Ne.bR- His
;ci.
tif Vol. LXV No. 2 Omaha, Nabr.
SERVING NEBRASKA AND IOWA SINCE 1920 7 Ttehri, 5747 FrMay, Octobar 10, 1986
Leonard Friedels give $500,000 to help the Jewish Day School By Morris Maline i Leonard L. and Phyllis J. Friedel plan to establish a i' $600,000 endowment to benefit the Jewish Day School of [ Omaha. 't HW Friedels developed the concept of the Jerry Leonard I clothing stores for big and tall men and sold the 26-8t<»« ^.<ihain to Allied D^artment Stores in 1986. The Friedels then moved from Omaha to Scottsdale, Ariz. "We wanted to do something for Omaha," Mr. Friedel told the Jewish Press in an interview. (See separate box cm page I.) llie Friedels discussed their desire to help the Omaha I Jewish community with Mort Trachtenbarg, president of I the Jewish Federation, and Steven Rod, executive vice ^president. r "They gave us a list of 10 possible areas fcr consideraI tion, 10 Omaha needs for us to look at... Of the 10, we r selected the Day School as the most important to us," Mr. I Friedel said. 1^. He andliis wife then visited the Day School at 12604 Pal cific Street. f: "We were impressed with the faculty, the students, and F the facilities." I In appreciation of the endowment, the Day School Board I of Directors has agreed to rename the school in January, i:i987. The new name will ]be the Leonard L. and Phyllis J. "Ed^delJewish Academy. • ••' A. native of Omaha, Mr. Friedd attended Central High School and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln where he majored in Business Administration. ^' lie entered the Army in 1942 serving as a captain in the Medical Battalion of the Engineers Amphibious Brigade—a unit which fdlowed combat troops to set up tent hospitals in Europe. After the war, Mr. Friedel relocated to the Los Angeles area to pursue a writing career. "I did this for about seven years and then decided to move back to Omaha," Mr. Friedel said, adding that an opportunity existed for him to take over the family store. The store, named "The Fair," was a man's clothing store which had a d^artment for big and tall men. ' 'This department was the tail that wagged the dog and we felt that this portion of the business could be the wave of the future."
Thus, in 1962 the first Jerry Leonard store was opened at 16th and Famam. The name of the store was selected for its nice sound and ease to remember, Mr. Friedel said. In 1954, Mr. Friedel married Phyllis Joy Kern of Kansas City and they made their home at 4702 Cass Street. He conple has two daughters: Lynne Gellman of Austin, Texas, who has a three-year-old son, Jay, and a fourmonth-old daughter, Rebecca; and Randi Friedel who teaches fifth grade in the Phoenix, Ariz., school system. "Neither my wife, nor I, nor our children had intensive Jewish educations, but we do see the value of such an education as offered by the Jewish Day School," Mr. Friedel explained. The Friedels have been members of Temple Israel for more than 30 years and Mrs. Friedel has been active in Hadessah, National Council of Jewish Women, and ORT, while Mr. Friedel has been involved with B'nai B'rith. "Phyllis also has been active in amateur theater," Mr. Friedd added, pointing out that she had performed at the Omaha Coimnunity Playhouse, and the Chanticleer Theater in Council Bluffs among other places. Now, she is active in the Phoenix Little Theater, the oldest such theater in the country, Mr. Friedel said. Mr. Friedel said that his contract with Allied keeps him employed as a consultant on the Jerry Leonard 0[>eratipn, but that he is enjoying his retirement. ^'But, we both have strong roots in Omaha," Mr. Friedel added.
Jewish Day School makes statement mmt
"I wm bon.
"And we f* ir Werau!nmnity, cttut lsjttstone,»i: It's no big d
Federaiion 'delighted" Milton Abrahams library Pauline Abrahams joins her husband, Milton, (right) and Mayor Mike Boyle Wednesday in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Milton R. Abrahams branch of the Omaha PaUic Library at 90th and Browne Streets. See stoty on page 12.
Nebraska's Dinner of State See coverage Pages 4-5 \^' j«iSli«¥iis«r^ -'••
By Mort Trachtenbarg, President Jewish Federation «F Omaha On behalf of the Jewish Federation Board of Directors, I am delighted to acknowledge the very generous (ptt to the Je\irish Federation Foundation for the Jewish Day School from Leonard and Phyllis Friedel. The Federation has funded the Day School from its inception, and with the many increased needs for programs and services throughout the Jewish community, this generous endowment gift from the Friedel family will free-up operating funds which can now be applied to other programs and services within the Jewish community of Qimaha. The Jewish community will eternally be grateful to Leonard and Phyllis for their generosity, and I know we will have a more formal way of expressing our appreciation at the time of the rededication of the Friedel Jewish Academy, as well as at our forthcoming Board of Directors meeting on Oct. 28.
Reflecting our overwhelming gratitude, the Jewish Day . School Board unanimously voted to rename the Day School The Leonard and Phyllis Friedel Jewish Academy to honor the Friedels. Their gift of a half miUion dollar endowment will largely eliminate the school's operating deficit and will permit the school to grow to a fuU kindergarten to sixth grade program with a projected enrollment of seventy children. Since the school's rebirth foiu' years ago, the Qoard and faculty have worked to offer Omaha parents the same alternative available to parents in all other important Jewish communities in the United States, the alteniative of a Jewish elementary day school combining the finest secular and Jewish education programs in the city. This endowment will aesve as the foundation which, combined with the financial support of our many other friends, will permit us to achieve our goals and will assure that the Day School alternative will always be available in Omaha. Our hope that our children's contributions to the Jewish community of Omaha, as a result of the education this gift makes possible, will serve as the living testimonial to the generosity of Phyllis and Leonard Friedel Forrest Knitter Mike Katzman Co-chairmen—Omaha Jewish Day School