatives was divorced. Several
said to her: if it could happen to her and her husband, it could happen to anyone,
and they started to seriously speak to their spouses about their own marriages.

After her divorce, Barbara's volunteer work expanded. She served as chairperson
of a single parent group at the JCCA; she started and co-led the NCJW's divorce
support group; her work at the Solomon Schechter Day School resulted in her
receiving the Leo Mirowitz Distinguished Service Award; and at SZ, she served on
various committees (most notably as Chair of the Chessed Committee (funded by
the Samuel Frank Chesed Fund) and became Secretary of the Board.

In addition, Barbara has long enjoyed yoga, hiking (on the Appalachian Trail and in
Colorado) and taking classes on a variety of subjects, many to increase her
knowledge and understanding of Judaism. She’s “very grateful to Suzie Broddon
and Nancy Goldstein for asking her to join them when they decided to study for Bat

22
Mitzvah and to Rabbi Fasman for his knowledge and patience” while helping them
prepare.

Several years ago Barbara went on a yoga retreat in MA and started studying
Eastern Philosophy. When she returned, her son David asked her why she did that,
and Barbara replied, “because I’m not finding what I need in Judaism.” To which,
David said, “Then, you’re not looking hard enough.” Barbara thought about what he
had said and decided to study in Israel with Rabbi David Aaron and with a female
Kabbalist in the Old City. As a result of her studies, Barbara’s thinking and her
practices have changed dramatically, and she has become much more observant.

Four people who have greatly influenced Barbara’s life are: (a) her father, who gave
her good advice, such as “Never make any decisions at night; things look different
in the morning;” (b) Rabbi Zimand, with whom she studied Perkei Avot which she
thinks made her a better person; (c) Rabbi David Aaron; and (d) her son David, who
initiated Barbara’s personal search for something she could believe in.

Two years after her divorce, Barbara started working outside her home. Her first
job was a receptionist/assistant for an ophthalmologist. Next she became a
campaign associate for the Jewish Federation, and then, she worked for St.
Louisans for better government, a pro-Israel, non-partisan PAC.

Part III

About 7 years ago, Suzanne Broddon, who knew Bill and Karen Solomon and who is
a friend of Barbara Bianco’s, thought that Bill (who was a widower) and Barbara
“would make a good match.” Suzie asked Phyllis Hyken, who knew Bill from BSKI, to
talk to him about Barbara, which Phyllis agreed to do. Time passed and nothing
happened. It took a baby-naming ceremony at B’nai Amoona in May, 2006, to which
they both were invited, for the two of them to actually meet. At the Kiddish
afterwards, Bill said to Barbara, “You don’t know me, but I was supposed to call you
a while back...” And that was the beginning of a long mutually enjoyable
conversation. When they finally looked around, they found that they were
practically the only ones left in the room. As they walked to their cars, Bill asked,
“Do you ever date?” Barbara replied, “Yes, but not on Saturday nights because I go
to shul then.” Bill replied, “Then, I’ll go with you.”

For the past 6½ years, Barbara and Bill have not only been going to shul together
(alternating between BSKI, where Bill has been a member and SZ, where Barb
belongs) but actually spend much of their time together. Suzie and Phyllis were

23
right. They are a good match. Bill and Barbara are two active, involved and caring
people, who keep learning and growing and who do a great deal of good for other
people and for each other.

24
Beatrice Borenstein

Because Beatrice (Bea) Borenstein’s parents, Abe and Tillie Fine, were first cousins
who could not legally get married in Missouri, they went to Paducah, KY for a civil
ceremony and then came back to St. Louis, where they had a Jewish wedding. Bea
and her twin sister, Leatrice (Lea), who died this past October at the age of 82, were
born and raised in St. Louis, living with their parents and maternal grandparents at
first in a two-family flat on Goodfellow between Page and Minerva. (Note: Their
grandparents continued to live with Bea’s family until they died.) The six of them
lived upstairs, and Bea’s mother’s brother (whose name was also Abe Fine - - like
Bea’s and Lea’s father), lived downstairs with his family.

Bea stated that her parents were good people. Abe Fine was a charitable, family-
oriented man, who “believed in following the rules.” Although he worked long hours
every day except Sunday, when he went to his business only in the morning, he
always found time to help other people. But his work schedule didn’t allow him to
go to shul on a regular basis. When he wanted to observe a Yahrzeit, he would take
his siddur to work and say Kaddish there. However, when Abe retired, he went to
synagogue every day.

At first Abe had a grocery store but then he sold it and began to work in the St.
Louis Produce Market, where large and small grocery store owners bought produce
that was brought into town by truck or train. After a while, Abe and his younger
brother became partners in the wholesale produce business where Abe had been
working. Bea remembers that once her father sold so many apples from the state
of Washington that the state gave him an award.

Bea’s maternal grandmother died when the twins’ mother, Tillie, was a child. In
time, their grandfather remarried, and Tillie was thereafter raised by her father and
stepmother. When Tillie and Abe got married, Tillie was a fulltime homemaker with
a heart of gold. She opened their home to many people over the years. For
instance, she brought her sisters-in-law to the house when they were sick so that
she could take care of them. Also, when Bea’s Aunt Ida died, Tillie arranged for
Ida’s 16-year-old daughter, Barbara, to live with their family and in time gave
Barbara a big wedding – just as she did for her own twins.

Another of Tillie’s attributes was that she was a great cook and baker, who
prepared the most delicious traditional dishes for Shabbat and all the holidays. Bea
fondly remembers her mother’s pickled cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage and beets

25
and her herring salad. She will never forget the beautiful sweet table her mother
created when Bea got married.

Tillie, who became the matriarch of the entire family, kept a kosher home, and
their family always hosted Passover Seders for their extended family. After Abe
and Tillie’s family moved to their own home in University City in 1955, they not only
had seders but also had Chanukah parties and Break-the-Fast with extended family
at their home. By that time, Bea and some of her cousins were married, and the
number of people at the Passover seders had grown from about 20 to 40 people.

Bea and Leatrice attended Hempstead Elementary School on Minerva Avenue

between Goodfellow and Hamilton Streets from kindergarten through 8th
grade. While in kindergarten, Lea had surgery for a ruptured appendix, which
required a blood transfusion. She developed pleurisy and pneumonia and missed
so much school that the school recommended that she “be held back,” but Tillie
told the principal, “You cannot separate my twins.” And Lea was advanced to the
1st grade along with Bea. The girls walked to school in the morning, home for
lunch, then back to school for the afternoon session and home again at the end of
the day. Bea remembers going out to recess and playing kickball and badminton,
learning to play a musical instrument called a tonette, performing in the Christmas
performance at school and going to the corner grocery store with neighborhood
kids who wanted to buy candy, but she and Lea were not allowed to get
candy. They came home and had milk and fruit instead.

When Bea reflected about the 13 years she and Lea were in public school, the
things that came to her mind were that: (1) their mother insisted that the twins not
be separated and that they dress alike; (2) when the two were about 9 years old,
their father gave them their first job - - putting receipts in numerical order - - for
which he paid each of them $1.00 a week; (3) she and Lea walked almost
everywhere during those years, including to both their elementary and their high
school, to the YMHA where they attended summer day camp, to the library in
Wellston, and to Forest Park; (4) they did, however, take a streetcar to Forest Park
Highlands, which was an amusement park; and (5) because they were constant
companions for each other and had a very close-knit extended family, they didn’t
have many outside friends. The friends that they did have over the years were
friends of both sisters.

Bea and Lea attended the Ahad Ha’am Hebrew School, which was sponsored by
the Board of Jewish Education (later renamed Central Agency for Jewish Education
or CAJE). Bea remembers that the Hebrew School took them to the Muny Opera

26
once a year and had an annual picnic in Forest Park. The twins went to Hebrew
School for seven years, after which their graduation exercises were held at the Kiel
Opera House.

Bea has fond memories of the summers of her youth, including some of her
family’s trips. One year they went to a kosher resort in South Haven, MI, and
several times they went to Florida. In addition to traveling, her family had season
tickets to the Muny Opera, and Bea “became familiar with all the songs.”

When they completed 8th grade, the twins entered Blewett High School, which had
no football team or varsity sports and was located on Enright Avenue. Both were
above-average students and on the honor roll. Probably Bea’s favorite subject was
Math, which she took for four years. English, which she had for three years, was
also a favorite, and, because their father thought that if a person works in an office
he/she should know shorthand, both girls learned shorthand. In addition, Bea
enrolled in a course that trained playground supervisors because she wanted to
apply for a summer job that she knew was available. Bea and Lea weren’t too
involved in the social life at school. Their schoolwork took up a lot of their time,
and they essentially socialized with each other and their cousins. However, Bea
loved to play volleyball, and both girls enjoyed being members of an Israeli dance
group that met on Sundays. The group performed for Jewish organizations and at
the International Folk Festival at least once. Bea continued Israeli dancing until she
got married. Both Bea and Lea graduated from Blewett in 3 ½ years (i.e., in January)
by taking more classes each year than were required.

After their high school graduation, both sisters were hired to do clerical work for
the Pet Milk Co. in the Arcade Building across the street from Miss Hullings’
Cafeteria where they ate their lunch, consisting of cottage cheese and vegetables,
almost every day. Bea remembers that Lea was about to get a raise, but the boss
didn’t want to hurt Bea’s feelings and decided not to give Lea the raise.

Bea worked for Pet Milk for nine months until she entered Washington University
as a freshman the following September. Because Bea always liked to work with her
hands, she planned to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy (OT),
which Bea knew included “a lot of crafts” and would take five years. Lea was not
sure that OT was what she wanted to do. Therefore, she decided to take a few
business courses at WU and work part-time that year. The next year, Lea enrolled
in OT, too.

27
While the twins were at Washington University, Israel was developing into a vibrant
democratic state, and they both joined a Zionist organization called the
International Zion Federation of America (IZFA), which met in the WU Hillel House.

Bea’s training for OT consisted of two years on the main campus of Washington
University taking liberal arts courses, including physics, math and history, and two
years at the WU Medical School, Department of Occupational Therapy, where she
took craft classes, such as ceramics, enameling and weaving as well as some
science classes. (In one of those classes, she dissected a cadaver.) In addition, she
completed nine months of clinical training at four different sites: (1) Menninger’s
Psychiatric Hospital in Topeka, KS, for her psychiatric rotation (Note: Menninger’s
Clinic in Topeka closed in 2003 and moved to Houston, TX); (2) Los Angeles
Orthopedic Hospital for a rotation of OT training for pain of the knee, hip, back,
shoulder, etc. plus broken bones, arthritis, and more; (3) Los Angeles General
Hospital for her general medicine rotation; and (4) City of Hope, which then was a
TB (tuberculosis) hospital in Duarte, CA in LA County. Not until she completed all
the above training did Bea receive her B.S. in Occupational Therapy. The only thing
left for her to do was to take and pass a national exam, which she did and then she
became registered.

Upon completion of all the professional requirements, Bea went right to work in
the OT department of St. Louis State Hospital. Soon after that, in the summer of
1953, she met Fred Borenstein through a mutual friend. Fred was an estimator for
the Jefferson Printing Co. His job was to determine how to “lay out each printing
job” prior to feeding it into the printing press and to assess the cost for the job.

On their first date they went to the Pageant Theater and then to the famous WU
“hangout,” the Parkmoor, which was then located on DeBaliviere Street. That was
the beginning of their short courtship. Prior to their marriage, they had an
engagement party at the DeSoto Hotel, where a ceremony was performed by a
Kohain (generally defined as a descendant of the High Priest Aaron, the brother of
Moses), in which papers stating their intention to marry had to be signed by Bea
and Fred. The father of one of Bea’s first cousins, who was a Kohain, officiated over
the papers, and then the celebration took place. Six months after their first date,
the couple was married at the Coronado Hotel by Rabbi Jacob Reuben Mazur, who
was then rabbi of Brith Shalom.

Bea continued to work at State Hospital until she became pregnant in 1956.
Unfortunately, her baby girl, who never left the hospital, died four months after
birth. Soon after the baby’s death, Bea returned to State Hospital and worked there

28
until she became pregnant again at the end of 1957. This time she had a healthy
baby boy, whom she and Fred named Martin Dean (Marty). Three and a half years
later the couple was blessed with another child, Sharon Faye (Sharon) and their
family was completed 3½ years after that when Jonathan Saul (Jonny) was born.

The three Borenstein children went to and graduated from Epstein Hebrew
Academy. Jonathan also graduated from Block Yeshiva High School. When he
belonged to BSKI, he often read the Torah and the Megillah.

During the years that her children were growing up, Bea’s family lived on Braddock
Street in University City and belonged to BSKI. Most weeks they went to shul on
Shabbat. A couple months ago on her 83rd birthday, Bea, wearing her father’s
Tallit, read from the Torah (for the first time in her life) in memory of her sister! She
also chanted the first Torah aliyah. The next 2 aliyot were chanted by her
grandchildren, Stacy and Gabe. Bea has continued to be a paid-up member of the
synagogue’s Sisterhood but explains that the major focus of her volunteer work
over the years was the Epstein Hebrew Academy, where her children had been
students. She volunteered in many ways: helping in the classrooms as well as
serving as a Brownie leader, Library assistant, Treasurer and Co-President of the
PTA.

When asked, Bea related some examples of incidents that happened and what it
was like to be a twin: (1) They were both chubby as children and many people
couldn’t tell them apart; (2) At a young age, her sister fell and chipped her front
tooth. People started to ask the twins to open their mouths so they could tell which
sister was which; (3) While she was in high school, Bea was ill one day when she was
taking the course to be a playground supervisor, and she asked Lea to go to the
class in her place, which Lea did; (4) A different time when Bea was no longer in the
dance group but Lea was, Lea and her then fiancé, Bill Novit, wanted to go to
Charleston, SC to check on a house they planned to buy. Going to Charleston
would mean that Lea would miss a dance rehearsal. Bea thought she could take
Lea’s place in the dance group, but when she did, she went the wrong way during
one part of the routine, and the leader of the group told her “to forget about it;” (5)
The sisters double-dated on their first date. Bea remembers that the two couples
went on the Admiral Boat that night. Unfortunately, a heavy rain developed and
they had to wait on the boat until the rain stopped before they could disembark;
and (6) Of the twins, Bea feels that she was probably “the favored child” while Lea
was the more assertive one. But in some ways, Lea was more cautious. For
example, when they were in a Physical Education class in their first year at WU, Lea
would not jump into the swimming pool’s deep water until Bea had done it.

29
Today, Bea’s son Marty, who received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering at
Washington University and then an M.S. (again in Mechanical Engineering) from
Catholic University in Washington, D.C., works at the National Institutes of Health in
Washington. His wife, Karen, who earned her bachelor’s degree while living in
Washington, was hired to fill a supervisory position with the U.S. government. They
have two children: Maxwell (Max), who is a freshman at the Rochester Institute of
Technology in NY, and Stacy, who has a B.S. in Biology and is working on an M.S.
degree in Forensic Science online through the University of Florida.

Bea’s daughter, Sharon, has a bachelor’s degree in Recreational Therapy and a

Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of SC and is employed as a
librarian in a public school in Fairfax County, VA, where she lives with her husband,
Doug, who is an investigator for a title company, and their son, Tyler, who is a
college student.

Jonathan’s family is the only one that lives in St. Louis. Jonny has a Bachelor of Fine
Arts degree from WU, went on to get an M.S. degree from the University of
Southern California, and is an architect. His wife Cheryl, the younger daughter of
Rabbi Jeffrey and Professor Emeritus Arlene Stiffman, is Head of School of the Saul
Mirowitz Jewish Community School. They decided when they got married to both
assume the last name of Maayan (Hebrew for “spring of water”) because: (1) they
both wanted to have the same last name; (2) Jonathan did not want to be
chauvinistic; and (3) Jonathan learned that the name Borenstein means “dweller
from a stony spring.” He also knows a quotation from Jeremiah that says “come and
dwell by the spring and (you shall) have offspring.” Jonathan and Cheryl have two
children, Gabriel (Gabe), who goes to John Burroughs School, and Ari, who is in the
8th grade at The College School on Big Bend in Webster Groves and celebrated his
Bar Mitzvah at Shaare Emeth in April 2013.

Meanwhile, Leatrice met and then in 1956 married Bill Novit, who came from
Charleston,SC and designed kitchens for restaurants and hotels and also sold
kitchen appliances. After their wedding, the couple lived in Charleston where Lea
had a long career as an occupational therapist, working, over the years, for a few
different organizations, including the Easter Seal Society and a home health
agency. According to Bea, Lea was “very devoted to her religion and her four
children” and was active in the Jewish community of Charleston where she lived
until she died last October.

Bea, who always enjoyed reading, doing handwork - - especially embroidery, and
playing games - - at first with her children and later with her father, described

30
herself as “an adventuresome cook,” not so much making traditional dishes that
her mother made but experimenting with new ones. In her later years, Bea spent a
lot of time taking care of her mother, who developed Alzheimer’s disease, and then
her father. She and Fred had a wonderful 50th wedding celebration, but Fred died
of pancreatic cancer one year later. Bea used to go to exercise classes and interact
more with people in the retirement community where she now lives, but ever since
her sister died, she has been conscientiously attending minyan twice a day, every
day with very few exceptions.

Two recurring themes of Bea Borenstein’s life have been her attachment to her
family and her dedication to the Jewish traditions and values of her childhood.

31
Kaaran Bowden

Kaaran Bowden has been a member of BSKI since June 21, 2005. Kaaran and her
husband Joe are the parents of two adult children, Jacob and Aaron, and Sarah who
is 13. They live in Barnhart, a rural area and have multiple pets. Kaaran is active in
Women’s League and a member of the committee which is working to meld both
women’s groups and also a member of the Merger Membership Committee.
Kaaran has multiple degrees (15, two of which are Masters) , certifications and
awards, among them the Governor’s Award (Illinois). She has worked in fields as
diverse as commercial art, teaching and bringing economic development to the East
St. Louis area.

Kaaran has been one of the people mentioned in Miracles Happen by Brian Weiss
MD. This is a book by a noted psychotherapist who has found that past lives can
explain physical and other problems that his patients are experiencing. He has
dealt with this subject in Many Lives, Many Masters. His workshops are widely
attended. Kaaran’s past life experience as a child in Eastern Europe during the
Holocaust is featured. A child of intermarriage of a Jewish father and a Polish
mother she was considered Jewish in Nazi Germany. She describes her
remembered childhood as a place filled with kind people. Her death is not
emphasized as much as her sadness at not being able to fulfill her normal life span.
This is a child who wants to live and experience life. This remembered life allowed
Kaaran to choose Judaism, to make her life count and to bring economic and legal
equality and opportunity to those who did not have it (women and the poor).
Kaaran said that the question raised by the victims of the Holocaust was, “Where
was G-d?” She found her answer. “G-d was in the kindness of people, the music, and
the small deeds that people made to make the world a better place.”

Kaaran’s great store of knowledge, desire for equal opportunity for all, compassion
and readiness to work adds one more dimension to our enhanced community.

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Lauren Buchsbaum

Three of Lauren Gail Buchsbaum’s grandparents were born in the United States to
immigrants from Eastern Europe. The fourth, her mother’s father, Louis, emigrated
alone from Drohiczyn, Poland (now part of Belarus) in the 1920’s and settled in
Atlanta, Georgia. As soon as he could, Louis tried to arrange for one of his brothers
to join him in America; but sadly, his efforts did not succeed. As a result, Louis was
the only member of his nuclear family to escape the impending horrors of the
Holocaust. Although her grandfather didn’t talk much about his relatives, after he
died the family found a box of letters, photographs and documents that enabled
Lauren’s family to learn more about their European relatives, including two great
aunts, after whom Lauren and her sister were named.

Lauren’s mother, Esther, who taught school before her children were born, was a
multitalented and “beautiful woman" who enjoyed painting, drawing, ceramics and
playing the piano. Lauren enjoyed falling asleep at night while listening to her
mother practice. Esther was also, among other things, a good cook and Lauren’s
Brownie troop leader.

Lauren’s father, Aaron Levy Buchsbaum, was born in the segregated city of
Savannah, Georgia, where his family became prominent members of the Jewish
community. One of Aaron’s uncles served, as international president of the B’nai
Brith Organization and another, Matthew Levy, though from Savannah, became a
Supreme Court Justice in the State of New York. Aaron, who clerked for his uncle in
NY after graduating from law school, returned to Savannah and eventually became
the “main civil rights attorney” there. He was directly involved in integrating the
courts. He helped desegregate the Bar Association and get the first black judge
appointed. He also did pro bono work on civil rights cases and worked on behalf of
educating under-privileged children. To honor him the building housing the Head
Start Program was named for him. In addition, he was appointed by Governor
Jimmy Carter in 1974 to the Governor’s Commission on Criminal Justice, Standards
and Goals. Her father and his family did so much to help African-American and
poor people in Savannah that Lauren and her siblings were often recognized and
stopped by people wanting to thank them.

Lauren, who was born in 1961 and raised in Savannah, was the second of Aaron
and Esther Buchsbaum’s four children. Her brother, Herbert was born first in 1959,
Lauren came next in 1961, Susan followed two years later and Elizabeth completed
the family in 1966. Lauren went to Juliette Gordon Low Elementary School.In third

33
grade, she had the opportunity to learn to play the violin and was named
concertmaster in the citywide Junior Orchestra. She later played in the Savannah
Youth Orchestra as well as in the Georgia Junior and Senior High School All-State
Orchestras. In addition to music, Lauren was very athletic and especially enjoyed
playing basketball and tennis.

Lauren explained that when she was young, Savannah had a Reform, a
Conservative and an Orthodox Synagogue and a community Hebrew school where,
in the third grade, she began formal religious training. Lauren learned how to
daven primarily in Hebrew school but also by attending services in the Conservative
synagogue to which her family belonged. The Buchsbaum family regularly ate their
Shabbat dinner together, beginning with lighting candles, saying kiddish, and
making a motzi over her mother’s homemade challah. When Lauren became a Bat
Mitzvah in 1974, she led the Friday night services in their synagogue in addition to
actively participating in the Saturday morning service, which included chanting her
Haftarah and reciting the appropriate prayers.

According to Lauren, “the public education system in Savannah was not great,” but
it was important to her father that his children go to public school. However, in the
third grade when the schools became integrated, Lauren and her brother became
“victims of race and class-motivated violence in school.” As a result, all four children
were transferred from public school to the Savannah Country Day School. However,
Country Day wasn’t a perfect solution either. Lauren found the school to be cliquish
and in some ways more problematic. For instance, one of the teachers made racist
comments. Nevertheless, Lauren endured, thanks in large part to the friendship of
her sister Susan, who was a student in the same school.

Lauren was a good student and especially adept at learning languages. While at
Country Day, she studied French and Spanish and took some private lessons in
Hebrew to prepare her for a youth group trip to Israel. When Lauren graduated
from high school in June 1979, she received the Foreign Language Award.

The following fall, she was a freshman at Brandeis University In Waltham, MA,
where she majored in American Studies. When she was a freshman Lauren joined a
soccer club.The following year when the club evolved into the school’s first women’s
soccer team, Lauren became a founding member and played until her graduation.
While at Brandeis, Lauren “further developed her abilities to think and write.” It was
at Brandeis, too, where Lauren started to study the Holocaust. After one course,
she“was hooked.” On her own, she became a very serious Holocaust student and
read voraciously about the subject.

34
When Lauren graduated from Brandeis in 1983 with a B.A. in American Studies, she
came to St. Louis with a friend from college without any clear idea of what she
would do here. During the next 10 years or so, she held many different positions,
including working at restaurants, the Coalition for the Environment, Vintage
Vinyland KDHX radio. She also volunteered as a childcare provider in two battered
women shelters - - one in the city and the other in St. Louis County.

By the time Lauren was 30, she had developed a better understanding of herself
and what she wanted to do. She began to reconnect with Judaism, her interest in
the Holocaust and with playing violin.

In 1995, Lauren started working at the JCC’s Early Childhood Center, where she
remained for 4 years. In addition, from 1995 to 2004, Lauren was a docent at the St.
Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, where she led tours for groups,
ages 8 and older. In the late nineties, she also developed - - for the Springboard to
Learning Program - - a Holocaust middle school curriculum that she taught at 3 city
magnet schools: McKinley Classical Academy, Bunche International Studies School
and Gateway Tech Math and Science Middle School.

In 2001, Lauren received a second bachelor’s degree. This one was a B.S.-Ed in Early
Childhood Education, summa cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Since then, Lauren has held a number of overlapping teaching positions: (1) From
2002 – 2010, she was a substitute teacher at both B’nai Amoona’s and BSKI’s
Religious Schools; (2) In 2002 she was hired to teach one- and two- year-olds at
B’nai Amoona’s Early Childhood Center and continues to teach there today; (3)
From 2003 - 2010, she taught beginning strings to elementary school students in
the University City schools through the Sunrise Conservatory (which no longer
exists); and (4) For the school year 2009-2010,Lauren was the fifth grade teacher at
B’nai Amoona’s Religious School.

For several years, Lauren held dual membership in B’nai Amoona and BSKI but in
time chose to maintain just her BSKI affiliation. That is where she developed an
important relationship with Rabbi Miller, whom she considers ”a great teacher,
mentor and friend.”

Lauren, who is adept at reading Torah and Haftarah, has served as a lay leader at
BSKI while there was no Hazzan. She also enjoyed singing in the synagogue’s choir
in the past. Now, she is learning to enjoy her involvement with Kol Rinah and
appreciates the guidance she gets from Rabbi Fasman. Lauren has one relative in
St. Louis, a cousin, Esther Greenstein, who is the widow of Stanley Lyss and the wife

35
of Harvey Greenstein, and she has made some good friends since moving here in
1983. Lauren continues to have a very close, but long distance, relationship with her
sisters and her brother Herbert, who is an editor for the New York Times.

Lauren has been a violinist in the University City Symphony Orchestra since 1994.
She also played in a string quartet for many years. In the late nineties, she joined a
Klezmer big band called “Klezundheit!”. Lauren has performed with Klezundheit!
when it participated in Simchat Torah services at BSKI and for many years at Central
Reform Congregation. In the past, the band was also featured a few times on“From
the Garden Live,” which was a joint effort of the Missouri Botanical Garden and
Classic 99 radio. Lauren feels that playing in the Klezmer band is the most fun thing
that she does. She feels that since she has reconnected to her music, she has
gained “versatility and experience that have made her a better player.”

But, perhaps Lauren’s greatest joy in life now is teaching the one- and two–year-old
children at B’nai Amoona. She has excellent training and takes pre-school education
very seriously, believing that guiding children’s transition from a dependent infant
to an increasingly more independent 2 year old is of utmost importance. Lauren
develops a certain rapport with the children and feels that she is really making a
difference. All in all, Lauren is more proud and satisfied with her life now than she
has ever been.

36
David and Susan Cort

David Cort’s maternal grandparents, Jenny and Dave, met and married in
Pittsburgh, and that’s where David’s mother, Sylvia, was born. She was the oldest
of their three daughters. Zadie Dave owned and operated a grocery store, and
Grandma Jenny worked in the store, too, sometimes selling her homemade kishka
and other delicacies. Zadie Dave died before David was born (and David was
named after him). In fact, of his four grandparents, his Grandma Jenny was the only
one he knew. The other three died before his birth. And, sadly Grandma Jenny,
herself, died when David was just nine years old. But, he remembers a number of
things about her. She spoke Yiddish, Polish and Russian well but her English was
marginal - - just enough to get by, and she worried a lot, but she loved President
Kennedy and she made wonderful chicken soup.

David’s paternal grandparents, Harry and Bracha Cort, lived in a shtetl in a part of
Eastern Europe that is now the Ukraine before immigrating to the United States.
Harry, who was a tailor, came first (temporarily leaving behind his pregnant wife)
and literally worked his way across Europe to Liverpool, England, where he boarded
a ship to the city of St. John’s in Canada and then to New York City, where he had
relatives. After working as a tailor in NY and saving his money, Harry was able to
send for Bracha and their one-year-old son (David’s Uncle Mack).

Harry Cort not only made a good living as a tailor, but he also owned some real
estate. Years later, when he died, Bracha became the matriarch of the family and
ran the “family circle,” which “accumulated assets to bring other relatives over from
the old country.”

David’s father, Irving, who was the youngest of Harry and Bracha’s five children,
was raised in a middle class neighborhood in Brooklyn. Irving attended and
graduated from Brooklyn College with a B.S. in Chemistry. After meeting and
marrying Sylvia, who was working for the government as a secretary, Irving enlisted
in the army and was sent to Hope, AR, where he became an ordinance officer
whose job involved testing the bombs that were made at the Southwestern Proving
Ground.

When his military service ended, Irving moved to Washington, D.C., to become a
civil employee of the Department of the Army, where he worked his whole career in
chemical and biological weapons warfare defense. An example of his work was
helping to design biological insulation garments and gas masks that are still used
today. In addition, Irving was a NATO representative for the United States.

37
 Sylvia and Irving had three sons. David was born second. He is five years younger
than his older brother Bruce and one year older than his brother Richard. Today,
both brothers are married, have two grown children and still live in the D.C.
area. Bruce is in the commercial jet brokerage business, and Richard has an
advertising specialties business.

When asked about his parents, David replied, “They were great . . . super people!
And family was the most important thing to them.” His father liked to give
nicknames to people and things and was a good person and a good role model for
David. His mother, according to David, must have “wanted to be an entertainer”
because, at their shul, she participated in a singing group called The Shpielers, and,
in the condo circuit in FL, she at various times played the part of Yiddish characters
- - one called Bubba Sippa and another called Baby Snooks. She also opened a
nightclub, which lasted just one night because when Irving found that instead of
making money, they lost $500, he vetoed the idea. David added that his mother
“was the friendliest person you could ever meet.” For instance, she would sit on a
bench and talk to a stranger, and, by the end of their conversation, she would invite
her new friend to come to their home.

David’s family lived in Washington until January 1961 when they moved to Silver
Spring, MD. David thought it was fun growing up in the D.C. area where the schools
were good and there were lots of Jewish kids as well as youngsters from other
countries whose parents worked in the various embassies. In addition, he really
liked the parades and vividly remembers one for the astronauts as well as the
funeral procession when President Kennedy died, adding that he went to shul that
night and prayed for JFK and the nation.

When David was 9 or 10, his mother hired a nanny and went back to work as a
secretary. She worked at Walter Reed Hospital’s Armed Services Institute of
Pathology for the next fifteen years.

Sometime after their move to Silver Spring, David’s father became one of the
founders of a Conservative synagogue, which turned out to be the center for their
social life. David attended both Hebrew School and Sunday School there. The
celebrations for his and his brothers’ b’nai mitzvah were most unusual. Each boy
had three parties because his parents had lots of friends and loved to entertain.
“One was for out- of- towners; another for local folks; and the third for kids.”

Although David lived in Washington until he was 7 or 8, he attended the public

schools in nearby Silver Spring. He was a good student throughout those years and

38
enjoyed elementary and high school quite a bit but thought the adolescent years of
junior high school were tough. Two teachers stand out in his mind. One was his
first grade teacher, whom he thought was the “best teacher he ever had.” (She
actually became a friend of his mother’s and was invited to his Bar Mitzvah seven
years later.) The other one was his high school Modern European History teacher,
whom he found inspiring.

The summers while David was in elementary school, he spent most days at the
neighborhood swimming pool, and every year his family went to Florida for
vacation – except in 1961 when his father took one month off and the family drove
from D.C. to California, stopping at various places along the way, including:
Pittsburgh; a dude ranch in TN that was owned by Jewish people, (who became
friends of theirs and were invited to David’s brother Bruce’s Bar Mitzvah); St. Louis
to meet the parents of D.C. friends of theirs; Grand Canyon; and Disney Land. It
was quite a memorable trip!

David stated that he always knew he wanted to go to Medical School and therefore,
in high school, where he had lots of good friends, he took many math and science
classes as well as a journalism class which led to his working as sports editor on the
school newspaper in his junior and senior years.

After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Florida in

Gainesville, from which he graduated with a B.S. degree in Chemistry. It was while
he was a student there that he met Sue - - the person who would later become his
wife - - for the first time. She had come to Gainesville to visit friends who were pre-
med students. David and Sue were both dating other people at that time, but they
were in the same social circle and had many friends in common.

David and Sue lost touch with each other after their first meeting but
reconnected when David was a medical student at the University of Miami Medical
School and Sue, who lived in Miami, was employed as a nurse. It turned out that
David’s roommate was a friend of Sue’s from high school. Once they realized the
connection, they started dating, fell in love and got married about a year later.

Sue’s heritage was entirely different from David’s. Her ancestors, who came from
England and Scotland, had been in the United States so long that no one in the
family knew exactly when they had come, and there were no written records. All
four of her grandparents lived on the Ohio River, either in Southern Indiana or
Northern Kentucky, and were blue-collar workers. Sue thinks her grandmothers
graduated from high school but she is not sure about her grandfathers.

39
 Her father’s parents were Robert and Eva Lee. Robert, toward the end of his life,
worked on a barge for the government. One day when the river was iced-over, he
fell overboard. His body was found four months later. Once she became a widow,
Eva Lee remained in KY the rest of her life. Therefore, Sue never had much contact
with her.

However, her mother’s parents, whose names were Lena Mae and James, were
very much a part of Sue’s life. Sue called Lena Mae “Mudder” and James
“Papa”. Mudder’s father was a coal miner while Sue’s other great-grandparents
were primarily farmers. Mudder was the product of a strict Baptist Calvinistic
background where dancing and alcohol were forbidden and a rigid code of
behavior was enforced. However, in her way, Mudder was good to Sue. She helped
raise Sue and her sisters and, with Papa, took them on trips. Papa, according to
Sue, “was a sweet bear of a man - - a pleasant, positive person.”

Sue was born in a small town in KY, but when she was two months old, her family
moved to Miami in Dade County, FL. They stayed in Dade Co. until Sue was about
ten years old and then moved to Broward Co., where she lived until she finished
nursing school. Sue attended a couple different elementary schools before
entering junior high school. She also went to two high schools.

Sue really liked her elementary school days. Because the weather was always
warm, she spent a lot of time outdoors. Whenever she could, she played
paddleball or tennis and otherwise could be found on the school’s playground after
school or at the beach on weekends. At the same time, Sue remembers the
hurricanes when there was no electricity and the schools were closed for several
days from the time a storm was predicted until after the cleanup that followed the
destruction of the storm.

When Sue was in junior high school, there was rapid development in her
community - - a big building boom; homes and apartments popped up everywhere,
and her school was so overcrowded that it was put on split sessions and, for a time,
Sue went to school from 7 a.m. to noon!

Her family belonged to a Methodist Church, and Sue joined the youth group, sang
in the choir, and went to Sunday school and church every Sunday
morning. Interestingly, the community in which she lived was religiously diverse,
and Sue not only had many Jewish friends but primarily dated Jewish boys!

40
 Upon graduating from high school, Sue enrolled in a three-year nursing school in
Miami. Right after receiving her diploma, she was hired by a local hospital, where
she first worked in a medical/surgical service and then for the remainder of her
tenure at the hospital was an ER nurse, a position that she found exciting. However,
she did not like the hours. One year she worked the night shift (from 11 p.m. to 7
a.m.). At other times, she rotated through the three shifts.

It was while she was working at the hospital that Sue and David began
dating. When their relationship became serious, Sue arranged with a rabbi from a
Reform congregation in Miami to prepare her to convert to Judaism. David went
with Sue to all her conversion lessons, and they had a Jewish wedding.

Five months later, David graduated from medical school, Sue resigned from her
job, and they moved to St. Louis where David did a three-year residency in Internal
Medicine at Barnes Hospital. The next three years he had a fellowship in Allergy,
Immunology and Gastroenterology, following which he was on the faculty of
Washington University Medical School for about five years. For the next 21 years,
David had a private practice in Gastroenterology with an office in west St. Louis
County. He and his partners there sold their group practice to the Mercy Hospital
Clinic system, and David became the Director for the Adult Medical Specialties
Clinic, a position that he continues to hold today. (Meanwhile, for four years, from
the time they moved to St. Louis until Rachel was born, Sue worked for the Red
Cross on their Blood Mobile.)

When David and Sue moved to St. Louis in 1980, they didn’t know anyone here and
had no guidance regarding where they should live. For the first four or five years,
they rented an apartment in an unincorporated area of southwest St. Louis County
(which seemed to have very few, if any, Jews) and then bought a house in the same
area. In 1981, their first child, Matthew was born, followed in 1984 by Rachel and
then Sarah in 1989. Over the years, David and Sue became friends first with David’s
fellow residents at Barnes and then with people in the wider community, many of
whom were Jewish. At the end of 1986 or beginning of 1987, they bought a house
in the Frontenac area, which was part of the Ladue School System. Not long after
that, they moved to a bigger house in Town and Country, which is in the Parkway
School District and where they still live today. They also joined United Hebrew
Congregation when their son Matthew was ready for kindergarten. It turned out
that Matthew went to a private kindergarten but attended UH’s Sunday School.

After a couple years, Sue and David decided to change congregations when they
learned that friends of theirs were members of BSKI, which was Conservative and

41
therefore David’s preference as he had grown up in a Conservative synagogue. The
family has been members of BSKI, now Kol Rinah, for 23 years.

All 3 three of their children went to BSKI’s Sunday School. Matthew went to Hebrew
School at CAJE and Rachel began there, too, but completed her studies with a
private tutor. Sarah went just to the private tutor. The family began to attend
Saturday morning services on a regular basis a year before Matthew’s Bar
Mitzvah. That year, David made it a point to take Matthew to his Bar Mitzvah
lessons with the cantor.

Sue’s active participation in BSKI began when Margaret Israel, then-President of the
congregation, asked her to co-chair with Judy Goldford a fundraiser in honor of
Rabbi Miller’s tenth anniversary. Sue, agreed to be co-chair. Not long after the
event, Sue was elected to the Board, served on committees and held various
offices. When the possibility of a merger of BSKI with Shaare Zedek arose for the
first time, Rick Kodner was President of the Congregation and Sue was Vice-
President (as well as a member of the merger steering committee). At that time,
the merger was defeated. The next year when the issue resurfaced, Rick‘s term was
ending, and Sue, who, by nature prefers not to be the center of attention, (took a
big step and) became the President of BSKI (now Kol Rinah).

In their spare time, David and Sue love to travel. David especially enjoys hiking,
skiing, and scuba diving. Sue doesn’t scuba dive, but she likes to hike and
ski. (Dave feels that Sue is a better skier than he is.) Many of their trips are either
with good friends or with their children, who share their interest in skiing, diving
and hiking.

Their children are now grown. Matthew is 32, has an MBA from the Kellogg
Business School, is employed by Emerson Electric as a corporate planner, and is
married to the former Catherine Mullin, who was raised in University City. Rachel
is 29, lives in Chicago, has a B.A. in Middle Eastern History from Northwestern
University, is currently working on a Master’s degree in Jewish Professional Studies
at the Spertus Institute, and is the Director of Engagement with the Institute for the
Next Jewish Future. Sarah, age 24, who also resides in Chicago, graduated from
Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and is
Director of Religious Education at Temple KAM Isaiah Israel.

Like David’s parents, David and Sue’s children are the most important thing to
them. David stated that he is very proud of how his children have turned out. “All

42
of them have solid values and are educated, have good jobs and are productive,
contributing members of society!”

The Corts are a most interesting couple. David was raised in a loving, happy and
fun Jewish home and has achieved his goals in life. Sue was brought up in a strict
Christian environment but enjoyed and sought the company of her many Jewish
friends. The Corts have built a good life together based on love, respect and shared
values, which they have passed on to their children.

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Rabbi Mark and Mrs. Alice Fasman

Mark Fasman and Alice Rife Fasman could never have imagined what life had in
store for them!

Mark Fasman’s paternal grandparents, Louis and Florence Fasman, were both born
in Eastern Europe, immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago. They
had 4 children, and Mark’s father, Jack, was their youngest child. Unfortunately,
Mark’s grandmother died due to complications of childbirth when Mark’s father
Jack was just 4 months old, leaving Grandpa Louis a widower, who was now totally
responsible for the care of an infant and 3 older children, a situation which was
understandably very difficult. Over the years, Louis held a number of jobs, one of
which was driving a laundry truck. At first, he struggled on his own. Next various
family members opened their homes to the children, and then Louis made the
difficult decision to place his older son Paul in an orphanage and Jack and his
sisters in foster care.

(Years later when Mark’s father was a history teacher, someone asked him: “If you
had the opportunity today to meet someone whom you know about from history,
who would that person be?” Jack’s answer was “my mother.”)

Over time, Jack actually lived with a few different foster parents, including his older
sister Edith and her husband, Bob Jacobs. Also, Jack stayed with his father one year
but never really established a close relationship with his father or his siblings.

However, Mark developed “a special connection” to his father’s sister Dorothy, who
led an interesting life. She served in the Army Air Corps during WWII, was Head of
Accounting for the first casino in Las Vegas, and later became the Head of Internal
Accounting for the well-known William Morris (Talent) Agency in Los Angeles where
she, among other things, issued paychecks to well-known entertainers.

On the other hand, Mark’s mother came from a close-knit Jewishly observant
family.

Her parents, David and Sylvia, who were Papa and Bubbe to Mark, were born in the
Ukraine area of Russia and also came to America when they were young and
became residents of Chicago. After being in America for many years, his
grandmother became fluent in English and stopped speaking Russian. Mark
remembers that she was a really good cook and that she had clear memories of
being chased by a Cossack with an ax and being rescued by someone who wasn’t

44
Jewish. Papa was a dentist in Chicago, and Mark has fond memories of going with
Papa not only to his dental office from time-to-time, but also to the kosher butcher.
Papa died shortly after Mark’s Bar Mitzvah, after having surgery for prostate cancer
and developing an embolism. However, Bubbe lived to be 85.

Mark described his mother’s younger sister, Betty, her husband, Jacob (Jack) Levin
and their 4 children as an observant Conservative family, who became a very
important part of Mark’s life. Mark stated, “Uncle Jack, who had a great Judaic
background and frequently discussed the weekly Torah portion, had a powerful
influence on me.” Even though Mark’s extended family lived in different parts of
the country, Mark, his siblings, and cousins have maintained “a special bond” over
the years.

Both of Mark’s parents, Jack and La Verne (“Bebe” to her immediate family) Fasman,
were born and raised in Chicago. They met at the University of Illinois at a Hillel
dinner on campus. Some years after they graduated, they experienced two years
apart, during which La Verne earned a Master’s degree in Education from Columbia
University in NYC and taught for a year in San Francisco. Upon her return to
Chicago, she and Jack happened to be taking an evening course at Northwestern.
After one of those classes, they went to a coffee shop on Michigan Avenue. Without
planning to do so, Jack said to her, “I don’t want to get married, but I can’t imagine
living the rest of my life without you, so let’s get married.” They were married on
March 26, 1950, at the Shoreland Hotel on the south side of Chicago. Jack couldn’t
find a full-time teaching job, so the following summer they moved to California,
where they both found teaching positions.

Both of Mark’s parents became outstanding teachers. Jack was an exceptional high
school history and social studies teacher, who taught with great passion. According
to Mark, the two most important things in his father’s life were “his teaching and his
books.” To LaVerne, family was most important. She always kept a kosher home
and was a full-time homemaker until her youngest child, Mark’s brother Louis,
began elementary school. At that point, she returned to teaching children with
disabilities and then went on to become an administrator and to help write
legislation regarding the education of children with disabilities.

Mark, who was born in Oakland, CA and who grew up in a Conservative Jewish
home in Redwood City in the San Francisco Bay area, was the oldest of Jack and La
Verne’s 3 children. His sister, Ellen is 2 years younger and Louis was born 3 years
after that. Both of Mark’s siblings have remained in California. Today, Ellen, a
mother of three, is a full-time high school science teacher and also teaches religious

45
school. Louis, who has two daughters and is a real estate agent, as a child wanted
to learn to play the trumpet; Mark gave him a few initial lessons, after which Louis
studied with other teachers. Mark added that Louis is “unbelievably gifted and one
of the top jazz trumpet players in the country.”

Mark further explained, “I did classical; he did jazz. I did teaching; he did
performing.” Louis has performed around the world. This year, a band he plays in,
the Pacific Mambo Orchestra, won a Grammy. In the past few months, Louis has
passed the CA real estate licensing exam and has begun to supplement his income
working in real estate. Both Mark and Louis exemplify their father’s philosophy: “It’s
important to be passionate about what you are doing.”

Mark attended Roy Cloud Elementary School in Redwood City. In the summer
between 4th and 5th grade, Mark’s mother asked him what musical instrument he
would like to learn to play. He said “the trumpet,” but he actually started private
lessons that summer by studying cornet first and then switching to trumpet. It
turns out that Mark had a “good ear for music” and learned quickly. (For example,
while watching JFK’s funeral on television the previous November, Mark was able to
correctly identify the note that the trumpet player missed while playing “Taps.”)

After grade school, Mark entered Kennedy Junior High School, which was also in
Redwood City. In the summer of 1967, Mark celebrated his Bar Mitzvah but
remained in Hebrew School through his 8th grade graduation, and then went to
Hebrew High School for a few years.

In his freshman year at San Carlos High School in neighboring San Carlos, CA,
Mark, who had two other private trumpet teachers through high school, became a
member of the California Youth Symphony Orchestra, which drew students from
San Francisco to San Jose and which was led by the very strict and exacting
conductor, Aaron Sten, who had very high standards for the orchestra and “who
had a profound influence” on Mark. That same year, Mark started teaching
trumpet! Interestingly, his first student was a rabbi’s son, and his second student
became a rabbi who still plays the trumpet today!

In his sophomore year, Mark, as a member of the CA Youth Symphony, participated

in benefit concerts to raise money for a lengthy orchestral trip to Australia the
following summer. One of those concerts featured Jack Benny, and another
featured Duke Ellington. By this time, Mark had become the”principal trumpet” of
the orchestra. Fortunately, the students reached their financial goal, and in the
summer of 1969, Mark went on tour in Australia for six weeks with the California

46
Youth Symphony. He remembers arriving in Melbourne on July 4, 1969, which was
during the Vietnam War, and he found himself right in the middle of an anti-war
rally! Nevertheless, the orchestra was able to perform in all the scheduled venues,
and the trip was a big success and an unforgettable experience for Mark.

In the summer after Mark graduated from high school, the CA Youth Symphony
was one of six youth orchestras from around the world that was selected to
participate in the International Festival of Youth Orchestras that was held in
Lausanne, Switzerland. Different orchestras performed over the course of two
weeks. In addition, as part of the festival, all of the students were eligible to be part
of a special Festival Youth Orchestra based on their audition performance. Mark
auditioned and was selected to be principal trumpet for the newly created
orchestra, which then performed concerts in Lausanne and Zurich and which
made a recording of Dvorak’s 8th Symphony under the baton of Walter Susskind,
who at that time was conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. After the
conclusion of the Festival, the California Youth Symphony then performed
several concerts in Czechoslovakia at various locations.

After an extraordinary summer in Europe, Mark became a freshman at Cornell

University in Ithaca, NY. In his sophomore year, Mark declared a major in music. He
studied trumpet with Maurice Stith and then with Professor Herbert Mueller at
Ithaca College, which had originally been founded as a music conservatory and
which established an exchange program (a reciprocal arrangement) with Cornell.

After Mark graduated from Cornell with a BA in Music, he went to one of the best
music schools in the country at Indiana University, where he earned a Master of
Music Degree in Trumpet in 1976. During the semester between completing his
Master’s Degree and beginning his doctoral coursework, Mark performed with a
Swiss-based touring theater company that was producing the American opera,
Porgy and Bess, which opened at the Frankfurt Opera House and then toured other
cities in Germany, Holland, and Austria for the next three months.

When Mark returned to the United States, he “picked up where he left off” in his
graduate training as a doctoral student at Indiana University. This time, however,
he was a full-time student with a teaching assistantship to work in the Music
Library, which was a much bigger job than one might imagine. It was there, in the
Music Library, that Mark met Alice Rife, who was his supervisor.

Alice’s background and life experiences were very different than Mark’s were. She
was born and raised in a small village called Paulding in the northwestern part of

47
Ohio. Paulding is a farming community that had no Jews then and still has
none. Her father, Albert Rife, who joined the army during WWII before he
graduated from high school, was a barber, and her mother, Genevieve, was a
homemaker until Alice went to high school. At that point, Genevieve became a
librarian.

Alice is the oldest of Albert and Genevieve’s 4 children. Roger, who is 2 years
younger than Alice, is married and has 3 children and 3 grandchildren. He and his
family live in Toledo where he has established a business managing
properties. Their brother, Jeff, who is 5 years younger than Roger, is a bookkeeper
in Fort Wayne, IN, and has one daughter. The youngest child, Barbara, who was
born 5 years after Jeff (and 13 years after Alice), has a bachelor’s degree in geology
and a master’s in environmental studies. She still lives with her husband in
Paulding and works as a private contractor for a General Motors factory.

Growing up, Alice had a strong relationship with both her parents and siblings. She
was closer to her mother’s extended family than her father’s, partially because her
maternal grandmother lived with her family for an extended period when Alice was
in high school. Today, Alice and her three siblings still have strong ties to one
another, and Alice visits each of them at least twice a year.

Alice’s mother and father were both Roman Catholic, and Alice was raised
accordingly. She went to mass every Sunday and attended catechism classes until
she was confirmed. Also, Alice played the organ and sang in church. In fact, in her
senior year of high school, Alice played the organ for mass at church every morning
before going to school and was paid a dollar a day by the priest.

Alice attended Paulding’s public schools from Kindergarten through high

school. She always liked school, was not only a good student in all subjects but
somehow excelled in music. (To this day Alice can’t understand why. No one else in
her family had any special musical talent; but, beginning in the second grade, Alice
took piano lessons, and two years later she added trumpet lessons to her
schedule. Alice played trumpet in her elementary school’s band and sang in the
choir. In middle school, she not only became “first chair trumpet player” but kept
that position all through high school where she also served as the high school choir
accompanist. Alice, who feels as if she “played trumpet and piano and sang all the
time,” admitted that she didn’t practice much but became very good at sight-
reading.

48
In the summertime, Alice’s family didn’t travel much because when her father
wasn’t working, there was no income. However, one year they did go to a lake for
a week; another year they went to FL to visit her paternal grandparents; and in
1967, her family attended the World’s Fair in Montreal, Canada, which was officially
called the International and Universal Exposition or simply Expo 67. One thing that
Alice really loved to do in the summer was to read. She remembers “checking out
lots of books from the library and reading with her friend under willow trees in her
friend’s back yard.

In elementary school, Alice was a member of Girl Scouts and 4-H Clubs. But, clearly
her main interests and activities at Paulding High School were centered around
music and band. Drama classes were not offered, and Alice was not interested in
playing organized sports. She chose to take classes in band and chorus as well as
courses in English, History, Science, Latin, Math, etc.

Alice developed a close relationship with her high school band director and music
teacher, Mr. Burnett, who had attended Indiana University (I.U.). Through him, Alice
learned about a one-week summer music clinic at I.U., which sounded great to her.
She auditioned for her “chair” (placement) as a trumpet player in the clinic’s musical
ensembles and was selected. It was that summer at Indiana University where Alice
experienced playing in an orchestra for the very first time! Alice liked the clinic so
much that she managed to go to the music clinic several more times. (Interestingly,
during one of the summer clinics, Alice studied with the same well-known trumpet
teacher, Herbert Mueller, who taught Mark in Ithaca several years later!) The music
clinic was truly a memorable and valuable experience for her!

Alice made friends easily and had a busy social life in high school. In her senior
year, she not only started to apply to colleges but she attended an opera for the
first time in her life. A friend of hers had invited Alice to go to Bowling Green State
University (in Bowling Green, Ohio) to see and hear an opera, in which the friend’s
sister was performing. The opera was Die Fledermaus (The Bat) composed by
Johann Strauss. Alice went and loved the experience!

After graduating from Paulding High School, Alice became the first member of her
family to attend college! She chose to go to Indiana University (I.U.) in Bloomington,
IN because it had one of the top music schools in the nation; her music teacher had
gone there; and, she had had firsthand experience there, herself, at the summer
music clinic. In addition, operas were performed there every Saturday night, and
the opera theater at Indiana University had the second largest stage (next to New

49
York’s Metropolitan Opera) in the United States. While she was a student there,
Alice frequently went to the operas on Saturday nights.

One of Alice’s teachers at I.U. was an outstanding and impressive woman conductor
by the name of Dr. Fiora Contino. After studying with Dr. Contino, Alice realized
that she, too, wanted to be a choral conductor. Therefore, when she received her
Bachelor’s degree in Music Education, Alice continued her studies at Indiana
University for 2 more years and received a Master of Music degree in Choral
Conducting.

After graduating, Alice stayed in the Bloomington area, where she held a number of
jobs and sang with the Bloomington Chamber Singers. But, the most interesting
and rewarding position was Supervisor of the Performing Ensembles Division of the
Music Library at Indiana University, where she oversaw a staff of graduate students
who “prepared all the music” that was used by all the orchestral and choir
ensembles. In other words, her division prepared the individual parts for all the
players - - even marking all the bowings for the string instruments of the
university’s several orchestras.

Mark, who was, by this time, a graduate student at Indiana University, worked in
the library and was supervised by Alice. As they worked together, they became very
good friends. The library was a particularly good working environment, and the
staff had a good time together. Over a period of time, Mark and Alice got to be
more than friends. To quote Mark, “It was wonderful for me to fall in love with my
best friend.”

Alice worked as supervisor of the music library until the summer of 1979 when she
auditioned for and was chosen to be a member of the Aspen Chamber Singers,
which was a choir of the Aspen Music Festival. The Chamber Singers performed
concerts one or two times a week and rehearsed every day. Alice stayed in Aspen
for 6 weeks, singing and hiking during the daytime. At night when there was no
performance, she and the other performers “sat in a jacuzzi and watched the
stars.” It was a wonderful summer!

Meanwhile Mark completed his doctoral coursework, but he wasn’t sure what he
was going to do after he got his doctorate degree because there weren’t many
music teacher positions available at that time. He began to think of other options
and impulsively took the LSAT examination and scored pretty well. As a result,
Mark applied to the Indiana University Law School.

50
At the very same time, Mark’s trumpet teacher told him about an opening for a
trumpet instructor in the Music Department of Moorhead State University in MN,
and Mark sent an application and an audition tape to Moorhead.

As luck would have it, Mark was accepted by both the IU Law School and
Moorhead’s Music Department the same week. He chose to go to Moorhead and
began teaching in the Spring quarter, during which he applied and was selected to
fill the full-time position. He and Alice moved to Moorhead in time for the Fall
term. Mark taught at Moorhead from 1979 until 1995, going from instructor to full
professor with tenure. Fortunately, Alice was able to get two part-time jobs. One
was with the Fargo–Moorhead Symphony Orchestra; the other was with the Fargo-
Moorhead Civic Opera Company.

In November 1980, Mark and Alice were married in Fargo, ND’s Temple Beth El,
which was a small Reform congregation of about 120 families. The next month,
Alice began teaching at Moorhead State University, herself. She was hired as a
replacement voice teacher at Moorhead for a total of four years. Then she was
given a “permanent” position on the Moorhead faculty. As associate professor with
tenure, Alice taught voice, choir and Italian, French and German diction for
singers. At a later point, she taught an opera workshop as well.

In addition, Alice, who had already taken numerous classes in Judaism and who
sang in the temple’s choir during the High Holidays, was studying with Reform
Rabbi Jerry Brown, who converted her to Judaism in 1981. Soon afterward, Rabbi
Brown left Fargo to accept another position, and Alice became the temple’s
Cantorial Soloist ( - - defined by Cantor Sam Weiss of Paramus, NJ as someone “who
serves a congregation as a paid prayer-leader but who has not attended cantorial
school or completed cantorial certification.”) As a result, Alice, who now played a
major role in the Friday night services, was probably more involved in the temple at
that time than Mark was. According to Mark, Alice was “the singing leader, the
consistent voice at the temple for about 13 or 14 years.”

During those years, several members of the congregation became very good
friends of the Fasmans. For example, Leonard and Elayne Shapiro, who were lay
volunteers at Temple Beth El, often invited the Fasmans to have Shabbat dinner at
their home and attend services with them. In addition, Leonard not only invited
Mark to “do Jewish learning” with him, specifically to study the Mishnah with an
Israeli college student, but also introduced Mark to the Chevra Kadisha, which is the
Jewish burial society that prepares bodies for burial according to Jewish tradition.

51
Mark’s role in the temple was growing. Because he was accompanying Alice every
week to the Friday night services, which had a lot of singing and were very uplifting,
he grew to love those services, which became an important part of life for both
Alice and him. Mark stated, “It was those Friday nights that brought me back to
Judaism.” When asked to explain what he meant, Mark said there were really 3
things: (1) he found the music of the temple’s Friday night services to be
transforming; (2) singing the Ha-motzi, Shalom Aleikhem, etc. during dinner at the
Shapiros’ house before the services left him with a wonderful feeling; and (3) Rabbi
Brown’s departure caused him to join other temple members in taking turns
leading services. Furthermore, Mark found himself preparing the Haftorah portion
every week at the temple just in case the person who chanted Haftorah was not
there. Finally, when Leonard and Elayne’s family moved away from Fargo, leaving a
vacuum at the temple, Mark and Alice began to assume an even greater leadership
role.

By this time, their son David had become part of their lives.

He was born in 1984. Realizing that David had been born to a Reform Jewish
mother, Alice decided to study with Conservative Rabbi William LeBeau, who served
the synagogue which Mark’s Chicago family attended and go through conversion
again, this time to Conservative Judaism and this time with David. Immediately
following Alice and David’s conversion in the summer of 1985, Alice and Mark
remarried in the Chapel of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park, IL.

By 1988, Mark had completed all of Indiana University’s requirements for a Doctor
of Brass Pedagogy, and the degree was awarded to him in May of that year.

According to Alice, Fargo was a great place to raise children; and, at a young age,
David learned karate, played hockey, and went ice-skating there in the
winter. However, because the family moved many times, David attended several
different schools. For example, in 1989-1990, when both Mark and Alice took a
one-year sabbatical in CA, where they and David lived with Mark’s parents, Mark
taught band at a high school and trumpet at Stanford University, where he was a
visiting scholar, while Alice attended classes at Stanford and at San Francisco
Conservatory, and David went to kindergarten - - the same kindergarten (in the
same classroom) that Mark had attended many years before!

In the summer of 1991 Mark took a course for rabbinic leadership training at Kutz
Camp in Warwick, NY sponsored by the Reform Movement to teach lay people to
perform various rabbinic functions. Mark completed the class and was certified as a

52
rabbinic aide. As such, he became increasingly active in the congregation, now
being paid to lead Shabbat and High Holiday services at Temple Beth El in Fargo, to
direct the Religious School, to teach Bnei Mitzvah students, and to conduct
occasional funerals. He also served in various board capacities, including a term as
president of the the congregation. Not many rabbis can say they have been
congregational presidents!

Because the rabbinic leadership training was in the summertime, there was no
need for the family to move. They remained in Fargo and David attended Fargo
public schools for the next few years.

In the spring of 1993, Mark was at a Minnesota Twins ballgame, grading papers and
looking unhappy. Alice saw him and said, “That’s it! Next year you’re going to have
to go to Rabbinical School.”

Realizing Alice was right, Mark began a master’s program in Jewish studies in 1994
at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Leadership in Chicago while continuing to
work as a rabbinic aide at Beth El. In addition, he applied to the Jewish Theological
Seminary (JTS) and was accepted.

In 1995, Mark, Alice and David moved to Los Angeles, where Mark began his
rabbinical studies at the JTS West Coast campus but quickly transferred to a new 4-
year, (year-round) training program (that is now a 5-year program) at the Ziegler
School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism (now renamed the American
Jewish University), which he thought was great! While he was there, Alice worked in
a secretarial position at LA’s Temple Beth Am, and David attended Pressman
Academy, a Jewish Day School. Two years later (1997), Mark received a Master of
Hebrew Letters degree and David celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. Afterwards, the
family went to Israel for a year for Mark to study (in his third year of the rabbinic
program) at the Israeli Conservative seminary known as The Schechter Institute in
Jerusalem. During this time, Alice studied Hebrew and took courses with both
Reform and the Conservative cantorial students, and David completed the 8th
grade at the Yehuda HaLevi School, which was a public religious school in Israel.

After that year in Israel, the family returned to LA where David attended a modern
Orthodox high school for the next 3 years, and Mark resumed his studies at the
University of Judaism, from which he received a Master of Arts degree in Rabbinics
and his official Rabbinic Ordination on May 17, 1999. His was the first ordination
class of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism, and

53
Mark was the first in his class (alphabetically) to be ordained. From 1999 to 2001,
Mark was a rabbi at Sinai Temple in LA with Rabbi David Wolpe.

Then, in 2001, Mark accepted the position of Rabbi of Shaare Zedek

Congregation in St. Louis, and he, Alice and David moved to St. Louis. David, then
17 years old, chose to attend Clayton High School for his senior year rather than go
back to LA and graduate with his long-term classmates. After graduating from
Clayton High, David, who has many friends in LA, went to Webster University in St.
Louis for just one semester and then transferred to the University of Judaism (now
called the American Jewish University) in LA, from which he graduated with a
Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His first job after graduating was at a Coffee
Bean & Tea Leaf store in LA. After moving back to St. Louis, David began to work
for the Kaldi Coffee chain as a barista (i.e., a person, often with a high level of skill,
who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks). He is currently the general
manager of the Kayak by Kaldi Café at Skinker and Forest Park. David has
competed in national barista competitions.

When the Fasman family arrived in St. Louis, Alice immediately found a position
teaching choir, music theory and piano at Clayton High School, where she was
named Director of the Vocal Music Dept., a position which she continues to hold
today. Although Alice doesn’t have much free time, when she can manage some
time to herself she loves to read, rearrange furniture, and care for their two shih
tzus (dogs).

Since their arrival, the Fasmans have had some very difficult times. Sadly, Alice’s
father died within a year of their move, and her mother died two years later. As if
that wasn’t more than enough heartache, Mark’s mother passed away 6 months
after Alice’s mother!

The loss of three of their parents in such a short period of time was very hard on
both Mark and Alice. However, the caring, concern and assistance of the
congregation and others at that time meant so much to them. Alice expressed her
feelings this way, “This community has been the greatest!”

In addition, Mark has had two bouts with cancer during this time. And, again, Alice
said, “The community has overwhelmingly supported us!” And, with their support
and a marvelous medical team, the Rabbi has had a miraculous recovery!

The Fasmans can look back at many other positive outcomes over these years. Two
examples are: (1) All synagogue services are totally egalitarian now. When they

54
arrived Shabbat services alternated each week between “Time-Honored” (non-
egalitarian) and “Women’s Participation;” and (2) Rabbi Fasman introduced the use
of musical instruments at Friday night services. Shortly afterwards, Hazzan Joanna
Dulkin was hired.

As they think back over their lives, neither Mark Fasman nor Alice Rife Fasman
could ever have imagined what was in store for them in life! Both of them are life-
long learners who have continuously read widely, studied, learned and grown - -
individually and together, willing to pursue their interests, to take a chance, to try
new things, and to change. Their shared interests, music and Judaism, are the most
important things in both their lives. They have found a soul-mate in each other and
exemplify the true meaning of the word Bashert. No one can ask for more!

55
Phyllis Hyken

Phyllis Hyken, who was born in St. Louis, lived with her parents, Morris and Jean
Goldberg, and her two brothers, Lester, who is 18 months younger than she, and
Ed, 11 ½ years her junior, in the University City Hills neighborhood, south of Delmar,
until her family moved to Olivette when she was 18.

Phyllis’s father, Morris, who was the youngest of 4 children, was also born in St.
Louis although two of his siblings were born in Russia. Morris became a pharmacist
and when Phyllis was young, he owned and operated Bago Drug Store on
Manchester and Tower Grove. He later started a health and beauty supply
business, M-G Drug Sales Co., which prospered. Morris, who was “careful” with
money, was a stern but loving father and a strict disciplinarian.

Phyllis’ father’s father, Isaac Goldberg, according to Phyllis was not even a tailor; he
was a presser, a person who uses an iron to reinforce the folds of hems, pleats, etc.
when making clothes. Her grandmother, Sarah, was a successful businesswoman,
who bought and sold real estate. They raised their family in a strictly kosher
Orthodox home and were members of the original Orthodox Brith
Sholom Synagogue before it merged with Kneseth Israel.

Phyllis’ maternal grandparents, Sam and Ida, were less observant and more
progressive than her paternal grandparents. Sam and Ida moved to St. Louis from
Dayton when Phyllis’ mother (Jean) was young. Sam had a sewing machine shop
where he sold and repaired sewing machines while Ida was a fulltime homemaker,
who unfortunately died when Phyllis was 4 years old.

Phyllis’ mother, who was trained as a bookkeeper, worked for the Morris Paint Co.
for some years. Then, after she and Morris married, she served as the bookkeeper
for Morris’ business and also worked part-time in the drugstore. In addition, she
was a skillful athlete, who joined the Young Men’s (and Women’s) Hebrew
Association (YMHA), which was the precursor of the JCCA, and enjoyed bowling,
swimming, diving, and playing various other sports. Furthermore, Jean had a gift
for making things with her hands. For example, she was an excellent knitter, and
her needlepoint work was outstanding.

Phyllis’ nuclear family wasn’t very observant. They didn’t go to shul on a regular
basis and didn’t keep kosher. On the other hand, they did celebrate the High
Holidays, Chanukah and Pesach with their extended family. In fact, Phyllis has clear
memories of the annual Passover seders at her paternal grandparents’ home, which

56
her Goldberg aunts, uncles and cousins attended. An annual Goldberg family
Hannukah party that began in the 1940s is still celebrated today although the
extended family is now more than 70 people. Phyllis went to Sunday School and
was confirmed, and both her brothers celebrated their B’nei Mitzvah at Brith Sholom.

When she was 6 years old, Phyllis began taking piano lessons. Her parents had
bought an upright piano, which her father painted silver and placed in a knotty-pine
room in the basement of their home that they called the rathskeller . Phyllis’ first
piano teacher was her father’s sister, Mary Don, who was also a member of Brith
Sholom.

A couple of years after Phyllis began playing the piano, her brother Lester started
going to Brith Sholom for Hebrew School 4 times a week, and Phyllis wanted to go,
too. As a result, her parents enrolled Phyllis as well as Lester. Soon it was clear
that 4 days of Hebrew School left Phyllis with no time to practice the
piano. Eventually, she withdrew from Hebrew School, but she had learned enough
Hebrew to be able to follow the services in shul.

Phyllis attended University City public schools – first Flynn Park Elementary
School (Kindergarten through 6th grade), and then Hanley Junior High (7th through
9th grades) followed by University City High School (UCHS), from which she
graduated.

Phyllis actually continued studying piano for much of her life. She took lessons with
her Aunt Mary throughout her junior high and high school years, and then learned
jazz and improvisation from Herb Drury in her mid 20’s. Years later she was a
piano student of Barbara Liberman, who was the keyboard player of the St. Louis
Symphony Orchestra, and in the fall of 1991, she studied piano pedagogy, the
science and art of teaching piano, at Webster University.

When reminiscing about her childhood, Phyllis remembered “hanging out” and
reading comic books in her father’s drug store when she was very young. She also
remembered that her mother wouldn’t allow her to sing in the school choir’s
Christmas program up through the 5th grade. The next year, for some unknown
reason, her mother relented. Jean also told Phyllis, who had always been a good
student, “You don’t have to be so smart. The boys won’t like you.” Nevertheless,
Phyllis managed to do well not only in her classes but also in playing the piano,
participating in sports and in various activities at school. Also, Phyllis has fond
memories of going to camp in the summertime. For four consecutive summers,

57
she spent 8 weeks at Camp Lake-of-the-Woods in Michigan; and, the next year,
when she was 15, Phyllis went to Camp Herzl.

By the time she reached UCHS, Phyllis had added playing the flute to her
repertoire. Thus, she played piano in the high school’s orchestra and flute in the
school’s band. In addition, she was an active member of a number of clubs, worked
on the school newspaper, and performed in several programs. For example, she
portrayed the French maid Millinette in the Senior Play called “FASHION or Life in
New York.” But, perhaps the two most memorable things that happened to Phyllis
in high school occurred in her senior year. First, she was selected by Mr. Lang, the
conductor of the student orchestra, to play the piano solo part in Franz
Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasy, which was written for piano and orchestra, an honor,
which was really a “big deal” to Phyllis! Second, in her yearbook, the quotation
under her name stated “Music hath charms as does the Musician.”

After graduating from UCHS, Phyllis attended Washington University (WU) for two
years, first majoring in education and then changing to a major in music. However,
the summer after her sophomore year, she withdrew from WU when she got
married. The ceremony took place at Brith Sholom with Rabbi Jacob Mazur
officiating.

After the wedding and honeymoon, Phyllis and her husband began to work for her
father in his new business, M-G Drug Sales Co. The company developed when
Morris started to stock health and beauty aids, items such as toothpaste and
shampoo, on shelves he built himself in the backroom of his drugstore and began
selling those products to liquor stores, which really welcomed the new line of
merchandise. One thing led to another and before he knew it, Morris was
providing racks for those products in the liquor stores. When the health and
beauty products became too much for Morris’ backroom, he bought a warehouse
and sold his drug store. The new business kept growing, and soon the very large
Schenberg Supermarket - - the first self-service grocery store in St. Louis - - which
was located in University City’s Delmar Loop, began to buy its health and beauty
products from Morris. In 1959, after Morris got the even bigger National Foods
Supermarket account, he bought a much bigger warehouse in the 9900 block of
Page Boulevard in Overland to accommodate his greatly increased inventory. M-G
Drug Sales Co. had become a very successful business!

One year after she was married, Phyllis’ first child, Sherri, was born. Three years
later Mark joined the family and was followed by Berta in 1964. When her children

58
were small, Phyllis was essentially a full-time mom - - with one exception: she began
giving piano lessons in her home.

In the early 1970’s, Amatzia Dayan, the first Israeli Shaliach or emissary was sent
from Israel to St. Louis for 3 years to teach about Israel and to build connections
with the Jewish community and Jewish organizations. He taught conversational
Hebrew at the JCCA, and Phyllis was one of the people who took his classes, which
emphasized “speaking” Hebrew but also included reading and writing. Phyllis
stated that she really learned Hebrew during those 3 years.

In addition to teaching the Hebrew language, Amatzia, who had grown up on a non-
religious kibbutz in Israel, wanted to conduct a seder for Passover but felt a need to
create a new Hagaddah. Using the one from his kibbutz, which was based on
nature, as a guide, he added the traditional songs and themes to it. He asked
Phyllis and Rose Calodney (z’l) to join him in this endeavor. The 3 of them created
a unique Hagaddah and also designed a little music book to accompany it. The
desired seder never happened but Phyllis’ family still uses the Hagaddah, that she,
Rose, and Amatzia wrote, to this day! Incidentally, when Amatzia returned to Israel,
Israeli teachers living in St. Louis continued the instruction, and Phyllis continued
learning.

Over the years, Phyllis was a piano instructor in her home until 1975 when her
youngest child, Berta was in 6th grade. Phyllis decided then to stop teaching and to
continue her own education. First, she went to Maryville University and earned both
a B.A. degree in Music and Music Therapy and a B.S. degree in Psychology in
1978. In September 1979, she accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Music
Therapy at Maryville University, which she retained for 4 years. During that time,
she also provided Music Therapy at Malcolm Bliss Health Center for about 6
months and, more importantly, became a graduate student at Webster University,
where she earned a M.A. in Counseling Services in December 1982.

That year, Phyllis resumed giving private piano lessons in her home, a practice,
which she has continued to the present time. Also, she provided Music Therapy to
Good Shepherd Lutheran School for a year and served as professional accompanist
for the Maryville Choral Arts Society for two years.

In addition to the piano, Phyllis has loved opera since she was a young teenager
and saw the Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitor on TV. Because she grew
to love the St. Louis Opera Theater, which is small and intimate, she has been a
season ticket holder since 1976. In addition, she has been a docent for the St. Louis

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Opera Theater, and as such chooses one of the four operas to be performed each
year, researches it thoroughly, and gives a number of lectures about that opera,
mostly to residents of local retirement homes. This past year, Phyllis made an
additional presentation to Kol Rinah about Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

Phyllis is a third generation member of the former Brith Sholom and Brith Sholom
Kneseth Israel - - now Kol Rinah Synagogue. She credits Rabbi Benson Skoff with
having a major influence on her adult life. First of all, the rabbi initiated the first Bat
Mitzvah classes for adults, and Phyllis, at the age of 40, was one of the 5 women
who took his course. The others were Carol Battle, Rita Fineberg, Linda Makler, and
Frankie Radunsky (z’l). Their Bat Mitzvah took place on a Saturday morning in
November 1976. According to Phyllis, “Rabbi Skoff drilled us and grilled us until we
knew the trope.” Also, she said, “He got me to go to shul and to bring my kids.” At
about the same time, Rabbi Skoff asked Phyllis to help him train an adult male
choir. She agreed but wanted the practices to be at her house because she had
young children at home at that time. As a result, a male choir was able to chant
prayers during the High Holiday services that year and for many years
afterwards. Phyllis stated that she helped with the choir for just a year or two and
then the synagogue hired a choir director to fill that role. Also, in time women
became a part of the choir, and Phyllis actually sang in the choir, herself, for 30
years. To this day, she is grateful to Rabbi Skoff for making a positive difference in
her life. Phyllis also developed a good relationship with Rabbi Miller, who plays the
clarinet. They made music together on many occasions.

In addition, Phyllis has long been an active member of a music club, which has
existed for many years. In fact, her Aunt Mary was a charter member. The club
meets monthly, has four structured programs each year plus four miscellaneous
programs, and currently has about 16 members, mostly pianists, but it also
includes 2 flutists and a singer, Susie Broddon, who is a member of Kol
Rinah. Phyllis mentioned that she accompanies Susie wherever she sings. In
addition, Phyllis has a duet partner, Debbie Schwartz. She and Debbie attended a
4-hand workshop each June from 1982 to 1991, and now plan to perform a four-
hand (two pianists playing the same piano) concert just for her Kol Rinah
Chavurah (Jewish friends’ club) this coming December. Over the years, Phyllis has
performed many times, usually with a partner or accompanying someone else.

Phyllis and her husband divorced in 1996 but have maintained an amiable
relationship centered around their children. Meanwhile, prior to 2004,
Phyllis barely knew Jerome (Jerry) Nuell, a retired engineer, although they had
children the same age who went to the same grade school. They had their first

60
date in December of 2004. Later Jerry joined BSKI, and therefore is a member of Kol
Rinah. Over the past 10 years, a growing friendship has developed between Phyllis
and Jerry, and Phyllis refers to him as her “man-friend.”

Meanwhile, Phyllis’ children, Sherri, Mark and Berta have grown to adulthood. Her
daughter, Sherri, who went to Israel for a semester after graduating from high
school, loved the country and several years later found a way to return to Israel for
one year. She graduated from the University of Indiana, met, fell in love with, and
married an Israeli electronics engineer named Eli Sadon. They have 2 daughters,
who live in NYC. Today Sherri is Vice President of Clear Channel, where she works
in radio advertising from her office on Oakland Avenue. As co-chair with Scott Kaar
of the search committee, Sherri was instrumental in selecting Rabbi Noah Arnow to
be the new Rabbi of Kol Rinah.

Mark, who always wanted to be a disc jockey, went to UMSL and graduated with a
bachelor’s degree summa cum laude, but after much thought, decided to seek
employment in the field he really loved. Therefore, he is a disc jockey today for
radio station 106.5 FM in St Louis (Top Rock Radio Music). Mark’s wife Tina is a CPA
and has an M.B.A. degree. Tina is a financial officer for the Department of
Education at UMSL. She and Mark have a 12-year-old son named Sam.

Berta, who has a Master’s degree in Education, has lived and worked in a number of
cities - - San Francisco, New York, Tampa and most recently in Los Angeles. She is
currently living in St. Louis and seeking employment here. Phyllis is very proud of all
three of her children. They are all bright, capable and independent thinkers, who
have already found or in time will be able to find a good fit for themselves in life.

Phyllis is also proud of herself. She stated, “I am proud that I have survived a
number of crises and still maintained my equilibrium. At this time of my life, I am
able to be fiercely independent and also very happy as well.”

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Margaret and Martin Israel

Margaret Ellen Israel, a third generation Californian, can trace her mother’s family
history more than 7½ centuries to 1240 thanks to her forebears, who kept written
records and published the first directory and genealogy of the Horowitz-
Margareten family in 1929. Subsequent editions listed references to relatives who
were expelled from Spain during the Inquisition and eventually settled in Hungary.
Over the years, more than one hundred rabbis were mentioned. The first family
members arrived in the US in 1882, and the Horowitz-Margareten Matzoh Bakery
was founded in New York City in 1884 in time to bake Matzohs for Passover.
Margaret’s maternal grandparents were Julia Margaretten Ellenbogen, born in New
York, and Louis Ellenbogen, a Horowitz, who immigrated to the USA from Hungary
at age 8. They settled in California, where Louis established a successful business
manufacturing women’s wear. He also bought and operated a fruit ranch in the San
Fernando Valley, an avocation he loved. In addition, he founded Verdugo Hills
Hebrew Center, a conservative synagogue in Sunland, California.

Margaret’s paternal grandparents, Esther Teibel Silverman Mitouer from Zitomer

near Kiev, and Samuel Mitouer, from Mitau, Latvia, met in Detroit and moved to Los
Angeles with their four children in 1932. Grandma “Tillie” was very learned; if she
had been a man she would have become a rabbi. Sam Mitouer was a jewelry
salesman.

Margaret's parents, Regina Ellenbogen and Ralph Mitouer met and married in
California. Ralph graduated from the University of Southern California with a
degree in Journalism and was first employed by Curtis Publishing Co., but most of
his life, he worked as a manufacturer’s business representative, selling advertising
for various companies. He was an outgoing person who liked baseball, USC football,
and a good cigar. Regina earned her AA degree at Glendale Community College, but
was mainly at home while her children were growing up. She was a Den Mother
and a BBG advisor. Later she spent 24 years as a library assistant with the Los
Angeles Public Library. Both of Margaret’s parents were active members of B’nai
Brith and served as BBG and AZA advisors for many decades.

Regina and Ralph had 3 children, - Margaret Ellen was born November 12, 1942,
Deborah in 1945 and Fredric in 1950. All three siblings got along well and still do.

Born in Glendale, California, Margaret grew up in Los Angeles County. From 1945-
1948, she and her family lived in the guesthouse on her maternal grandparents’
Sholom Ranch, where she developed a love of the land, the produce, and the farm

62
animals. It was a wonderful environment with vineyards to run through and trees
to climb as well as having a small swimming pool that her grandparents built for
her. She attended kindergarten in Sunland, California, but when her parents bought
a new home in West Los Angeles in 1948 she transferred to Mar Vista Elementary
School for first through sixth grades. Margaret enjoyed learning and was a good
student. She was friendly with everyone and had a knack for making people laugh.

Many weekends were spent at Sholom Ranch but there were also activities in the
neighborhood. The kids played tetherball, handball and baseball in the street. In
the summer, Margaret wrote plays and acted in backyard skits for the local kids.
Margaret took piano lessons and performed in recitals and at school. She was also
a Brownie and then a Girl Scout.

Judaism was always a part of Margaret’s life. On Friday nights, her mother prepared
Shabbat dinner and lit candles. She also taught Margaret to bake challah, to light
the Shabbat candles, and to recite the blessings.

As a youngster Margaret went to Sunday School at Verdugo Hills Hebrew Center

where her Dad was her teacher, but her family didn’t belong to a synagogue until
her brother was ready for Bar Mitzvah training. They joined Mishkon Tephilo
Conservative Synagogue in Venice, California. However, her father still preferred
davening at home. Many neighbors would come to the house for Rosh Hashanah
services. Chanukah at the Mitouer home featured a lighted menorah in the window,
orange candles to kindle the standard menorah, and only simple, practical gifts.
There was always a Horowitz-Margareten family Chanukah party with a gift
exchange and a talent show. At Passover Margaret’s Grandfather Louis Ellenbogen
conducted an elaborate Seder for a huge, extended family and Grandma Julia
Ellenbogen prepared an excellent meal that made each Seder a memorable
experience.

Margaret began 7th grade at the newly opened Daniel Webster Junior High School.
In addition to excelling scholastically, she joined the choir and helped write the
lyrics for the new school song. Margaret also sang in the choir at Venice High School
from which she graduated in 1960. During those years she continued with scouting
as a Mariner Scout, but her major involvement was with BBG. Margaret was
president of her BBG Chapter, President of Western Council BBG that included
several local chapters, and on the Southern California BBG Regional Board.

Margaret entered UCLA as a freshman in fall 1960. She enrolled in Italian classes
because she loved the language. During that freshman year, she lived at home and

63
commuted to school. She also worked part time for a California State Inheritance
Tax Appraiser office.

When an opportunity arose for Margaret to spend a year in Rome, she took a year
off college and went to live in Italy. Year Abroad Programs were practically non-
existent at that time, but she enrolled herself at the Universita di Roma and was
able to place out of a couple of classes on returning to UCLA.

Back in Los Angeles, Margaret worked to pay back the cost of her year abroad and
attended UCLA’s Evening Extension School before reentering UCLA as a full time
student.

At the end of the summer of 1963, when Margaret was about to return to UCLA,
she went with friends to a social mixer at Westside Jewish Community Center where
she met a Caltech graduate student, Martin Henry Israel, who would later
become her husband.

Marty grew up in Chicago. He never knew his paternal grandparents, Max and
Rebecca Israel, who died when his father, Herman, was young. However, his
Grandfather Max was very religious and ran a store-front shul in addition to owning
and operating a neighborhood grocery store in Chicago.

Marty’s maternal grandparents, Ethel Pal Herczeg and Louis Herczeg came to
America from Budapest in the early 1900’s. Louis, who was a carpenter, lived with
Marty’s family for several years and later lived with Marty’s aunt in New York. While
his grandfather was living in their home, he set up a workshop in the family’s
basement where he created beautiful wooden furniture.

How about "Marty's father, Herman, lost both parents by the age of 14 and was
essentially raised by his older siblings. Due to limited finances, Herman, who could
do mathematical equations in his head and was always good quantitatively, went to
work right after graduating from high school. He was a wholesale toy salesman.
Marty’s mother, Anna, basically a homemaker, worked part-time from home selling
magazines like Ladies’ Home Journal and Saturday Evening Post. Also, she was a
Den Mother for Marty’s Cub Scout pack.

Marty and his sister, Ruth Israel (Shulman), who is about 3 years younger, got along
well as children (and still do). They attended Horace Mann Elementary School and
South Shore High School in Chicago. Marty read a lot and was always interested in
science. Once when he was 7 and his parents took the family to a drive-in theater,

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Marty got bored, left the car and watched stars and constellations until the film was
over. While at Horace Mann, he was a “patrol boy” who wore a white belt and
helped children cross the street. He also, was a cub-scout and later a boy scout, and
remembers going on overnight camping trips as well as to Boy Scout Camp in
Wisconsin one summer.

Although Marty’s family was not very observant, his father’s sisters in Chicago, who
were members of a conservative synagogue, provided religious connections for his
family. Seders were held in their homes, and Marty attended one year of Sunday
School at their Conservative synagogue. When Marty was about seven, his family
joined (Reform) Beth Am Temple, where Marty attended Friday night services with
his family and went to Hebrew School, Sunday School and celebrated his Bar
Mitzvah.

In high school, Marty was active in the Temple youth group and in AZA. He
delivered a weekly newspaper, and worked part-time in the back room of a camera
and photography store, where he processed film into photographs. He graduated
from high school in January 1958.

During the 9 months between high school and entering college, Marty worked full-
time at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. There he took tours
through the U505 German submarine, did physics demonstrations, and did a stage
show of “magic with light and electricity” including popping popcorn on the cob with
microwaves. He continued to work part-time at the museum after he became a
student at the University of Chicago. With good scholarship support, he lived in a
dorm on campus. On Sunday nights he often invited friends to his parents’ home
for a home-cooked meal. In his senior year, Marty worked in the astrophysics lab of
John Simpson, a physicist of great distinction.

After graduating from the University of Chicago with a SB in Physics, he and a friend
drove from Chicago to Pasadena and the California Institute of Technology (Cal
Tech) in the late summer of 1962. Marty thrived in the doctoral program at Cal Tech
where he did research in cosmic-ray astrophysics.

In the fall of 1963 when Marty was a second-year graduate student at Cal Tech, he
attended the social mixer where he met Margaret. They began dating right away.
One year later they were engaged and were married June 20, 1965. After getting
her B.A. cum laude from UCLA in 1966, Margaret became a UCLA graduate student
and teaching assistant in Italian for 2 years. She received her M.A. degree in Italian

65
Language and Literature in 1968, the same year that Marty received his PhD in
Physics from Cal Tech.

Washington University offered Marty an assistant professorship, and Margaret was

able to get a position teaching Italian in Washington University’s Romance
Language Department. The couple moved to St. Louis soon after their graduations.

Marty’s career flourished. He went from assistant professor to associate and then
full professor. Then, he became an administrator in the new McDonnell Center for
the Space Sciences. In 1987-88 he was Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences with its 21 departments and then was named Dean of the Faculty, a
position he held for 6 years. In 1997, after three years in Central Administration as a
Vice Chancellor, he returned to his former position, Professor of Physics, where he
teaches and does research, both of which he loves to do, and both were reasons
for coming to WU in the first place. He has been there ever since.

Meanwhile, Margaret, who always wanted a career, continued teaching Italian at

WU for 7 years. When their daughter, Elisa Julia, was born on May 15, 1972,
Margaret hired a nanny so that she could continue teaching. However, after their
son, Samuel Louis was born on July 25, 1975, Margaret “chose to be a mother.”
Although Sam was a good, pleasant and happy baby, Margaret and Marty began to
see signs of delayed development. Sam was diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome in
1981 when he was 5½. Few people knew about Fragile X Syndrome at that time.
According to Margaret, “Fragile X Syndrome is the most common inherited cause of
cognitive impairment with a wide range of expression including learning disabilities,
autism or autism-like characteristics and sensory issues.” Margaret and her sister
have learned that they are carriers and each has a son with the syndrome. Sam is
mildly affected. His main problem as a child was speech and language, and
therefore he began speech therapy (as well as occupational therapy) at a young
age. Sam was enrolled in the Ethical Society Nursery School and then attended
Parkway public schools in Special School District classrooms. He graduated at the
age of 18 from Parkway Central High School with a regular high school diploma. He
is currently employed at Express Clothing Store in the Galleria Shopping Center.

The Israels’ daughter Elisa, like her parents, was always a good student and went to
Northwestern University where she earned a BA in geology, followed by an MA in
Earth and Planetary Sciences from Washington University. She is talented in a
number of ways and really enjoys her job at the St. Louis Science Center, where she
is head of the Research and Evaluation Department. Among her various activities
outside of work, Elisa serves on Kol Rinah’s Personnel and Facilities Committees.

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Ever since Sam’s diagnosis, Margaret has been actively involved with
numerous Fragile X resources, organizations and programs. She was the founder
and for 16 years president of the Fragile X Resource Center of Missouri, coordinator
of the Fragile X annual symposium held at WU since 1992, and is a former member
of the National Fragile X Foundation Board. She is a strong advocate, spreading
awareness and understanding about this condition. She even was trained as a
puppeteer to enlighten school children so they will become welcoming to non-
typical students. Margaret stated that she doesn’t think of Fragile X as a “disability”
but rather as a “differing ability.”

In addition to her work on behalf of Fragile X, Margaret served on committees and

as an officer and board member for numerous community organizations, including
Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel Congregation; the Jewish Community Relations Council;
Hillel; and the St. Louis Transition Council, “which provides information and
advocates for individuals with disabilities transitioning form school to work.” She
has been the recipient of awards presented by the Fragile X Foundation, the Older
Women’s League, the Productive Living Board, and the Special School District.
Furthermore, this year Margaret was named one of the 2013 St. Louis Women of
Achievement.

The Israels have been members of BSKI (now Kol Rinah) for over 30 years. Several
years after joining, Margaret fulfilled a dream; she became a Bat Mitzvah at BSKI
and had a big celebration. Marty and Margaret have both served on the Board of
BSKI for many years. Marty was also the synagogue’s representative to the Board of
the Solomon Schechter School when it was being formed, and Margaret served as
President of the congregation from 1999-2002. Marty said that his biggest role in
the congregation was “husband of the President.”

Through different pathways, Marty and Margaret have each made great
contributions to society and have had an extraordinary life together.

67
Stephen and Nancy Keyser

Stephen (Steve) Keyser’s paternal “great” grandfather, William Keyser, who

immigrated to the United States, first lived in Philadelphia and then settled in East
St. Louis, where he owned and operated a hardware store. William Keyser was
killed in the East St. Louis race riots of 1917. After his death, the Keyser Hardware
Store was passed on to Steve’s grandparents and then to two of their sons and
their wives - - Steve’s parents, Harold and Mildred, and Steve’s Uncle Louis and Aunt
Viola. It was a true family business, which was open 6 days a week. All the adults in
the family played a part in the operation of the store. Even Steve’s grandmother
Rebecca, who lived above the store, came down as needed to help, and at the age
of 11 Steve worked there too, on Saturdays, after school and during the summers
(until he went away to boarding school). When Steve was 12, his Uncle Louis had a
heart attack, and Steve’s role in the business increased.

Steve’s parents met when Mildred, who grew up in Reading, PA, came to this area to
visit her married younger sister, who was then living in East St. Louis. During that
visit, Mildred met Harold Keyser. They fell in love, got married and decided to live in
East St. Louis, too, where Harold worked in his family’s hardware store.

Steve is the first of Mildred and Harold’s three children. His brother, Dennis, was
born when Steve was 2, and Marcy completed the family 3 years later. Mildred was
a traditional full time mother, who kept a kosher home and was always available to
the children, whereas Harold worked very long hours at the store and even worked
on the books (finances) and deliveries after store hours. However, Harold made it a
point to spend quality time with his children on Sundays and whenever else he
could.

Growing up, Steve felt especially close to his mother’s family in Pennsylvania,
especially his cousins and his “Bauby and Zady,” who owned a successful scrap
metal business. He did spend a lot of time working in the hardware store with his
father, paternal grandparents and uncle, from whom he developed a good work
ethic and learned many aspects about running a business.

Steve attended Hawthorne Elementary School and then Lansdowne Junior High in
East St. Louis. While at Hawthorne, Steve was a Cub Scout and sang in the school
choir. During his junior high school days, Steve worked in the hardware store quite
a bit. The only extracurricular activity in school he had time for was the
photography club, where he enjoyed taking pictures and learning to skillfully
develop them in the school’s dark room.

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 Because his father worked such long hours, Steve and his siblings spent a lot of
time with their mother, who, according to Steve, “doted on all of us.” She would
sometimes take time out of her busy day to play cards or other games with the
children. But more importantly, she and Steve’s

father always gave the children “unconditional love” and “were always proud” of
them!” As a result, Steve strove hard not to disappoint them. On Sunday
afternoons, the family sometimes visited relatives, but Sunday was also the day his
father prepared bills for his customers and fixed things around the house.

In the summertime, Steve fondly remembers going to Pennsylvania with his mother
and siblings to visit his extended family and having lots of fun with his cousins. He
also went to a day camp run by the local YMCA before he was 11 years old and
played with kids in his neighborhood. On Sunday mornings in the summer, Steve’s
father took Steve and Dennis with him to a park where he and a few of his friends
played Indian ball (which was something like softball) while the boys watched or
played “catch.” Afterwards, Harold often played ball with his sons and taught them
to play tennis.

East St. Louis had only one synagogue, Agudas Achim, when Steve was growing
up. After the shul’s rabbi left in 1961, the role of rabbi was filled by a lay leader
named Frank Altman, who served for many years (and just recently died). Agudas
Achim had a Hebrew School as well as a Sunday School, and Steve attended both.
Steve was prepared for his bar mitzvah by Frank Altman and thus became one of
“Frank’s bar mitzvah boys.” After his bar mitzvah, Steve continued to attend Sunday
School and was confirmed two years later.

When Steve, who had always worked hard in school and was a good student,
graduated from Lansdowne Junior High School, his parents enrolled him in Western
Military Academy, a small boarding school in Alton, IL, with a good reputation,
where his parents thought he would get a better education than in the public high
school. Steve didn’t excel in sports and therefore was not on any of the sport
teams, which sometimes made him feel uncomfortable. However, he was selected
to be scorekeeper as well as student manager of both the baseball and the
basketball teams. In addition, Steve tutored other students, mostly in math, and
worked on the school newspaper. Although the academy was not Steve’s choice, he
believes it worked out well for him. He felt that “the teachers made you stretch and
were there to help you.” The academy taught its students to be responsible and to
be leaders. According to Steve, the external discipline of the school became

69
internalized and “served me well the rest of my life.” When he graduated, Steve
was valedictorian of his class.

Steve mentioned that at a very young age, he was skinny, but from the time he was
eight until he graduated from high school he was overweight. However, the
summer before he entered college he worked as a camp counselor at Camp Wah-
Kon-Dah, which was located in the area where Camp Sabra is today. At the camp,
Steve worked hard clearing sites for campgrounds, constantly walking up and down
hills, and serving as Overnight Trip Director, which meant that he was responsible
for transporting equipment and food to and from various sites. He lost a lot of
weight there and has exercised and maintained a healthy weight ever since.

When camp was over, Steve got ready to go to college. He had selected Drake
University in Des Moines, IA, where he did well and got a broad liberal arts
education. At the same time, he engaged in numerous on-campus activities, most
of which compensated him in one way or another. For example, in his sophomore
and junior years he worked as a dormitory front desk receptionist, for which he was
paid. He also became business manager of the Hockey Club, and, as such, wrote
articles for the college newspaper. Those articles ultimately led to his becoming
Sports Editor of the paper, for which he got a stipend. In addition, he got involved
in student government, both as a Student Senator and as President of the
Residence Hall Association, which also paid a stipend. In his junior and senior
years, he had a ROTC scholarship that covered tuition and some expenses.

Soon after Steve graduated from Drake, two significant things happened. First,
Steve went into the Air Force. Because of his eyesight, he could not be a
pilot. Instead, he was trained in Nuclear Missile Operations at Whiteman Air Force
Base, which is located between Sedalia and Warrensburg, MO. There, Steve was
responsible for the operation, maintenance and launch of 10 nuclear
missiles. Steve spent four years on active duty and 26 years in the Air Force
Reserves. He retired from the Air Force in 2003 as a colonel.

The second significant thing that happened after Steve’s graduation from Drake
was that he met Faye Parker - - thanks to their mothers, who talked at length about
their children when they met at a Chanukah party. After Steve’s mother told Steve
about Faye, Steve called Faye and asked her out. That was the beginning of their
courtship. Steve found Faye to be a sweet, kind and generous person who went
out of her way to help others. She loved to read and to promote reading, and she
had no difficulty finding employment in a library setting. They fell in love and were

70
married by Rabbi Arnold Asher within a year. At first, the couple lived in a mobile
home outside of Whiteman AFB.

Steve earned an MBA degree in 1978 from the University of Missouri while on
active duty at Whiteman AFB. The program had its own facility and full time faculty
there. One year later, he earned a second master’s degree - - an M.S. in Accounting
- - also from the University of Missouri-Columbia. The two degrees plus passing the
CPA exam made him very marketable in both the public and private sector, where
he served as a Chief Financial Officer or Chief Operating Officer. At one time or
another he worked for Arthur Andersen, several private-sector companies, K-12
and higher education and non-profit organizations. His last job was with the
Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis, from which he retired in 2012.

He and Faye were very happily married for over 26 years. Their two children,
Michael and Melissa, are grown. Michael, now 34, enlisted in the Army and was first
assigned to helicopter maintenance. Then, he went to Officer Candidate School
and now is at Ft. Benning, GA, as a captain in the Infantry. Melissa, now 26, who is
vivacious, relates well to people and is a talented singer and actress, worked her
way up from a bank teller to a supervisor, then a personal banker, and will soon
start a new job as a mortgage banker with Enterprise Bank and Trust Co.

Unfortunately, Faye developed diabetes, which advanced rapidly and led to other
medical conditions. She died of congestive heart failure in 2002. Her death was
very difficult for Steve and their children.

One thing that helped Steve a great deal at that time was going to minyan twice a
day at SZ to say Kaddish for Faye. Members of the congregation were so
supportive! Since that time, Steve became very involved in the shul. He was a
member of the SZ Board; has served on numerous committees (most notably, the
Finance Committee); was elected Treasurer, Vice President and then President of
SZ; and now is Vice President of Kol Rinah. In addition to his service to the
synagogue, Steve attends Shabbat and holiday services on a regular basis and has
achieved the distinction of being a dependable “minyanaire.”

In May 2005, while attending a reception at A.G. Edwards, Steve met Nancy. He was
“definitely impressed” with her. The very next day, he sent her an e-mail, and they
started going out together. It didn’t take long for them both to realize that their
relationship was something special. According to Steve, Nancy is a “behind-the-
scenes” person who would do anything for someone who asked for her help, and
she really is very good at her chosen career. Two and a half years after they met (in

71
2007), they got married. Steve recently said that “Nancy honors Faye’s memory”
and is comfortable with their situation, adding that he and Nancy “get along fine
and are very much in love.”

When she met Steve, Nancy was divorced and had a 21 year-old daughter named
Caroline who was attending Miami of Ohio University in Oxford, OH. According to
Nancy, Caroline, who enjoys traveling and being exposed to other cultures, is “a
fabulous student,” who spent two years studying in Paris at various schools,
including the Sorbonne. Like her mother, Caroline also became a journalist. But,
even more remarkable is that because of Nancy and Steve’s relationship, Nancy’s
daughter, Caroline, and Steve’s son, Michael, “became a couple” in 2007 and got
married in 2009! They currently live in Columbus, GA (because of Ft. Benning)
where Michael is a career officer - - captain in the Army - - and Caroline is the
speech writer for the Commanding General.

Nancy, who, as Steve said, is a private person, wanted this article to be more about
Steve than about her. However, she did agree to be included.

She was the oldest of Jerry and Dolly Newport’s three daughters and grew up in
west St. Louis County. Her sister Kathy is 2 years younger than Nancy, and Jody was
born 4 years later. Their father was an OB-GYN physician, who received his
undergraduate and medical degrees from Washington University, and their mother
was a full time homemaker. The family first lived in Canterbury Gardens. Nancy
went to the Willowbrook Elementary School for kindergarten through 5th
grade. When the family moved to Creve Coeur, Nancy went to the Spoede School
for 6th grade and then to West Ladue Junior High School followed by Horton
Watkins High School.

The family belonged to Temple Israel Congregation, where Nancy went to Sunday
School and was confirmed. Nancy always got along well with her sisters. Today,
Kathy is a clinical psychologist, married to Ken Melman, a psychiatrist, has two
grown children and lives in Seattle. Jody and her husband, Preston Fancher, who
also have two adult children, live in the St. Louis area where Jody is a real estate
agent and Preston is a business owner with, among other things, a Pella Window
franchise. Jody’s family as well as Nancy’s mother, who also lives here, are
members of Temple Israel.

As a child, Nancy was not very interested in sports but really loved to read more
than anything, and, as a result, spent a lot of her time devouring books. She also
was a Brownie for 3 years and has fond memories of taking family trips to CA and

72
the East Coast and playing with kids in the neighborhood in the summertime. As
she got older, Nancy liked to listen to music and just “hang out” with friends.

According to Nancy, she was “a good, but not a great, student in high school.” After
she graduated from Horton Watkins, she went to the University of North Texas in
Denton, which is between Dallas & Ft. Worth, and majored in journalism, which she
loved. Nancy was a much better student there than in high school.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Nancy first accepted a job
with a newspaper in Lubbock, TX and then worked for a paper in Chicago before
returning to St. Louis. She was hired by the Globe Democrat, which was a major St.
Louis newspaper at the time. She worked there as a Business News reporter for 5
years. After leaving the Globe, she was employed for eight years by Monsanto in
the company’s Public Affairs Department. With that experience behind her, Nancy
felt ready to go into business for herself and started a public relations consulting
firm. She specialized in chemical companies and refineries. Nancy greatly enjoyed
every aspect of the business: marketing; media training; and client interaction,
where she provided consulting and strategic advice. She realized that she
preferred to do all those things herself. However, when Fleishman-Hillard offered
her a job, she decided to accept their offer. After two years, Nancy was ready to
start another public relations and marketing business, which she did. Then in 2006,
Nancy accepted a position as Assistant Superintendent of the Ferguson-Florissant
School District, where she was the head of the public relations department. Nancy
retired in 2011.

Today, Nancy spends much of her time as a volunteer for 3 different organizations:
(1) NAMI (formerly, National Alliance on Mental Illness); (2) Missouri Veterans
History Project, which videotapes oral histories of military veterans; and (3) St. Louis
Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, where she has been a docent for 10
years, and serves on the Board and Executive Committee.

Nancy and Steve Keyser have lived full and active lives, both with some difficult life
events, but both very happy and grateful for their blessings. Nancy summed up
their feelings when she said “Sometimes the best things in life just happen. You
can’t plan for them.”

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Joyce and Bob Olshan

The story of the Olshans begins with their two maternal grandfathers.

Joyce’s Zada, born in Russia, emigrated to the United States in 1914. When the USA
entered WWI three years later, he was drafted; but since he was a member of a
Zionist organization called the Jewish Alliance, he arranged to join Britain’s “Jewish
Legion,” whose “goal was to assist the British to liberate Palestine from the
Ottoman Turks.” In Plymouth, England, Joyce’s Zada “trained under the command of
Menachim Begin’s mentor, Vladimir Jabotinsky.“ He returned to St. Louis where he
worked for the Raskas Dairy company and started his family.

At the same time, Bob’s Zadie also emigrated from Russia, going first to New York
where he worked for several years; and then in 1917, he went to England, “also
joined the Jewish Legion and served in Palestine in the same command as David
Ben Gurion.” When WWI ended, his grandfather returned to the United States but
this time settled in Chicago, and, in time, became a printer at a Jewish printing press
but, more importantly, was a Yiddish poet (who published 2 books), a strong
Zionist, socialist and an artist.

One other grandparent had direct contact with a famous Israeli. Bob’s maternal
Grandma Minnie, who grew up in Milwaukee, WI, knew Golda Meyerson (Golda
Meir), who lived around the corner and was the maid of honor in Minnie’s sister’s
wedding. Grandma Minnie was involved in establishing the Clothing Union in
Chicago and was active in Yiddish Theater.

(Note: the quotations from the previous paragraphs came from Faith-Family-
Future - - Shaare Zedek: The First Hundred Years, 1905-2005, pp. 22, 30, and 126.)

Joyce Cohen Olshan, the second of Marion and Gerald (Jerry) Cohen’s 3 children,
was born at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Her father was a podiatrist, who had an
office on Grand and Gravois in south St. Louis, and her mother taught elementary
school before the children were born and later became an invaluable office
assistant for her Dad. She was the kind of mother who was always willing to
support her children’s interests and activities. For example, she served as both a
Brownie Leader and a Girl Scout Leader when Joyce was in the Scouts.

Joyce’s sister, Ellen is 2 years older than she and was her role model. Because Ellen
played the flute, Joyce played the flute; Ellen was active in BBYO, and Joyce joined
and became very active in BBYO, too. Later in life, Ellen married Howard Mirowitz

74
(son of the late Leo and Shirley Mirowitz, who were active, long-time Shaare Zedek
members). Today, Ellen and Howard live in Newport Beach, CA, have 2 grown
children and one grandchild. Joyce’s brother, (also named) Howard, who is 3 years
younger than Joyce, is a Reconstructionist rabbi living in Bennington, Vermont with
his wife, Gail. They have three grown children. Rabbi Howard Cohen is the Founder
and Director of Burning Bush Adventures, which provides Jewish experiences
outdoors in nature. Joyce stated that she was always “jealous” of her siblings
because they both have blue eyes, adding “otherwise, we all got along fine.”

Joyce’s family lived in Olivette, which is part of the Ladue School District, and Joyce
attended Dielman Elementary School for kindergarten and 1st grade; but when
Grandview Elementary School, which was closer to their home, opened, she and
Ellen transferred to Grandview, where they and Howard completed elementary
school. After Grandview, Joyce attended West Ladue Junior High and went on to
Horton Watkins High School, from which she graduated 3 years later.

The Cohen children felt very close to all 4 of their grandparents, but because their
maternal Baba and Zada, lived in St. Louis, they were able to play a bigger role in
the children’s lives, especially on Shabbat and the Jewish holidays.

The children also had very close ties to their many cousins, who were part of the
Hartstein-Silberman Cousins Club (on Joyce's mother's side) and lived in St. Louis,
whereas Joyce’s paternal grandparents and cousins lived in New Jersey, always
making their visits very special occasions.

At a very young age, Joyce began developing strong feelings for the State of Israel
for many reasons, a few of which are: (1) Her parents and grandparents were
dedicated Zionists; (2) When she was 5 years old, she began learning Israeli folk
dances at the old "Y" on Union and continued attending the dance sessions at the
Yalem building after that; (3) Her Sunday School principal, Don Makovsky, in the
1960’s showed slides to the children of the early state of Israel; and (4) She enjoyed
watching Israeli entertainment troupes, who frequently visited St. Louis. As a child,
Joyce remembers thinking, “I'd like to move to Israel someday and live on a
kibbutz.”

As far as synagogue affiliation is concerned, Joyce’s mother, Marion Cohen “grew

up in Shaare Zedek (SZ) when it was on Page and West End.” In addition, both her
nuclear family and her extended family, including the Ikens and the Hartsteins,
have a long history of being members and actively involved in SZ (now Kol
Rinah). Marion and Jerry have served in many capacities. For example, Marion was

75
President of the Sisterhood, and Jerry, who helped start USY in the early 1970’s, is
still a key player in the morning minyans.

Joyce attended both Hebrew School (4 days a week) and Sunday school, which had
such a large enrollment that every Sunday there were two sessions - - one possibly
beginning at 8:00 a.m. and the other at 10:00 a.m. Her family happily attended the
later session!

Joyce celebrated her Bat Mitzvah parshat Ki Tissa, on March 15, a Friday night, as
was the practice for girls at that time. She learned to sing her Haftarah from Mr.
Anski (z'l) and delivered a speech that was written by Rabbi Epstein (z'l). She
revealed, “We never thought of writing it for ourselves back then!” Joyce continued
her Hebrew studies after Bat Mitzvah, became President of her confirmation class
and was confirmed when she was 16.

Joyce fondly remembers the summers of her youth, during which her family took
many car trips to both east and west coasts. She also went to Girl Scout camp as
well as to the JCCA’s Camp Hawthorn in the Ozarks. But, the summer before her
senior year in high school was one of the most memorable ones of her life! Joyce
had elected to take Hebrew classes in her high school that were taught by Tova
Fish, who was hired by the Clayton and Ladue schools to teach conversational
Hebrew as an elective. Tova Fish did an amazing thing. She organized and arranged
a seven-week trip to Israel for her students in the summer of 1972, for which the
students earned 3 college credits! They traveled throughout the country and
according to Joyce “saw everything” and had a “super-wonderful time! (This was at
a time when teen trips to Israel were virtually non-existent.)

When she was in high school, Joyce thought she wanted to become a physical
therapist (PT) and live in Israel. After graduating from Horton Watkins, she
attended the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC). While at UMKC, she was
part of a small but very active “Hillel-like” Jewish College Students group, which
organized some very big programs with the support of the University and the
Kansas City Jewish community. As a result, Joyce was able to actually meet and
greet several visiting, significant Jewish leaders, such as Abba Eban, Isaac Bashevis
Singer, and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, all of blessed memory.

Joyce graduated from UMKC, four years after beginning there, with a B.A. in History
and Judaic Studies. Still thinking she wanted to become a physical therapist, Joyce
arranged for an interview at the University of Missouri - Columbia (Mizzou); but,
after the interview, she changed her mind, realizing that Occupational Therapy (OT)

76
would be a better choice for her. However, she decided to take off a year and go to
Israel first and pursue the study of OT when she returned to the States.

For the next 1½ years, Joyce lived on a kibbutz named Ein Tzurim, where she
studied Hebrew in the mornings and worked in the kitchen, the laundry facilities
and out in the fields in the afternoons. The remainder of her visit was spent
studying Torah, Talmud, and other Jewish studies at the Pardes Institute in
Jerusalem.

When she returned to St. Louis from Israel, she worked in her father's orthopedic
shoe business, which was an outgrowth of his podiatry practice. It was a good
introduction to her future therapy studies.

During that year, two significant things happened: (1) She decided to apply to
Mizzou’s School of Allied Health, where she was able to earn a Master’s degree in
Education with a Specialty in Occupational Therapy. Her long-term goal was to
make aliyah to Israel and practice OT there. (2) She met Bob Olshan, the young
man who would become her husband about 5 years later, which is part of the
reason she chose to go to Mizzou (since he was working in St. Louis then).

When asked how she and Bob met, Joyce stated that when she returned to St.
Louis in 1979 from Israel , she began looking for people who had similar interests.
She went to Heman Park in U. City, which was the venue for an international folk
dance group. There, after saying she had just returned from Israel, Joyce was
introduced to Bob Olshan, who had also been to Israel, but when Hungarian dance
music began, Bob said, “Got to go” and danced off. Several nights later Joyce “went
to Washington University’s Hillel House for Israeli folk dancing, and there was Bob
again. “A few nights later,” Joyce continued, “we found ourselves at the JCCA at a
meeting for Hebrew speakers and those interested in making Aliyah . . . When we
both ended up at the Midwest Jewish Book store on Olive Street in U. City one
Sunday afternoon looking at Israeli dance records, we finally went to get a bite to
eat at Posh Nosh in Clayton. We both boasted about our grandfathers' time in the
Jewish Legion and realized then that we must have been destined to meet.”

On the other hand, Robert (Bob) Zev Olshan was born at Mount Sinai hospital in
Chicago but grew up in Skokie. His parents, Sanford and Edythe, met at a young age
in the Hashomer Hatzair Youth Movement in Chicago. After graduating from
college, Sanford at first worked in his parents’ women’s apparel business and then
owned and operated it himself. After several years, he sold the business and
became a public high school math teacher, although he had a degree in

77
chemistry. An early computer scientist, Sanford, in time, initiated a computer
department, first in the high school where he worked and later at Illinois Teachers
Institute College. Bob’s mother, Edythe (or Yehudit in Hebrew), who was known to
everyone by her nickname, “Dit,” an English major by training, also became a math
teacher but taught in middle schools.

Both of Bob’s parents were strong Zionists and very active in the Brenner Branch of
the Labor Zionist organization. They also became passionate about international
folk dancing; and, in time, Bob came to share their passion. Bob mentioned that his
mother, who is now 86 years old, still leads folk dancing to this day!

Like Joyce, Bob has an older sister and a younger brother. Blythe is 1½ years older
and Jerrold, 7 years younger than Bob. The three youngsters were occasionally full
of mischief and energy. For example, one summer when their parents went on a
trip to Florida and their grandmother was taking care of them, the older siblings
rubbed poison ivy on each other. They also had water fights, and once the action
took place in their house! Bob's sister became a renowned math teacher winning a
presidential award, and Bob's brother is "a real doctor", a Pediatric Endocrinologist
in Maine. Both siblings are married. Blythe and her husband reside in Chicago while
Jerrold and his wife live in Maine and have two grown children.

The Olshan family first lived on the west side of Chicago, but when Bob was five
years old, they moved to nearby suburban Skokie and became members of B’nai
Emunah Synagogue, where Bob went to Hebrew School four days a week for a
number of years and where he became a Bar Mitzvah.

Bob attended Jane Stenson Elementary School, Old Orchard Junior High School and
North Niles High School. According to Bob, whose favorite subjects were math and
science, he was a good (but not a great) student, and that was because of his
extraordinary involvement with Zionist and political organizations, starting at a
young age and continuing through college. At the age of nine, Bob began to learn
Israeli folk dancing through the Habonim Labor Zionist Youth Movement, and
Habonim soon became a most significant factor in his life. His involvement grew
over the years, especially in high school. It became the primary focus of his social
life as he participated in their meetings, programs and discussion groups. The
summer after his junior year, he went to a Habonim Leadership Camp in Red Hook,
NY. By the time he was a senior, he was leading and choreographing the Habonim
Folk Dance Performing Group in Chicago. That same year, he was involved in the
anti-war movement and also started the high school’s Students for Israel Club, for

78
which he invited guest speakers to lead "Teach-ins" for the whole school. The club
continued for the next 30 years!

After graduating from high school, Bob took a “gap year” (a year off) and went to
Israel to attend a Habonim Workshop. He lived on Kibbutz Yotvata and first worked
in the kibbutz’s dairy, which is well known across Israel for the best Chocolate and
Mocha Milk. During this program Bob studied in Jerusalem for six weeks and went
on multiple tiyulim (hikes) in 60 days, including eight days in the Sinai climbing the
various ridges of Mount Sinai - and yelling back and forth with some kids across the
Suez Canal on the last day of the Israel-Egypt cease-fire.

After that year, he returned to the States and went to the University of Illinois –
Circle Campus in Chicago for two years. The first year, he lived at home. Then he
moved to a Habonim Bayit (commune) with six of his Habonim friends. After his
sophomore year, he transferred to the University of Illinois’ Champaign-Urbana
campus, which, at that time, was #2 in the country for engineering, and continued
working on his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering. A friend of his in Champaign,
Phil Mast, was one of the developers of an educational network computer system
called Plato that was the forerunner of the internet. Bob remembers playing bridge
and computer games until late at night with Phil and another friend, David
Abraham, who was a folk dancer of Palestinian descent and also chatting while
playing games with a Habonim friend David Mansky in Arizona (a decade before the
internet). For Bob, international folk dancing became “ a big thing” while he was in
college. In his senior year, he actually traveled in Israel and then in Eastern Europe
to learn different kinds of folk dancing.

Bob received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois
first and two years later was awarded an M.S. in Electrical Engineering also from the
University of Illinois, both with a specialization in Lasers. After receiving his
Master’s degree in 1977, Bob was hired by McDonnell Douglas as a System
Engineer in Laser Communications, and he has worked for the company ever since
(37 years), through a merger with the Boeing Company. (Later, the merged
company was renamed the Boeing Company.) But, in 1979, while working for the
company in St. Louis that was still called McDonnell Douglas, Bob met Joyce.

Meanwhile, for 1½ years after getting her master’s degree and OT certification,
Joyce worked as an OT at both St. Lukes East Hospital (on Delmar) and St. Lukes
West Hospital (on Woods Mill). In January 1984, while Bob was working on his PhD
at Tel Aviv University, Joyce made aliyah! Once in Israel, she held 2 part-time jobs - -
as a guide in the Diaspora Museum and as an OT in Tel Hashomer Rehabilitation

79
Center in Tel Aviv. It was in Israel during that time (August of 1985) that, she and
Bob decided to get married.

Three months later, they were married in the newly remodeled Omni Hotel in St.
Louis’ Union Station by 3 rabbis: Rabbi Green of SZ, Rabbi Devorah Jacobson, who
had been Joyce’s roommate in St. Louis and Rabbi Jim Diamond (z'l) from Hillel, who
had been Bob’s rabbi when he came to St. Louis. It was memorable for many
reasons but mostly because the day of the celebration was one of the coldest days
in all the Midwest.

After their marriage they went on a 3-month honeymoon, starting in Alaska and
going around the world with stops in Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Thailand,
India and Nepal, and ending in Tel Aviv. They stayed for a year while Bob finished
his Ph.D. at Tel Aviv University where he published a number of articles in
prestigious physics magazines. Joyce went back to work at the Diaspora Museum,
which is located at the university.

Then they returned to St. Louis where Bob resumed working at McDonnell Douglas
and Joyce went back to work as an OT (this time at Lutheran Hospital in south St.
Louis) until their first child was born. Bob’s position and responsibilities at
McDonnell Douglas/Boeing have changed numerous times over the years, but one
of the highlights was when he was the Vice President of McDonnell Douglas in Israel
representing the company from 1990-1997. In this prestigious position Bob got to
know the leaders of Israel’s Aerospace companies, the Israeli Air Force and Ministry
of Defense. At that time, Israel acquired the Apache Helicopters and purchased the
F-15I, which is built in St. Louis. Bob is proud to have been instrumental in placing
over $500 million dollars of work in Israeli Aerospace. While Bob was very busy at
work, Joyce was able not only to return to her previous job at Tel Hashomer
Hospital but also to expand her role as a mother.

When they returned to St. Louis, Bob, as the Chief System Engineer for the Air
Force next generation drone, started a Boeing Modeling and Simulation facility in
Bangalore, India, which “enabled him to go back to Israel and operate drone aircraft
along Israel's Gaza and Sinai borders.”

Currently, Bob is Project Manager, Boeing Immersive Development Environment

International, which involves global collaboration and 3-D visualization of aircraft
designs.

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In addition to his professional life, Bob has held a number of volunteer positions in
the community. He: (1) was the leader and choreographer for the International
Folk Dance troupe in St. Louis from 1979-1982, (2) led Israeli dancing at the JCCA
from 1980-1982, and (3) has been the Co-chair of Ameinu St. Louis, a Progressive
Zionism organization since 2008. Furthermore, Bob has held various offices and
served on a number of committees at SZ/KR over the years, including chair (now co-
chair with Esti Goldman) of the Social Action Committee, chair of the Israel
Committee and President of the Shaare Zedek/Kol Rinah Men’s Club from 2010
until the present time. On top of all that, he still reserves time for folk dancing,
playing golf, traveling and being with family, all of which are important to him.

Over the years, Joyce has taken continuing education courses in Occupational
Therapy and has worked in a number of different settings, including St. Anthony’s
Home Care Department, a school for children with autism, and another school for
developmentally disabled children. From 2001-2005, she was hired to provide
multi-generational educational programming at SZ. In addition, she worked at
Solomon Schechter Day School assisting the Hebrew teachers and substituting.

In 2010, Joyce began working part time at the Cooperative Homecare Co., doing
low-vision training for adults, and in 2011 she accepted an additional job working
with children at the Missouri School for the Blind, where she still works today. In
addition, Joyce adds to the curriculum of the Kol Rinah ECC by leading the children
in simple Israeli folk dances and reading Hebrew stories.

In her spare time, Joyce enjoys reading, arts and crafts, beading, singing, music,
dance and baking. She has created unique jewelry (called "Ms Matched") as well as
large-print greeting cards for adults with low vision.

Joyce and Bob have 3 children: (1) Yonit, who was born in St. Louis and named after
Bob’s Zadie, (Yaakov), is now 26; (2) Maayan (the Hebrew word for spring or
fountain), who was born in Israel and named after Joyce’s Zada (Hyman or Chayim,
which means life), is now 21; and (3) Dovran, born in Israel and named after Joyce’s
grandmother, Devorah, is currently 17. (They made up his name by changing the
last Hebrew letter from a 'hey' to a 'nun' to be appropriate for a boy.)

Joyce and Bob Olshan are an extraordinary couple, who were initially attracted to
each other because they both “loved folk dancing, Israel, and speaking Hebrew.” In
the 28 years that they have been married, they have supported each other in
pursuing personal goals and mutual interests and have built a happy life together

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based on love for each other, their family, their faith and heritage as well as their
strong affection for both folk dancing and the land of Israel.

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Cynthia Payant and James White

Cynthia (Cindy) Payant’s father’s family emigrated from France to French Canada in
the 1600’s and eventually to the United States. However, her mother’s family came
directly from Germany. Both families, who lived at various times in Upper Michigan
and Wisconsin, lived in Iron Mountain, Michigan, at the time Cindy’s parents, Betty
and Peter, were attending rival high schools. The two students began dating as a
result of a bet made on a basketball game. Peter knew immediately that “Betty was
the girl he was going to marry.”

After the two teenagers graduated from their respective high schools, Peter and
Betty continued dating even though he went to Milwaukee to work and she became
a beautician with her own shop. Betty (an only child) lived with her parents in Iron
Mountain, even after she married Peter and had their only child (Cindy) because
Peter enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a bomber pilot during World War
II, flying B-24 planes out of Italy and dropping bombs on Germany. After the war
ended, the family was finally united, and Peter decided to make the Air Force his
career.

As a child, Cindy suffered from severe asthma, but, fortunately, when she reached
puberty, she outgrew the disorder. She was always a voracious reader and never
outgrew her love of books. Like other children of military personnel, Cindy
attended many schools in different cities and military bases. Her first school was
on the Burtonwood AFB in England where she completed the first, second and third
grades.

From there it was San Antonio, TX, Orlando, FL, and San Antonio again. There her
father was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and he was hospitalized at Fitzsimmons
Army Hospital in Aurora, CO (near Denver), for 1½ years. Cindy attended 6th grade
in Aurora and 7th grade on the hospital grounds. During that time, Cindy’s
maternal grandparents came to Aurora to live with Cindy and her mother and help
out. Also, Cindy joined the Campfire Girls and went to their summer camp, where
she had a great time.

After Peter was discharged from the hospital, the family was transferred to
Columbus OH where Peter earned a bachelor’s degree in Business at Ohio State
University, and Cindy attended Columbus public schools. By that time, World War II
was long over, and Cindy’s father was no longer needed as a pilot. Instead of flying
planes, he was placed in charge of converting military materiel systems to (very
early, very large) computers.

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Peter’s next assignment took him to Keflavik, Iceland. Initially, he went alone and
Cindy and her mother went to Iron Mountain where they stayed with Cindy’s
grandparents. But, after six weeks, Peter missed his wife and child and asked them
to join him in Iceland. When they did, they stayed in the town of Keflavik - - not on
the army base - - although Cindy attended the 25-student school on base, where all
her courses, except physical education, were correspondence courses.

Although Cindy and her parents at first didn’t want to go to Iceland, they really
enjoyed being there. Because the Gulf Stream flows nearby, it’s not as cold as one
would expect. Kekflavik, a small fishing town, is in the southern part of the country
where “nothing grows - - no trees, no grass.” There are just windy lava flats, and the
homes are made of concrete painted in bright colors. The three of them adjusted to
the progressively long hours of daylight in the summer and the reverse (i.e., long
hours of darkness) in the winter. Her family took a vacation trip to Spain while they
were living there, and all three of them were sorry to leave Iceland when the year
was over.

After completing the assignment in Iceland, Peter was transferred to Scott AFB
near Mascoutah, IL, and Cindy attended Mascoutah Community High School from
which she graduated.

While reminiscing about her childhood, Cindy mentioned that “no matter where
their family was at Christmastime as well as whenever her dad had time off for a
holiday,” she and her parents visited both sets of grandparents in Iron Mountain
and/or Wisconsin.

Furthermore, Cindy commented that she was always a good student and loved
moving and changing schools over the years! She has maintained contact with
some of her childhood friends. In fact, she met the person, whom she still considers
her best friend, when she was in the 6th grade in Denver. They’ve corresponded
with each other all these years and occasionally visit one another.

Cindy’s mother’s family was Protestant (but not religious), and her father’s was
Catholic; but, Cindy never attended a Catholic School because she and her parents
moved so often and because her father believed that children should be exposed
to other religious and ethnic groups. However, when the family was in Denver, her
parents felt that Cindy should have some Catholic religious training so that she
could make her First Communion, and they arranged for the necessary
instruction. Cindy began going to Mass once a week and became more observant

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than her father. She celebrated her First Communion and continued to go to Mass
regularly all the way through high school and into college.

After graduating from Mascoutah High School, Cindy applied to and was accepted
at Washington University. During the orientation for new students, which was
called “freshmen camp” and was held in Potosi, MO, Cindy met a fellow incoming
freshman named James (Jim) White, who would later become her husband.

Jim, when asked about his ancestors, stated that all branches of his family had
come to the States and lived in Missouri before1856. His grandparents on both
sides were farmers. His father, Aubrey, and his mother, Mildred, were six years
apart in age. Each of them taught right after they graduated from
school. (Interestingly, Aubrey had been Mildred’s teacher in high school.) However,
over the years, Jim’s mother worked as a secretary for several firms and institutions
and eventually became head of the residence hall of St. Luke’s Nursing School, and
his father held a number of different jobs, too. An early job was building roads
thanks to FDR’s Works Progress Administration (WPA). When the Missouri Highway
Patrol was established, he became one of the first troopers and remained on the
force until the 1950’s when he changed course and bought first a Post Dispatch
newspaper route in St. Louis and later a Globe Democrat route in the County, both
of which involved delivering daily newspapers to people’s homes.

Aubrey and Mildred had two sons - - first, Aubrey, Jr. (“Jerry”) and 11 years later,
James (Jim). When Jim was growing up, his family moved a number of times in the
St. Louis area and consequently, he, like Cindy, attended several different
elementary and junior high schools.

Although Jim’s parents divorced when Jim was 8 or 9, his mom and dad “always
remained close friends.” Aubrey also maintained a good relationship with his ex-
wife and their two sons, and Aubrey’s mother continued to live with Mildred (her
former daughter-in-law) and Jim until her death.

When Jim was approaching high school, his mother was employed as a secretary at
St. Louis Country Day School. Knowing what a good school Country Day was,
Mildred encouraged Jim to apply for a scholarship

there, and everyone was excited when Jim was awarded the scholarship. Jim
attended Country Day from the 8th grade through the 12th grade.

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After his high school graduation, Jim went to Washington University, where he met
Cindy. During the time Jim was at W.U., his father moved to Las Vegas, where he
worked at the local post office. Meanwhile, Jim and Cindy dated off and on for a
couple years. They both decided to do their junior year abroad. Cindy went to
Strasbourg in France to study French and Jim to Frankfurt am Main to study
German. They got married in Basel, Switzerland and, when Cindy got pregnant,
decided to return to the United States (earlier than expected but) just in time for
the second semester at W.U.

Back in St. Louis, Cindy and Jim lived with Jim’s mother, and Jim worked in the
evenings for UPS. After their daughter, (Leigh) Tracy White, was born in July, Cindy
worked evenings in the Medical Records Department of St. Luke’s Hospital. During
what would be their final semester at W.U., Cindy remembers occasionally taking
Tracy to the Alpha Xi Delta room on campus and having her sorority sisters babysit
while she was in class. Both Cindy and Jim completed the requirements for their
respective bachelor’s degrees - - Jim’s in Sociology and Cindy’s in French - - the
following January (after 3 ½ years).

Cindy had lost interest in Christianity during college but maintained her interest in
religion in general and in reading widely about various faiths. Eventually something
she read made her want to convert to Judaism. It was a Midrash (a homiletic story)
referring to angels singing in praise of God when the Egyptians died in the Red Sea,
and God said something like: “How can you sing when my children, the work of my
hands, are drowning?” When she read that, Cindy said to herself, “Judaism is the
religion for me!” (But, her conversion didn’t happen for a number of years.)

After graduating from W.U., Jim thought he wanted to work in the research end of
advertising and went alone to the East coast to interview for a job and then took
Cindy and 7-month old Tracy to the West coast for interviews there. When he didn’t
like the job offers, Jim and Cindy decided to go to Las Vegas where Jim’s father lived
and where Jim got a job as a technical writer for the Nevada Test Site, but when a
job opened at the post office where his dad worked, Jim became a night clerk at the
post office. Since Jim is a “night person,” he really loved the hours!

By this time, Jim had decided to return to school to get a law degree. He applied to
and was accepted as a fulltime student by the University of Chicago Law School,
from which he graduated. While Jim was in school, he worked part-time as a cab
driver and as a legal researcher, but Cindy, who was essentially a secretary her
entire career, was the primary wage earner at this point. She held a secretarial

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position in the National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s National Defender
Project.

After law school, Jim and Cindy moved back to St. Louis. Jim went to work in the St.
Louis County Counselor’s Office where he remained until he retired 30 years later,
and Cindy found employment as an administrative assistant in the St. Louis sales
office of the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), where she remained until the
company closed its St. Louis office.

In 1970, Cindy and Jim bought their first house, which was near Brith Sholom
Kneseth Israel (BSKI) Synagogue. Soon after moving there, Cindy walked into the
synagogue and spoke with Rabbi Skoff about her wish to be converted. Rabbi Skoff
was hesitant because her husband Jim, according to Cindy, had no interest in
practicing any religion. It took the Rabbi a total of about 3 years first to agree and
then to conduct and complete the conversion for Cindy and 9 year-old Tracy. Once
the process began, Cindy began attending Shabbat services each week.

She did some volunteer work in the synagogue office at BSKI for a few years, and in
the 1990’s was hired as bookkeeper, a position she held for another 3 years. It
didn’t take long before Cindy became a synagogue “Minyannaire- extraordinaire.”
She now attends every evening minyan when she is in town and able to go, as well
as morning minyanim on Sundays and (thanks to her friend, Gene Barken) on
Wednesdays. She not only attends but often leads services.

Jim and Cindy, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this past October,
have owned four different homes since coming to St. Louis. The first one was in
Richmond Heights near BSKI. The second was on Westmoreland Avenue in
Clayton. Next came Creve Coeur, and they presently live in University City.

Their daughter, Tracy, currently lives in Boston with her husband, Hans and their
two children - - Petra, who turned 7 in December, and Hans, who will be 12 in
January. Tracy is a senior systems analyst at a tech company, and Hans, who was
born in France to an Italian mother, is the manager of user experience for an
educational software company. He and Tracy met when Tracy took a multi-media
night course at Harvard and Hans, an adjunct professor, was her teacher. The
company where Hans worked sent him to their office in Zurich, Switzerland, and the
couple, like Jim and Cindy, married in Switzerland, where they lived for 8 or 9 years
and where their two children were born.

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 Since retiring from the County Counselor’s Office, Jim has been practicing law part-
time mostly for local government clients from an office in his home. He is “an avid
photographer,” and both he and Cindy are voracious readers, especially of science
fiction, because of which they have become active in the local science fiction
community. Also, they are big Cardinal fans and not only frequently go to games
but also go to spring training camp in Florida when they can. They love to travel,
and make frequent trips to Boston to see their children, to Florida to visit Jim’s
brother and to Phoenix where Cindy’s 93-year old mother lives and thrives. In
addition, they have not only been to Europe numerous times but have been to
more remote areas such as Hawaii and New Zealand. Other passions that they
share are live theater and pets, of which they have had many over the years. From
2004 to 2010, they fostered rescue dogs and found new homes for 68 of
them. Right now, they have two cats sharing their home. When asked what he is
most proud of aside from his daughter and grandchildren, Jim replied: “drafting the
Missouri statute that determines the distribution of sales taxes in St. Louis County,
which is the only statute ever enacted anywhere using logarithms.”

Cindy’s reply to the same question was, “Of course, we’re very proud of our
daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren.” In addition, she is truly proud of the
job Jim does making personalized videos of their grandchildren. Ever since the two
were born, he has made a video with a creative title for each child’s birthday,
coordinating music from the previous year with an unbelievable number of photos
taken of the child since the last birthday. These pictures flash by in time to the
music in an extraordinary presentation. And, finally Cindy said, “I’m also proud of
my garden. I love to garden when the weather permits.”

Cindy and Jim, who have strong family ties and share a great many interests, have
succeeded in their individual pursuits and have enjoyed their very full and most
interesting life together.

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Harlan Radinsky

All four of Harlan Radinsky’s grandparents emigrated from Russia in the early
1900’s and settled in St. Louis. Harlan’s paternal grandmother, Grandma Minnie,
owned and operated a grocery store while raising her 4 children. Harlan never
knew his Grandfather Radinsky, but he had a very special relationship with his
maternal grandfather, Zada Max Kabak who had been a tailor in Russia. Before
Harlan was born, Zada Max bought a 4-story apartment building on Clara
Avenue. He and Bubba Goldie lived upstairs in one of the “flats” (apartments) with
their 9 children and rented out the other 3 flats. When Zada Max realized that he
was expected to work on Saturdays, he went back to Russia with 2 or 3 of his
children but relented after a few years and returned to St. Louis, where he earned a
living by selling cleaning supplies door-to-door on weekdays.

Meanwhile, Harlan’s father, Ely Radinsky was born and raised in St. Louis. He
attended Ranken Trade School from which he graduated, enabling him to become a
draftsman and in time to make maps for the United States government.
(Interestingly, over the years, Harlan’s father, who never had any piano lessons,
learned to play the piano by ear and was actually very talented!)

Ely’s future wife, Molly, who was known by her nickname, May, was born in Russia.
She was a strong, capable and “wonderful woman,” who worked hard and later
made sure her children got a college education. Ely and May fell in love and got
married.

Harlan, who was born not long after the stock market crashed at the beginning of
the Great Depression, was the first of Eli and May’s two sons. Because of limited
resources, Harlan’s father, mother and he at first lived with one of Harlan’s aunts in
South St. Louis. Later when his father got a job with the government, the 3 of them
rented a flat in a 4-family apartment building on Temple Street, which was in an
Orthodox Jewish neighborhood near Wellston with “shuls on almost every corner.”
His mother spoke Yiddish (not Russian) to her family of origin but didn’t allow
Harlan to speak anything but English. Harlan’s family attended the Belt Shul, which
Harlan thinks had 1,000 members who were crowded in the relatively small
building and which “never had a problem getting a minyan.”

Growing up, Harlan remembers walking everywhere in the neighborhood that he

wanted to go and sometimes taking a streetcar downtown to one (or more) of the 3
large department stores at that time: Stix, Baer and Fuller, Famous Barr, and
Scruggs Vandervoort and Barney.

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There was no shortage of children to play with in his neighborhood. Harlan has
fond memories of roller skating, playing softball and going to Council House, which
was founded by the National Council of Jewish Women in the 1940’s or 1950’s as a
gathering place for both children and adults. Harlan not only engaged in various
social and athletic activities with his peers, but also attended Hebrew School there.
He remembers Rabbi Friedman taught him to read and write Hebrew and slapped
him on the hand with a ruler when he mispronounced a word or failed to do his
homework.

In addition to joining Council House, Harlan’s mother bought membership in the

Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA), which most people called the “Y” and
which was the precursor of the Jewish Community Center (JCC) or “J,” where Harlan
went swimming, played ping pong and checked out games to play with other
children on the premises. His parents were very firm about Harlan’s having to
finish his homework before he could go to the Council House, YMHA or JCC.

Harlan’s relationship with Zada Max, who was a very observant Orthodox Jew, grew
over the years. His grandfather liked to take Harlan with him to shul on Shabbat.
Harlan remembers that all the rabbis there had long black beards and
communicated with each other and with the congregation in Yiddish.

When Harlan’s family lived on Temple Street, he attended Arlington Elementary

School from kindergarten to 4th grade. By that time, Zada Max had bought a
second piece of property. This time it was a duplex on Semple Avenue. Harlan and
his parents moved into the downstairs apartment, and the upstairs flat was rented
to a “Jewish family with children.” While living on Semple, Harlan went to Emerson
Elementary School for a year or two.

With the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States
into World War II, Harlan’s father was sent to Portland, Oregon for a year to draw
maps that indicated the location of Japanese troops overseas. May and Harlan
remained in St. Louis where all their family and many friends lived. But, at the end
of the year, when his father was transferred to Washington, D.C., Ely sent for Harlan
and May, who joined him in Prince George’s County, Maryland just outside of
Washington in Greenbelt, MD where the government had built houses for
government employees and their families.

There was no shul in Greenbelt. Instead, 30-40 Jewish families got together and
rented a theater for Friday night and Saturday services. They paid a rabbi from out
of town to officiate. It was that rabbi who prepared Harlan for his Bar Mitzvah by

90
teaching him to read the Torah and his Haftorah portion. The rabbi wanted Harlan
to read the words perfectly because he felt Harlan’s performance reflected on him,
the teacher; and, at his Bar Mitzvah, Harlan made the rabbi proud not only when he
chanted the Torah and Haftorah but also when he gave his speech.

The 3 Radinskys remained in Greenbelt until the war ended. During those years,
Harlan completed 8th grade in Prince George’s County and attended McKinley High
School in Washington from the 9th through the 12th grade. McKinley High offered
students the choice of an academic, commercial (business) or technical course of
study, and Harlan, knowing he wanted to go to college, selected the academic
curriculum, which included, among other things, trigonometry, calculus and
German. While in high school, Harlan took private piano lessons and played the
glockenspiel, which he said was “like a xylophone attached to the body.” He
joined both the French Club where he learned to speak some French (although he
didn’t take any French courses) as well as the Coin and Stamp Club, made new
friends and participated in various school activities, but he really missed his many
relatives and friends in St. Louis.

The year Harlan graduated from McKinley High School, his only sibling, Mitchell,
was born, and in some ways, Harlan was like a second father to Mitchell, who later
became a pharmacist, married a woman from New York and has lived in nearby
Fair Lawn, NJ for many years. After Mitchell was born, May wanted to go back to St.
Louis to be closer to their family. Ely agreed and was able to arrange a
transfer. Therefore, Harlan’s parents and baby Mitchell relocated to St. Louis,
where his father continued working for the government as a draftsman, making
maps during both the Korean War and the Cold War.

Meanwhile, Harlan remained behind and entered his freshman year of college on
the University of Maryland’s College Park campus. At the end of the school year,
Harlan joined his family in St. Louis and went to Washington University’s summer
school, where he took a couple courses. However, he decided to go to Westminster
College in Fulton, MO in the fall and live in a dormitory. It was a small, all-men’s
school at that time where students knew all the teachers, and Harlan loved it. He
majored in Sociology, joined a fraternity, and graduated with a B.A. in Sociology
three years later.

About this time, Harlan’s father died of essential hypertension at the age of 51, and
a few years later, Harlan’s mother married Jack Katz, a grocer who turned out to be
a good companion for his mother.

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After graduating from Westminster College, Harlan was hired by the Missouri
Department of Social Services as a social worker in a crime-ridden area of St. Louis,
a job that Harlan soon realized was not a good fit for him, and he resigned after 6
months.

From Social Work, Harlan turned to Pharmacy. With credit for some courses he had
taken at Westminster College, Harlan was able to enroll in the St. Louis School of
Pharmacy as a sophomore. Harlan remembers that pharmacy was “very
rough.” For example, he had to learn 25,000 drugs and their incompatibilities, and
often he studied all night long. But, he persevered and graduated 3 years later. His
first job after graduating was in Jewish Hospital’s pharmacy, where he filled
prescriptions for both inpatients and outpatients.

About that time, Harlan happened to attend a Hadassah party, where a young
woman named Barbara Belenzon came up to him and offered him something to
eat. They began to talk, and after a while she sat down and ate with him. She was
pretty, intelligent, had a clerical position in an insurance broker agency and they
“sort of clicked.” As a result, Harlan “asked her out for a date.” One year later, in
1956, Harlan and Barbara were married by Rabbi Robert Jacobs, who was the
Director of Hillel at Washington University. The newly married couple chose to live
in the Richmond Heights home of Barbara’s mother, who was a widow and not well,
in order to help her. Because the living arrangements worked out satisfactorily for
all concerned, Barbara and Harlan continued living in that Richmond Heights home
all their married life.

In what would become a long career in pharmacy, Harlan worked in a number of

locations. After 2 years at Jewish Hospital, he worked in the pharmacy of the
Metropolitan Building on Grand Boulevard, which housed many doctors’
offices. Next came the Crestwood-Affton Pharmacy on Watson Road that was also
in a doctors’ building, where the physicians involved hired Harlan as a Pharmacist-
Manager and paid him a good salary. After two or three years, the doctors asked
Harlan if he would like to buy the pharmacy. Harlan accepted their proposal and
for the next 15 years owned and operated the Crestwood-Affton store.

Before he knew it, Harlan purchased a second drug store. This one, Highway 21
Pharmacy, was in Jefferson County. Harlan hired another pharmacist to work with
him there, and they became partners in the business. Because things had gone
reasonably well in those 2 stores, when the opportunity to buy a third pharmacy on
the grounds of DePaul Hospital arose, Harlan didn’t hesitate very
long. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out well for him at DePaul, and Harlan

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decided to give up that business. In 1994, Harlan sold the other two pharmacies to
K-Mart and went to work full-time in one of the 5 St. Louis Connect Care Clinics in
the inner city. When Grace Hill Health Centers bought the Connect Care Clinics 5
years later, Harlan worked for Grace Hill for another 8 years. Now, Harlan works
occasionally for “RPH on the Go,” which is an agency that provides available
registered pharmacists with temporary employment in pharmacies that need
coverage for their full-time pharmacists who are ill or on vacation.

Over the years, Harlan has been an active member of a number of civic
organizations that promote high standards of behavior and reach out to help
individuals and groups in the community in various ways, such as the Fraternal
Order of Freemasonry, the Scottish Rite, the Shriners, and the Optimist Club in
Crestwood where he served as President. In just 3 weeks, Harlan will be presented
with a 50-Year Pin from the Shriners.

Harlan joined Kneseth Israel Congregation in 1959. At that time Barbara was a
member of Brith Sholom. The two synagogues merged in 1960 or 1961. Harlan felt
that “Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel was a wonderful shul with wonderful people.” He
was very fond of both Rabbi Benson Skoff and Rabbi Mordecai Miller. He looked up
to Rabbi Miller, who was someone “you could go to with a question or a problem,
and he would sit down and talk with you like a father.” Nevertheless, Harlan has
adjusted to and accepts the recent merger of BSKI and Shaare Zedek and hardly
ever misses a minyan. He comes to both the morning and evening services
whenever he can.

Harlan and Barbara had two daughters. Their older daughter, Harriet Eileen, went
all the way through school in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School
District. After graduating from high school, she chose to go to Loretta Heights
College in Denver, Colorado to study Special Education. After 2 years, Harriet
transferred to Fontbonne College in Clayton to complete her B.A. degree in Special
Ed. Once she was in the field, however, she changed her mind about being a
special ed teacher and decided to become trained as a pharmacy
technician. When Harriet completed the training, Harlan offered her a job in his
drug store where she worked until Harlan sold the store. Harriet is currently
employed as a pharmacy tech for Schnucks.

Their second daughter, Shelly, soon after her birth in 1964 exhibited symptoms
indicating a problem, but the family’s pediatrician was unable to identify the
disorder or treat it. Unfortunately, Shelly wasn’t diagnosed until she was 11 years
old as having Prader-Willi Syndrome, which according to the Mayo Clinic staff

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definition “is a rare disorder present at birth that results in a number of physical,
mental and behavioral problems. A key feature of Prader-Willi (prah-dur VIL-ee)
syndrome is a constant sense of hunger that usually begins after the first year of
life.” Once Shelly had a diagnosis, Harlan and Barbara were able to arrange the
recommended care for her. For many years she has been in a home for people
with Prader-Willi Syndrome with a caregiver assigned to each resident 24 hours a
day. Shelly currently lives in a group home in Ballwin and has a job in the Lafayette
Workshop where she earns money that she can use to buy something for herself or
to go to a show. Harlan sometimes goes to see Shelly on Thursdays, but he always
takes her out during the weekends. Years ago, he began taking her with him to
shul every Saturday evening, where people “just love her.” She stays in his home
overnight and spends Sunday with him. Shelly, who sometimes takes Paraquad
classes (in subjects like safety or computers), is very good at doing both jigsaw and
crossword puzzles and is a surprisingly good artist, who, among other things, paints
in oil.

Sadly in 2005, Barbara was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and subsequently
with severe osteoporosis. Fortunately, Harlan had a long-term care insurance
policy in place and he hired a round-the-clock caregiver for Barbara when it became
necessary. She died in 2010. Her loss was hard on Harlan and his
daughters. Harlan is speaking for himself but also reflecting his daughters’ feelings
when he says “I loved my wife and I miss her.”

Today, in addition to going to shul for minyan twice a day on a regular basis, Harlan
likes to attend meetings of his various organizations, bowl with Shelly, and go to an
occasional baseball game or performance at the Muny Opera. Harlan Radinsky is a
man who has had his share of good and bad experiences in life, but he remains
positive in his thinking and focuses on the good. He’s proud of both his children
and enjoys helping others through his organizational work.

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Leslie Birenbaum and Susan Roth

The son of a Russian immigrant, Leslie says he was “an industrious little kid,” who
began earning money at a young age with odd jobs like using his little red wagon to
carry people’s groceries to their home, working for a milkman and delivering
newspapers. When asked what he did with the money he made, Leslie said
something like, “I didn’t save it; I spent it at the movies or on something I wanted.”

Leslie describes himself as “a Jew by stomach.” However, his mother’s side of the
family was Orthodox and observant, and his maternal grandmother was
exceptional. According to Leslie, she was a “woman” who could read the Torah
“backwards and forwards.” She also was a great cook, and holidays were celebrated
at her home. His mother also placed importance on his attending Hebrew school,
which he did for several years until his Bar Mitzvah in December 1961.

From that day until he joined the Marine Corps, Leslie was totally non-observant.
Boot Camp, however, was “a rebirth of Judaism” for him, and he started to “get
involved with Jews again.” He served as a Jewish Lay Leader since the Corps often
didn’t have a rabbi available and lay leaders were used as substitutes.

Leslie stated that (at first) he was a “first infantryman.” His next assignment was to
drive a truck. Next he served as an auto mechanic and then as an auto mechanics
instructor. One thing that Leslie particularly liked about his military service was that
he “got to see the world.” For example, once he went to Australia for R & R; another
time he chose to go to Israel. Leslie spent two full years in Vietnam and 10 years as
a Marine Recruiter. He remained in the Corps for a total of 21 years until he was 38.

In 1983, Leslie was stationed In Cocoa Beach, Florida (near Cape Canaveral). It was
there that friends introduced him to Susan Roth, who lived in nearby Satellite
Beach.

Susan’s story begins differently than Leslie’s. Susan was born in the Bronx, New
York, and after several moves for her father’s job in the textile business, she
eventually ended up in Somerville. Because Somerville was predominately a
Christian community and Philip and Beverly wanted the family to “fit in,” they
celebrated Christmas every year. Both Susan and her brother Andrew, went to
Hebrew School, but Susan did not become a Bat Mitzvah.

At age 13, Susan learned about the Holocaust, and, at same time, TV was showing
footage of police dogs attacking civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham. These

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pivotal events helped form her social consciousness. After that, Susan told her
family: “No more Christmas!”

After her high school graduation, Susan attended and graduated from the
University of Michigan in 1966 with a B.A. in Sociology. For the next 15 years, Susan
lived in New York City. When she first arrived, she was awarded a National Institute
of Mental Health Fellowship, which enabled her to achieve an M.S. degree in
sociology from New York University. After receiving her master’s degree, Susan
taught sociology at Brooklyn College and also became very actively involved in the
Women’s Movement and antiwar movements in New York City.

Susan got married in New York in 1974 and had a son, Michael, the following year.
When it became clear that the marriage wasn’t working, the couple divorced, and
Susan and her son moved to Orlando, Florida. Because she was now a single
mother, the first thing Susan did was search for employment. When she couldn’t
find a teaching job, she accepted a position as a secretary in a law firm for a year
before being hired by Crawford Disability Management Company, as a vocational
consultant. After a few years, she was transferred to their office in Satellite Beach,
Florida.

It was in Satellite Beach that Susan met Leslie Birenbaum. According to Susan, “It
was love at first sight.” After dating one year, Leslie learned that he was being
transferred to Jacksonville, Florida, by the military. Susan was able to work out a
transfer to her company’s Jacksonville office. As a result, she and her 8 year-old son
Michael moved to Jacksonville, and, in 1984, Susan and Leslie were married there
by a rabbi with Michael standing on the bima with them. Not long after that Leslie
legally adopted Michael.

The next year, Leslie’s life as a Marine came to an end, but he found that he was
able to use his skills as a military recruiter in the civilian world. His first job was as a
corporate recruiter for Prudential Insurance Co. of America for which he worked 10
years.

In 1995, when Susan was transferred from the New Jersey office of Crawford to the
St Louis office, Leslie resigned from Prudential and the two of them moved to St.
Louis. (Their son, Michael, who was then in college, chose to remain in New York.)
Once they arrived in St. Louis, Susan began working from her new office in City
Place in Creve Coeur, and Leslie searched for a recruiting job with a St. Louis
company. He eventually joined New England Financial Services, a subsidiary of Met
Life, from which he retired on December 31, 2011.

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It’s interesting to note that from the time Susan was 15 until about 5 years ago, she
had no particular interest in Judaism. What brought Susan back was her mother’s
death in May 2007. Susan searched for a way to remember and honor her mother
and began to realize that Beverly had given her a gift: ”the desire to preserve [our]
Jewish identity.” And so, it is not surprising that a few years after arriving in St.
Louis, Susan took an adult education class with Rabbi Fasman and decided to
attend services at Shaare Zedek. She and Leslie found that the people at SZ were so
friendly that they decided to become members.

Since joining, both of them have served on various committees at Shaare Zedek
and Leslie was a member of the synagogue’s Board for 3 years. In addition, both
have done volunteer work in the community. They are members of the Jewish
Motor Cycle Club (along with Monroe Ginsburg, Steve Aroesty, Harvey and Ava
Small and a few more SZ members. Susan explained that she doesn’t ride a
motorcycle herself, but is a “groupie.”).

They are very proud of their bright and independent son, Michael. Michael is now is
an assistant professor at Bowdoin College where he lives with his wife and son in
Maine.

Although Leslie and Susan are two very different people, there are surprising
similarities in their life stories: (1) they both changed elementary schools at least
four times because their families moved so much; (2) both experienced a period of
years with little (if any) involvement with Judaism but then later in their lives
returned to their roots; and (3) their birthdays are the same day!

In spite of their differences, they are an amazing couple, who have been married
for nearly 29 years and still seem to have lots of fun together.

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Kay Sandweiss

Kay Sue Sandweiss grew up with her mother’s words ringing in her ears, telling her:
“We are wealthy because we have (a large, close) family!” Those words have
influenced Kay’s entire life. Both of Kay’s parents were born in Russia. Her father,
Morris Greenwald, emigrated after WW I ended, and her mother, Belle Ehrlich
(Greenwald) arrived in the United States a few years later. Both were Labor Zionists;
i.e., they believed not only that Jews should populate Israel but that they should go
to Israel and “work the land.”
Kay’s father was a very quiet but caring man, who did a lot of good for people
without expecting any recognition. However, when he learned about the Warsaw
Ghetto, he was so moved that he “walked the streets to raise money;” and in fact,
raised such a large amount that a plaque in Israel acknowledges his contributions.
Kay’s mother, Belle, who was a full time homemaker, was “an avid reader, a deep
thinker,” and actually attended Washington University’s night school at one point.
Having lived through pogroms in Russia, she was somewhat fearful and very
protective of her children. At the same time, she was very close to her sisters and
started her day by talking with them every morning.
Kay, who was born on January 11, 1934, lived with her parents and younger sister.
According to Kay, Betty turned out to be “artsy, creative and double promoted more
than once” while Kay although a good student was more of a tomboy. They had an
apartment on Cote Brilliante near Easton Avenue (now Martin Luther King Drive),
which was relatively close to four synagogues as well as kosher delicatessens,
bakeries and butcher shops.
Much of their large, close extended family lived nearby, and families got together to
celebrate practically all the Jewish holidays, secular holidays, birthdays and
anniversaries. But, the most outstanding and memorable thing about the family is
that every Saturday night, Kay’s mother and aunts would take their children to the
home of Kay’s maternal grandmother (Baba), D’vora Ehrlich and have such a good
time together. Their fathers would join them after work, have a light dinner and go
to an area in the house to discuss topics of interest while the children occupied
themselves in other rooms. Although the entire family had an active cousins’ club
for about 20 years, the club no longer exists today. However, some of the cousins
still meet once a month for lunch.
From kindergarten through eighth grade, both Kay and Betty attended Arlington
Elementary School, which was located just 4 doors from their home. For the most
part, those were “full, carefree days.” But, one day when Kay was 6 or 7, she had a
very upsetting experience. One of her best friends, who was Catholic, said to her,
“I can’t play with you anymore because you killed Jesus.” When Kay told her mother,

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Belle called the child’s mother, who was genuinely apologetic and, in turn,
expressed her concerns to her priest.
Kay really loved learning, going to school and being outdoors climbing trees and
playing ball. Since her school offered summer programs for kids, she found herself
going to the school all year.
Outside of public school, Kay participated in various other activities and programs.
She spent much of her time at the nearby Council House, which was the forerunner
of our JCC and which provided a number of opportunities for growth and
socialization for Jewish youngsters. In addition, she really wanted to go to Hebrew
School and take piano lessons. Both required convincing her mother who thought:
1) Hebrew school would lead to a desire by Kay to make aliyah which had been very
hard for a couple of relatives, and 2) violin lessons were preferable to piano
lessons. Kay‘s father and aunts helped persuade Belle to enroll Kay in Hebrew
School at Achad Ha’am, which was next door to Council House; and Kay made a
bargain with her mother. She would take violin lessons for one year first; and, if she
did well, she could take piano lessons.
After completing 8th grade, Kay went to Soldan High School, where she made lots
of good friends. She remembers choosing to walk to the school with her friends
rather than taking a streetcar and bus. Because Soldan offered Hebrew as a foreign
language, Kay studied Hebrew there all 3 ½ years she went to Soldan. She also
played violin in the school orchestra, worked on the yearbook and was on the
school’s softball team. In addition, during those years, Kay was an active member in
a Labor-Zionist organization called Habonim.
One of the students in her Hebrew class at Soldan was Gerald Morton Sandweiss.
Although Gerald’s family lived outside of the Soldan area, his parents arranged for
him to go to Soldan because they wanted him to meet and socialize with Jewish
youngsters. Gerald, who could read music, was a talented drummer and a member
of the school’s marching band. He actually won the Krupa prize (named after Gene
Krupa, the famous 20th century jazz drummer and band leader) in a national
contest.
Kay and Gerald dated and fell in love. Kay remembers that her mother worried that
they would get married and Kay would not finish her education, but Kay insisted
she would. Because Kay wanted to be an elementary school teacher and was eager
to “get into life,” she attended summer school, a step that enabled her to graduate
early from the newly-named Soldan Blewett High in June 1951(after 3 ½ years).
She applied to and was accepted at Washington University and was offered a need-
based scholarship, but Kay said, “Oh, we’re not needy. My mother always says we’re
wealthy because we have family.” The offer was withdrawn, much to Kay’s mother’s
regret. Nevertheless, Kay attended Washington University for one year (1951-1952)

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but then transferred to Harris Teachers College primarily because at that time, WU
didn’t offer a degree in elementary education but Harris did. However, after one
year, Kay left Harris because she and Gerald were beginning to talk of marriage,
and Kay wanted to get a job to supplement their income.

Meanwhile, Gerald, who really wanted to play music professionally but also liked
working with children, enrolled in Harris Teachers College, and received a student
deferment from military service (in the Korean War). He graduated with a bachelor’s
degree in elementary education and then easily got a job teaching upper
elementary grades in Columbia School in the city of St. Louis. After a few years, he
left the city and began to work in the Ritenour School District. Although Kay
dropped out of college when she and Gerald got married in 1953, she made a
promise to herself to return and get her degree as soon as she could.

After Kay and Gerald got married on August 16th, they lived in an apartment in
University City. At first, Gerald taught fulltime during the daytime and performed in
bands in the evenings and on weekends. Before their children were born, Kay
found employment first at the Famous Barr Department Store as a saleswoman
and then in the Motel Contract Supply Company doing clerical work. At the same
time, she became a member of Pioneer Women (a LaborZionist group).

Based on happy memories of the wonderful Saturday nights that her extended
family spent at her grandmother’s house during her childhood, Kay really wanted to
have a large family of her own, and Gerald felt strongly that Kay should be a
fulltime mother and homemaker; Kay agreed. Their first child, Charla, was born in
1954, followed by David in 1956, Brent in 1959, Ellen in 1961 and ending with Barry
in 1968.

In the years that the children were growing up, Gerald’s two careers flourished.
First, he advanced in the Ritenour School District from a teacher of gifted students
to principal of the Marion Elementary School and, in time, to Assistant
Superintendent of Elementary Education. Second, as a professional drummer, he
found himself performing 6 nights a week often in prestigious venues including the
Muny Opera, Powell Symphony Hall, and the Khorassan Ballroom in the Chase Park
Plaza (for the Veiled Prophet Balls). Through Gerald, Kay met and enjoyed many
famous entertainers such as Rudy Valee, Josephine Baker and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

In 1956, the family moved to Olivette in the Arrowhead Park Subdivision, which
consisted of young families with small children, and close friendships were quickly
established. Neighborhood women got together socially and often husbands joined

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them for summer barbecues or an evening out to dinner. During those years, Kay
almost “lived in her car, driving her 5 youngsters wherever they needed to go.

When Kay and Gerald were thinking about joining a synagogue, Kay’s mother told
them how impressed she was with Rabbi Epstein. She felt he “understood the way
of the future“ when he transformed SZ from a traditional Orthodox shul to a more
modern Conservative synagogue. After meeting with the Rabbi, Kay liked him right
away. He told her the most important thing about a synagogue was not its dues
structure but how comfortable the family would feel as part of the synagogue’s
community. Since the Sandweisses found the Rabbi and members to be extremely
friendly and welcoming, they became members of SZ in 1960 or 1961.

The Sandweiss family moved to 471 Ridgecorde Place in Creve Coeur in September
1968, one month before the youngest member, Barry, was born. Kay still lives there
today.

In the early 1970’s, Kay began to fulfill the promise she had made to herself long
ago. She began to take courses offered at (the recently merged) Harris-Stowe
Teachers College. And, in 1979, Kay (at the age of 45) received her Bachelor of Arts
degree in Education, K-12. In 1980, she became a teacher’s aide in a 6th grade class
at Robin Hill Elementary School in the Parkway District. The next year, she was hired
to be a fulltime 5th grade teacher. When Robin Hill closed, she accepted a position
teaching 8th grade Social Studies and Language Arts in Parkway’s Northeast Middle
School. In addition, from 1984 to 1994, Kay was Principal of Parkway’s Summer
Essentials program. During that time she continued her education and in 1986
earned a MA degree in Teaching at Webster University. Ironically, it turned out that
Kay who wanted to be an elementary teacher taught almost all of her 24 years in a
secondary school, ending when she retired in 2002.

Since that time, Kay has experienced the death of 3 of the people who were most
dear to her - - her son, David, who was killed in 2005 when his car was struck by a
bus in Liberty, MO; her husband, Gerald, who died in 2006 of heart failure after
suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease; and

David’s wife, Lana, who was more like a daughter to Kay than a daughter-in-law and
whose unexpected death was truly heart-breaking. When asked how she coped
with these losses, Kay responded that she got strength from her family members,
who were always there for each other, adding that when her grandfather died, her
Baba was very strong and taught the rest of the family that when tragedy strikes,
“we have to carry on.”

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After retiring in 2002, Kay took a part-time job at UMSL developing projects for
middle school students and teachers to integrate local government into the core
curriculum. For example, students in Parkway Northeast Middle School helped the
Creve Coeur City Council write a bicycle helmet law and then they helped get the bill
passed. Kay still sits on an Advisory Board for that program.

In addition, Kay, who considers herself a “life long learner,” has always taken
courses to make herself more proficient; i.e., to do a better job. She has 8
grandchildren, only 2 of whom live in St. Louis, but she is happy to take the children
out and to babysit for them. She lives a full life, traveling to visit her out –of- town
children and grandchildren, going to theater productions regularly at the Rep, the
Fox Theater, the New Jewish Theater, and Stages as well as to concerts. In addition,
Kay has lots of company throughout the year. Her home is open to nieces, nephews
- - virtually open to all family members. And so is Thanksgiving dinner. Every year
the whole family gets together at Kay’s home for Thanksgiving, especially her own
children and grandchildren but also nieces, nephews; everyone is welcome! There
are typically 50 people present, and they are all over the house - - just like her
Baba’s house on Saturday nights so many years ago. Kay’s mother was right. The
Sandweisses are wealthy because they have family!

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Mitchell and Janice Shenker

Both sets of Mitchell (Mitch) Shenker’s grandparents immigrated to the United

States. His father’s parents, Louis and Ethel Shenker, came here from a shtetl in
Russia in the 1890’s and settled in St. Louis. They were shomerei Shabbat and lived
in University City near Nusach Hari B’nai Zion Synagogue, which was then located
on Olive Street near McKnight Road. His Grandfather Shenker was a kosher
butcher, who owned a shop on the South side of St. Louis. Mitch’s mother’s parents,
David and Sarah Friedman, also came to America from Eastern Europe. His
Grandfather Friedman was a tailor, who unfortunately died before Mitch was born.

At first, Mitch lived with his parents, Harry and Bess Friedman Shenker, and his
older sister, Debra Amira, in a single-family house on Radcliffe Avenue in University
City (U.C.) near the Loop. When he was 3 or 4 years old, Mitch’s family moved to the
first floor apartment of a duplex home on Wild Plum Avenue off of Blackberry
Avenue. After his grandfather died, Mitch’s maternal grandmother and uncle lived
upstairs in the second floor apartment. Their home was a 5-minute walk from
Shaare Zedek, which his family joined and where Mitch attended both Sunday
School and Hebrew School, and where Mitch celebrated his Bar Mitzvah, followed
by a memorable party at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

Mitch’s parents, Harry and Bess, spoke English peppered with Yiddish at home, and
Mitch acquired their habit. Harry was an accountant who owned his own firm,
which initially was located in downtown St. Louis but later moved to Clayton. In his
spare time, Harry enjoyed collecting political buttons as well as coins. He was a kind
and gentle man and a good father, who “was always there” for Mitch. As President
of the Shaare Zedek’s Men’s Club, Harry set an example for Mitch to work on behalf
of the synagogue in general and the Men’s Club in particular. Mitch’s mother, Bess,
“was a typical Jewish mother,” who kept kosher, prepared dinners every night and
put her family’s needs above her own. Because his sister Debra was 6 years older
than Mitch, he didn’t interact with her much during their early years. However, they
became much closer as adults. Today, he proudly mentions that she worked for
Monsanto for many years and just recently competed in the Ms. Senior Missouri
Pageant.

Mitch attended Blackberry Lane Elementary School, Brittany Junior High from the
7th through the 9th grade and University City High School for 10th through 12th
grade. He stated that at first he was as an average student, adding that ”the more
schooling I got, the more I applied myself.” According to Mitch, he was “not

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musically-inclined,” but he did enjoy sports. In elementary school, he played Khoury
League Baseball in Heman Park with his neighborhood friends, and his father was
one of the coaches. Every summer, Mitch attended one of the “J” (JCCA) Day Camps
where, among other things, he played basketball as well as baseball. The JCCA at
that time was located on Union Boulevard. In high school, Mitch played intramural
basketball and football.

In ninth grade, he became an active member of the B’nai Brith Youth Organization
(BBYO) and its AZA chapter; and, from that time until he graduated, his social life
essentially centered around BBYO although he also socialized with friends at
school.

Mitch studied German for 3 years in high school and his German teacher, Wallace
Klein, took an interest in him and became an unofficial mentor and advisor to
Mitch. By that time, Mitch had become a more serious student and was determined
to attend and graduate from college with marketable skills. During the summers
while in high school, Mitch typically had a summer job. The job he had the summer
between his junior and senior years working at the Chase Park Plaza as a gardener
was probably his favorite because he had the opportunity to meet Sandy Koufax
and other well-known baseball players who stayed at the Chase when they had
baseball games in St. Louis.

Mitch graduated from U.C.H.S. and started college at Bradley University in Peoria, IL
the following fall. During the next 4 years, he majored in Political Science. Just
before he graduated from Bradley, Mitch became reacquainted with Janice
Heligman, who grew up in U.C., too, and was an active member of B’nai Brith Girls
(BBG) as a teenager. She and Mitch knew each other through BBYO but didn’t date
in their teen years.

Like Mitch, Janice’s four grandparents were immigrants from Eastern Europe. Both
of her maternal grandparents, Abe and Rose Friedman Ziff, were from Lithuania,
but they didn’t meet and marry until they arrived in the United States. Grandpa Ziff
was both a domestic (house) painter as well as a commercial painter. Janice’s
father’s parents, Benjamin and Rose Heligman, came from Russia. In time, Grandpa
Heligman owned a grocery store and bought a small apartment building containing
3 apartments in U.C. The grandparents lived in one of the apartments, and, before
Janice was born, her parents, Marvin and Edna Ziff Heligman, and her sister Marilyn,
who is 4 years older than Janice, lived in another one. The third apartment was
occupied by her aunt and uncle, Ed and Mary Heligman, and her cousins, Linda and
Larry, who belonged to Shaare Zedek. After Janice was born, she, too, lived in the

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apartment with her family but only for 6 months. Then her immediate family
moved into their own home on Lynn Avenue in U.C.

Janice’s mother was a full-time homemaker while her children were growing up.
“She was sweet, mild-mannered” and very close to her siblings and parents.
Referring to her mother, Janice said, “Her family was her life, and she made a
wonderful home for us.” Janice’s parents had a very good relationship, and Janice
never heard them raise their voices to each other. Her father, Marvin, and her
father’s brother Ed became partners in their father’s grocery business. The store
they owned and operated, Carr Food Market, was located in the city on Gamble
Street. When Janice was in her teens, the three partners closed the business, and
Marvin and Ed worked for Essen Hardware Store until they retired. Because Janice’s
sister, Marilyn, was 4 years older than Janice, they were at different stages growing
up, but Marilyn was, and still is, a wonderful sister to Janice.

Janice felt close to both sets of grandparents and spent time with them every
weekend. All four were happy to babysit for her and her sister when their parents
wanted to go out. Her mother’s mother, Grandma Rose (Ziff), kept kosher, and
Janice remembers going to the butcher with her. Although her Grandpa Ziff died
when she was 7, her grandparents were a big part of her life as long as they lived.

Janice, who was “the baby” (i.e., youngest grandchild on both sides of the family),
became part of a large extended family in St. Louis and has had close ties to her
relatives over the years. Her immediate family was especially close to Janice’s
mother‘s sister, Hilda Pearl, and her family, who lived right around the corner. It
was sad for Janice when her aunt’s family moved away about the time she was
seven. Her parents were members of United Hebrew Temple, and Janice attended
Sunday School and was later confirmed there.

Janice has fond memories of growing up in University City, which was “so Jewish
that the public schools almost could have closed on Jewish Holidays.” Janice
attended Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary School and was a conscientious
student, a characteristic that she maintained throughout her school years. She had
an aptitude for math and science. At the same time, Janice was a very quiet and shy
child, but she had good times with friends from her neighborhood and from school,
and she remains friends with quite a few of them today. One example is Ellen
Schlesinger (Madere), whom she met in the second grade. In addition, she interacts
regularly with several other former classmates, such as Harriet Shanas and Howard
Belsky, who are also members of Kol Rinah.

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One special feature of University City was the summer day camps that the city
established in the many U.C. neighborhood parks with bus transportation for
children to go swimming at Heman Park. As a result, Janice attended camp every
day in the summer “3 hours in the morning, home for lunch, and 3 hours in the
afternoon.”

In addition, Janice remembers spending time at the “J” where she belonged to
various clubs at the “ J’s“ Yalem building on Olive Boulevard in U. C. and later went
swimming and participated in activities at the “J’s” Millstone Campus off of
Lindbergh Boulevard, which she thought was “so far away.” While a student at
Brittany Junior High School, Janice became a junior counselor at a U.C. summer
camp.

When she began 9th grade, she joined BBG, and BBYO became the core of her
social life. It brought her “out of her shell,” and she held various offices in her local
chapter and was also elected treasurer of both the St. Louis BBG council and the
BBG region in which she lived. One summer while she was a U.C.H.S. student, Janice
accepted a summer job as counselor at one of the ”J” camps. Those were years of
studying, working on behalf of BBYO and being free to go places with friends. Janice
feels lucky that she had such a happy childhood. She graduated from U.C.H.S. and
went to the University of Missouri–St. Louis for 2 years and then transferred to
University of Missouri-Columbia, for the remaining 2 years. In college, she studied
hard, shared an apartment with 3 of her childhood friends, and had a good time.

In April, when Janice was completing her junior year and Mitch was just one month
away from his graduation from Bradley University, Mitch arranged to meet a high
school friend of his, Mike Elbein, who was a student at Kansas University, at the
Mizzou campus because Mizzou was half way between their 2 colleges. When Mitch
reached Mizzou, he contacted Janice and her roommates, and they all spent time
reminiscing about high school and BBYO. Mitch was very impressed with Janice
because she was so determined to get her CPA. Shortly after graduating from
Bradley with a B.A. in Political Science, Mitch called Janice and asked her out. And
that phone call was the beginning of their courtship.

By this time, Mitch had decided to work a few years to earn money for graduate
school. His first job after graduating was as an assistant manager at a Burger Chef
restaurant, where he received management training and then was promoted to
manager.

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One year later, Janice graduated from Mizzou with a B.S. in Business Administration
with a Specialty in Accounting. She began working at the firm of John R. Sutter, CPA.
At the same time, Mitch was thinking about going back to school; and, because
Burger Chef offered generous educational reimbursement to its employees, he was
able to enroll in the MBA Program at St. Louis University.

Mitch and Janice got married at the Colony Inn in Clayton with Rabbi Grollman
officiating, and subsequently Mitch received his MBA degree. One semester before
he graduated, Mitch changed jobs. He became the St. Louis manager of a company
called Central Parking Systems that bought and leased parking lots and garages.
After 4 years with the company, Mitch was promoted to regional manager of
facilities in a larger geographical area, which meant that he and Janice would have
to move to Nashville, TN. That same year, while living in Nashville, their first child
Rachel was born; and, for several years, Janice was a full-time mom.

Soon the couple moved back to St. Louis and Mitch became the President and
General Manager of a (Shenker) family-owned air tool manufacturing company.
(The air tool was a device that fixed dents and was used in collision repair.)

When their second child, Allison, arrived, their family was complete. Four years
after Allison’s birth, Janice began working at Abeles and Hoffman, P.C. where she
has worked ever since. When the three Shenker partners sold their air tool
business, Mitch took his share of the proceeds to start a company called M & J
Manufacturing, which made special tables for chiropractors treating patients with
skeletal and/or muscular pain and was designed to aid the healing process. Six
years later, Mitch sold that business and became a self-employed medical
personnel recruiter with the title of Physician Recruiting Specialist, a position that
Mitch really enjoyed; but, after 10 years, he was ready for a change. Therefore, he
took all the necessary courses to become a Missouri state-licensed insurance agent,
and for the past 3½ years has been employed by Bankers Life and Casualty Co. in a
position that he finds gratifying.

Over the years, Janice, who has been on the Shaare Zedek Board and has served on
various committees for the shul, has also been active in the Sisterhood. She was its
Treasurer for 5 years and is currently the VP of Membership. At the same time, she
continues working for Abeles and Hoffman as a Tax Manager (now part-time), runs
her household, and enjoys her brand new granddaughter, Elana!

Mitch, who has had a very interesting and varied career - - being manager, partner,
owner in diverse settings - - truly likes his current job at Bankers Life. In addition, he

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has “chosen” to spend his free time working on behalf of the synagogue and
genuinely enjoys playing a role (an important role) in the new Kol Rinah as he has
all his life in Shaare Zedek, where, over the years, he held many offices and served
on numerous committees for both the synagogue and the Men’s Club. Currently,
Mitch is Chairman of the Board of Kol Rinah. At various times before that, he held
the offices of President, Vice President, and Treasurer of Shaare Zedek, President of
the Men’s Club, and Chair of several committees, including the Youth Commission,
Adult Education, Membership and the Ritual Committee.

When asked what she is most proud of, Janice without hesitation says “my family.”
Rachel is an attorney in the law firm of Frankel, Rubin, Bond, Dubin, Siegel and
Klein, P.C. Her husband, Russell Gottlieb, is a high school math teacher in the
Rockwood School District, and they live in University City with their new daughter,
Elana, who was born on June 15 of this year. Allison is a registered nurse at Mercy
Hospital and currently lives with Janice and Mitch.

Mitch’s response to the same question was “I am most proud that I have found
someone that I still love after so many years and of the two children that we raised,
who are making concrete contributions to society, which makes me feel very good.”

Mitch and Janice Shenker, who both were raised with good values by loving and
supportive parents, have strong ties to their extended families, were truly active
members of B’nai Brith Youth Organization in their youth and in their synagogue as
adults, value education and their Jewish heritage, and, through their willingness to
work and serve, have made a difference in the lives of others.

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Leo and Sara Wolf

Note: The original version of this article was written for the Shaare Zedek High
Holiday Service in 2007-5768.

Both Leo and Sara Wolf were born in the 1920’s in the city of Lodz, which was
Poland’s second largest city at that time and had a Jewish population of about
300,000. Leo, the oldest of 3 children, was born to Ruven and Chaika Malka Wolf on
February 15, 1921. Ruven Wolf was a businessman and made a comfortable living.
Their large, extended family - - aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents - - lived nearby.
Leo stated that he had a very close family and a very good childhood. He attended a
private “all-boys” day school where he had both Hebrew and secular classes. Also,
he had a memorable Bar Mitzvah party at his home, and he joined Zionist
organizations as a teenager. His family’s shul was the setting for most of his social
activities. Those were good years.

Then, according to Leo, “the war broke out, and it was all over.” Sensing what was
coming, Leo’s parents sent his two young sisters to stay with family in Warsaw; but
he, his parents and his extended family were forced to go to the Lodz Ghetto in
1940. Four years later, he was sent to Auschwitz and from there to camps in
Germany, starting with Dachau and ending at a camp in the Tyrolean Mountains.
After being liberated in 1945 by American troops, Leo spent 4 or 5 months in an
American Army Hospital in Germany. After that, he found himself in a displaced
persons camp where he and the other survivors “were fed and were free.”

Meanwhile, Sara, who was the youngest of Jehil Mayer and Faigo Malka Najman’s 6
children, was born on February 17, 1928. When she was quite young and living with
her family in Lodz, Poland, her older brother and Leo Wolf were friends. Sara
remembers that sometimes they would give her a nickel so that she would leave
them alone, but their plan didn’t work. She would go buy some ice cream or candy
and then come back for another nickel.

Unfortunately, Sara’s father, who owned and operated a store that sold hard
leather to make shoes, died of a heart attack in 1935 when Sara was just 7 years
old. Sara’s mother was able to “keep the business going” until the children were old
enough to get jobs. Sara’s education ended when she was 11 years old because the
war broke out, schools were closed, and Jews were rounded up and sent to the
Lodz Ghetto. At first, Sara saw Leo from time to time in the ghetto; but, after a
while, they lost track of each other. In 1944, Sara was sent to Auschwitz, where her
mother died. Her brothers were taken away, but Sara, her 2 sisters and a cousin

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remained at Auschwitz for a while but then were transferred to Bergen-Belsen,
from which they were liberated on April 15, 1945 by the British.

After the war, all survivors sought to find lost relatives and people they knew. Leo
searched long and hard but found none of his family. However, he did find Sara
along with her sisters and cousin; and, a few months later, they located Sara’s
brother (the one who had been Leo’s friend). Sara and Leo got married on
Wednesday, September 29, 1948 in a suburb of Frankfurt, Germany. Although they
had very little family, the couple arranged for a rabbi to marry them, and they had a
big wedding because everyone in town was invited!

During the next year, Leo and Sara decided to immigrate to the United States, but
they had some trouble with the immigration officials because they didn’t have an
official marriage certificate. Consequently, the couple had to go to Frankfurt where
the equivalent of a justice of the peace married them again and provided the
official document. Arrangements were made (probably by The Hebrew Immigration
Aid Society) for them to go to St. Louis. There, the Jewish Federation provided a
social worker to help them get settled, but much to their dismay, the worker
couldn’t communicate with them. She couldn’t speak Hebrew, Polish or German,
and they hadn’t learned to speak English yet. Unfortunately, their first place of
residence in St. Louis was at an undesirable hotel on Sara and Olive Streets. Leo
said that if he had had the money, he wouldn’t have stayed.

However, after getting to know some of the other immigrants and finding a job at
the Jewish Old Folks Home, things got better, primarily because the Home provided
them with room and board! While living and working there, their first child, Robert
(Bob), was born. (Leo noted that “Bob was the youngest person living in the Jewish
Old Folks’ Home!”) Soon after their son was born, Leo bought a restaurant on
Franklin and 17th Street and the family moved first to a one room apartment on
Rich Avenue and later to a larger apartment on Enright. They both worked in the
restaurant and hired someone to take care of Bob. In 1955, Leo went into the
construction business, first working for someone else and then starting his own
company. Harvey, their second son, was born in 1955. For a couple years, Leo
opened the restaurant in the morning and then went to Granite City for his day job
in construction while Sara worked alone in the restaurant. In 1957, when they
thought they could live on income from their Illinois business, they sold the
restaurant and bought a house on Swarthmore Avenue in University City. Their
youngest son, Michael (Mike) was born one year later.

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Along with home ownership in U. C. came family involvement with Shaare Zedek
Synagogue on Hanley Road, which initially had no building. Services were held in a
tent. At first, they attended synagogue on the High Holidays but not on Shabbat
since Leo had to work on Saturdays, but in the mid ‘60’s the family began attending
Shabbat services and, in general, took a much more active role. Leo was President
of the shul from 1971 to 1972, and Sara became involved in Women’s League. All 3
sons went to Shaare Zedek’s Hebrew School and Sunday School and later
celebrated their Bar Mitzvot under the tutelage of Rabbi Epstein.

Sara and Leo Wolf are grateful for what they have achieved in life and have reached
out to help others and to support worthy causes as their way of expressing their
appreciation and gratitude. Sara, who prefers not to be in the spotlight, is a true
and supportive partner in all of Leo’s endeavors, and Leo would be the first to say
that he hasn’t done things all by himself but has had the help of other people along
the way. They are modest and don’t seek recognition, but their outstanding
contributions to society deserve recognition and our sincere thanks. Many
institutions have bestowed honors on Leo over the years, including one from the
Solomon Schechter Day School and another (an Honorary Doctorate Degree) from
S.I.U. Below is a partial list of Sara and Leo’s numerous accomplishments.

Alone or together they served as:

A founder of the St. Louis Holocaust Museum

Life member of the Central Agency for Jewish Education

Board member of the Jewish Old Folks Home

President of the Jewish National Fund for the St. Louis area

President of both the Home Builders Association and the Southern Illinois Builders
Association (SIBA)

Chairman of the Carpenters and Laborers Pension, Health and Welfare Board

Life member of Hadassah

Life member of the Jewish Old Folks Home

Sponsor of Rabbi Paul’s annual High Holiday visits to Shaare Zedek

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Sponsor of the Leo and Sara Wolf Education Fund

Sponsor of the city-wide Yom HaShoah services

Board member of Yad Vashem

Special note should be made of the Wolfs’ involvement in Granite City, Illinois and
their attachment to the community. Leo explained that when he opened his
business, the Al Wolf Company (which at first built homes but now is strictly
commercial), he “was a stranger - - and Jewish on top of that,” but the community in
Granite City was good to him. As a result, today, if you go to Granite City, you’ll see
that a major building in the Catholic Hospital is named the “Wolf Building “and you
may want to work out in the Wolf YMCA.” Sara and Leo have contributed so much
to the city that Leo was named Granite City Citizen of the Year in 1997.

Sadly, in March 2012, their oldest son, Robert, who was being treated with dialysis,
died unexpectantly in his sleep. Today, the Wolfs, in addition to their 2 living sons,
Harvey and Michael, have 7 grandchildren (all but one of whom live in St. Louis and
are members of Shaare Zedek) and 3 great-grandchildren (twin boys and a little
girl).

Sara and Leo have traveled all over the world, including trips to Israel twice a year
when Leo was on the Board of Yad Vashem. For many years, they have gone to
Miami each winter and returned to St. Louis in time for Pesach.

Thinking back over the years, Leo mentioned that he and Sara received an
invitation to attend a concert at the Vatican in 1995 for people from all over the
world who were liberated from the concentration camps 50 years earlier. Because a
baby naming ceremony and Kiddish (for their 2 new grand-daughters) had been
scheduled to take place at Shaare Zedek a couple days after the concert in Rome,
Sara opted not to go. But, Leo made a whirlwind trip to Rome, where he met Pope
John Paul II and attended the concert.

In reflecting back, Sara’s thoughts focused on her family first. She said she is very
proud of her sons and grandchildren. Then, she added “what we went through,
what we accomplished and what we did in Granite City and Shaare Zedek are what I
am proud of.” Over the years, they have gone full cycle from an innocent childhood
to unspeakable times, to the struggles of making a new life, and to remarkable
success and achievement (with all its rewards). Individually and together, Leo and

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Sara Wolf are an extraordinary example of “the American Dream” and two
outstanding human beings!

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