Norma Apt
Norma Apt
Born in Greenville, Texas in 1929, Norma grew up in Fort Worth. Her father, Meyer Abramson, was a Lithuanian immigrant who opened his own store and later founded Southland Beauty Supply, exclusively supplying Helene Curtis products to Neiman Marcus and other major retailers. Norma became a speech pathologist, having graduated from Emerson College in 1953 and also having studied at Harvard. Norma spent more than 20 years as a docent with the Dallas Holocaust Museum, and became interested in studying World War II due to her brother’s service in the military.
Published on January 19, 2014.
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Rosalee Cohen, the oldest of two girls, was born in 1920 to her father who came from Poland and her mother from Russia. When Rosalee was 11 years old, her family moved back to Dallas, where she attended Colonial Hill Elementary, followed by Forest Avenue High School and eventually Southern Methodist University, from which she graduated. She began as an education major but switched to sociology and became a social worker, working for Dallas County Welfare. Rosalee married in Dallas in 1942. She was the secretary at Congregation Shearith Israel, where she also taught, in addition to serving as the president of the Sisterhood at Temple Emanu-El. Rosalee comes from a family that has always valued giving back to the Jewish community.
Jaime Hazan-Cohen was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved to the U.S. in October of 1960. He initially lived in Florida and then relocated to Dallas. Jaime’s father was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and his mother was born in Cuba. Jaime went to law school in Havana, then to Southern Methodist University in Texas and following that worked as an accountant. He later opened a wholesale textile business with his brother and father. Jaime met his wife, Esther, in Dallas at the age of 30 and they married a year later. He is an active member of Congregation Tiferet Israel, has served on the boards of both Akiba Academy and Tiferet Israel, and has supported other community organizations alongside his wife.
Merle Hacker was born in 1935 in Jacksonville, Florida. She attended high school in Jacksonville and was the first one in her family to go to college. Merle went to the University of Florida for two years and then met her husband, Sonny, in 1952, while he was in the U.S. Navy stationed in Jacksonville. They married in 1954 and Merle began teaching kindergarten. She moved to Dallas with her husband and children in 1968, where she has been an involved member and supporter of the Jewish community. Merle has been a board member of Congregation Shearith Israel, working on its membership committee, was very active in the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, and also formed the first girls’ basketball league in the community.
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