Max Tonkon

Max Tonkon was born in 1927 in Houston, TX, but moved with his family to Dallas when he was a few months old. Max had his bar mitzvah in 1940, after having learned closely with Rabbi Dr. David Lefkowitz, of Temple Emanu-El. Max heroically served in the army. Later on, he served as Chairman of the Temple Emanu-El Cemetery Committee for 23 years. A proud father and grandfather, Max and his wife, Marilyn, happily live together in Dallas.

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Merle Hacker

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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Jack Greenberg

Jack Greenberg was born in 1927 in Iowa City and raised in Fort Dodge, Iowa. His father worked for a chain of women’s ready-to-wear clothing stores where Jack’s mother worked as well. Jack attended high school in Illinois where he was one of five Jewish kids at the high school. He went to the University of Iowa for three years, then Washington University for one year, followed by U.S. Army service from 1950-1953, during which time he was stationed in Georgia. He worked at Neiman Marcus department store when he and his family first came to Dallas until his family opened up a women’s clothing store in Dallas and later worked for Charles Curtain Company for 32 years. Jack and his wife, Carole, have three children.

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