|
|
May 7, 2004/Iyar 16 5764, Vol. 56, No. 33
Longtime Phoenician recalls early days
PAULA SOBOL
Special to Jewish News
In Phoenix of 1921, there were no resident rabbis, so when Herman and Carrie Lewkowitz married, they had to bring a rabbi from El Paso, Texas, to perform the ceremony. The couple soon moved to a new home outside the city limits, on Third Avenue and McDowell Road, and while Herman Lewkowitz built his successful law practice, his wife was at home raising their three children, Burton, Nona Lewkowitz Segal and Harold Jerome (Jerry).
The Lewkowitz family belonged to Temple Beth Israel on Second and Culver streets, where the boys each had their bar mitzvah and where Nona celebrated her bat mitzvah. At the time, not a great deal of emphasis was put upon girls learning Hebrew, and Nona remembers having her Haftorah portion written out phonetically by the rabbi and her father's astonishment on seeing this when he came up for his aliyah.
"Life was very pleasant then," Nona says. "The Jewish community was small and everyone knew each other. As kids, my brothers and I called numbers of people 'Aunt' or 'Uncle' because using adult's first names was not acceptable. We thought we had a huge family."
The Lewkowitz children went to Kenilworth School, and Nona was in the second graduating class of North High School.
When she was 10, the family moved to a larger home on Palm Lane, where her father bought an adjoining piece of land from a neighbor and with this addition to his yard, was happy to let anyone in the community who needed a large party space to use it. During the war, Jewish servicemen were hosted by the temple and would find themselves at the Lewkowitz home, where dancing on the grass wasn't unusual.
But along with the ease of life, there was a dark side to life in the Valley.
"When my father became ill, he needed assistance and hired two young men from Carver High School, the segregated school for African- American high school students. Those poor kids would ride over on their bikes, and they had to have written permission slips from my parents to cross McDowell. When my mother gave them gifts she had to include a letter explaining what she had given them so they wouldn't be accused of theft."
Nona went to college first at Scripps and then, when her father's health worsened, she came back and went to the University of Arizona. In Tucson, she met her husband Ralph, and they married after graduation. Nona and Ralph bought a Hoffman Home at 17th Avenue and Rovey and had six children. Her community activities included serving as president of Temple Beth Israel's Sisterhood, working actively with The National Council of Jewish Women, helping found the Thursday Book Group and writing Braille for the Foundation for the Blind. In 1971 she went to work as a registrar at Camelback High School, where she worked for 25 years.
"Working or not, I never set the table for under 10 people every night," Nona admits. "My family has been, and remains, the center point of my life. I want them to remember how precious family life is."
The Segals' sons live in Phoenix, and they have four grandchildren here. One daughter lives in El Paso and has two children, and one daughter resides in Montana and has three children.
Nona has touched many lives in this city with her kindness and caring. She was hesitant about being interviewed for this column because she doesn't feel as if she's done anything "amazing or important." Happily, she chose to share some of her life that has so enriched her family and friends.
When her name is mentioned in the Phoenix area, many people smile and say, "She is one in a million." They're right.
Paula Sobol is a longtime Phoenix resident.
|
|
