Leah Tkatch Nepom was born in Fredonia, Kansas, on February 29, 1928 (a leap year birthday). Her parents, Chaya and Yelic (Joe), were immigrants from Russia. They landed first in Illinois, but upon hearing of cheap land for sale, relocated to Fredonia, Kansas, where Leah and both of her sisters, Bessy and Edna, were born. She …
Read MoreWilliam “Bill” Naito was born in Portland on September 16, 1925. His parents, Hide and Fukiye, had emigrated in 1912 from Japan, and Hide ran a successful retail and wholesale business. Bill liked to remind people that, because no one would hire Japanese men for a “real” job, they had to start businesses on their own. …
Read MoreJohn H. Miller was born on February 18, 1907 in Neunkirchen, Germany the eldest of three children of Simon and Flora (Kahn) Mueller. His brother Walter (born in 1908) and Greta (Salomon born in 1910) followed. Their parents Simon and Flora ran a men’s clothing store in Düsseldorf. John was educated as far as high school. …
Read MoreElizabeth Menashe (nee McBride) was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, to parents Ruth and Jack McBride. She had two siblings: Jerry and Margaret. When Elizabeth was two, her family moved to Spokane, Washington, where she spend her childhood. The family relocated again, this time to Bend, Oregon, when Elizabeth was entering high school. After graduation, …
Read MoreGayle Breslow Marger was born on April 4, 1944 in Portland, Oregon to Max and Gertie Levin Breslow. Max was a professional jazz musician, who came to Portland from Lincoln, Nebraska. He died when Gayle was quite young. Because both of her aunts married Sephardic men, Gayle grew up with both Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions. Her …
Read MoreSelma Loney was born in Covallis, Oregon in 1922 to William and Sarah Konick. William had come to Corvallis in 1913, when there was only one Jewish family living there (the Reicharts). He opened a jewelry store. He and Sarah married in 1921 and had two children: Selma and Alvin. The family traveled to Portland to celebrate …
Read MoreHenry L. Levinger was a lifelong Baker City resident and prominent businessman who owned Levinger Rexall Drug Store. Henry was born in Portland, Oregon on August 29, 1907 to Lyle and Louis Levinger. He was a 1925 Baker High School graduate, and attended Stanford University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree …
Read MoreSally Hanna Levin was born in Raguva, Lithuania in 1926, to Shlomo and Freidel Glaserine (Glaser). Her father died when she was six months old. Her mother had two brothers in Cape Town, South Africa, so she took Sally there when she was 10 months old. They live first with Freidel’s brother, Maurice, though five …
Read MorePaul Walter Lavender (born Lewandowski) was born on February 10, 1911 in Kassel, Germany. His parents, Jacob and Lina Lewandowski had three other children: Herbert, Irma, and Paul’s fraternal twin brother, Hans. His sister died when he was five years old, and his father died in 1936. Paul’s mother and his brother, Hans, died in …
Read MoreEdith Rosenthal Lavender was born in Wiesbaden, Germany on November 24, 1913 to Emilia and Leon Rosenthal. She had one younger brother, Frank. Edith grew up in a comfortable household, was able to attend public school through graduation. Following graduation, Edith found work as a typist and held that job until 1934 when the business …
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