Reid Heller

by | Apr 29, 2015 | 1950s, Video Oral History | 0 comments

Reid Heller was born in 1956 in Norfolk, Virginia, and his family moved to Dallas in 1974. His parents met in Virginia while his father was in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Norfolk. Reid entered college after his junior year in high school and later went to Southern Methodist University Law School. He and his wife, Karen, married in 1982. A lover of teaching and influencing others, Reid has edited and conducted hundreds of Jewish seminars within the Dallas Jewish community. He has taught history classes at various congregations in Dallas, teaching a Medieval Jewish Studies class at Tiferet Israel, for example. Reid has a deep passion and interest in history and genealogy and is a former President of the Dallas Jewish Historical Society.
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Esther Hazan-Cohen

by | Apr 29, 2015 | 1950s, Video Oral History | 0 comments

Esther Hazan-Cohen was born in 1950 in El Paso, Texas. Her mother was born in Mexico City and her father, raised in Turkey, served in the military during World War II and was stationed in Hawaii. Her family moved to Albuquerque in 1952, then to Oklahoma, and finally settled in Dallas. She attended Thomas Jefferson High School, followed by two years at the University of North Texas before meeting her husband, Jaime. They were married in 1971 and settled back in Dallas in 1977. Esther sent her children to Akiba Academy and worked with the PTA there, later becoming president of the school for two years. Following her presidency at Akiba Academy, Esther began working with Jewish Family Service and helped establish the program called “Centerpieces for Tzedakah”. She has been heavily involved in B’nai Zion and Bnei Akiva, and also served on the Board of Directors at Congregation Tiferet Israel.

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