Did you ever get an unexpected telephone call that opened a flood of memories?
That is exactly what happened to me. It was almost closing time and I answered a phone call from a soft-spoken lady who wanted to buy a Yartzeit candle from the gift shop.
She was coming from the north side. I wasn’t in a rush and a Yartzeit candle is pretty important. I ask the lady her name and she said, “Myrna”.
At that point, I was hoping her last name was Gray, and it was!
I had often wondered what happened to Alice Yalowitz‘s family. (Alice was a close friend to Terry Brodie.)
Alice had left Terre Haute and moved to Indianapolis, for a bittersweet reason. Myrna’s husband had passed away and Myrna was expecting a baby girl.
Alice had left Terre Haute and moved to Indianapolis, for a bittersweet reason. Myrna’s husband had passed away and Myrna was expecting a baby girl. Alice moved to Indianapolis to care for her granddaughter while Myrna worked.
Sometimes while sitting here at my desk I wonder about past friends from the Temple. Those of you who knew Alice knew she was a kind and soft-spoken lady. Myrna is a duplicate — so sweet and kind.
Once Myrna arrived at the Temple after her call, we had the best chat and of course I wanted to know about that little girl. Well, I soon learned Myrna’s daughter is now 31, her name is Michelle and she lives right here in Terre Haute. Michelle has two little children whom Myrna visits weekly.
Alice’s husband and Myrna’s father Harold Yalowitz was a research chemist for Commercial Solvents Corporation on South First Street.
Alice’s husband and Myrna’s father Harold Yalowitz was a research chemist for Commercial Solvents Corporation on South First Street. Harold passed away in 1975 at the age of 59, before I was employed here.
The UHC congregants are like my second family. I love the memories from my time here and thought those of you who knew Alice would enjoy this news.
As Terry Fear said to me the first time I met her, “I wish the Sommerses were my family.” Sometimes it doesn’t have to be our real family, but we still feel attached.
[Editor’s note: Myrna Yalowitz Gray appears at right in the featured image, from the Dec. 18, 1955, edition of the Hammond Times. Read more about Alice Levine Yalowitz in Norma’s “Three Ladies We Remember” column from the January 2017 Hadashot.]
I remember Mr. Yalowitz at the synagogue on Fourth Street. When I was growing up, he was a very prominent man around there with myself thinking that he was the rabbi. I remember his beard, wire rim glasses and the way he attended to the congregants calling them up for their aliyahs. I remember the family with I believe two boys and the daughter. I remember his death at a very young age.
I’m trying to find the word for the person who calls upon the congregants to give an aliyah.
Thanks for sharing your memory, Reid! Wikipedia’s aliyah entry describes the leader who calls the congregant to the bimah for an aliyah as a gabbei.
Readers who want to prepare for their own aliyot might consult How to Have an Aliyah from myjewishlearning.com.
What a lovely memory. I also remember the family. Chuck (son) was my age. Martha Dennis Christiansen