Contact Donate
Menu
all Oral History
May 13, 2015

Andrea Kastor

Andrea Kastor was born in 1948 in Dallas, Texas, and remembered a happy childhood, including the years before her younger brother, four and a half years her junior, was born. Her father was a CPA from Denver, Colorado, and her mother, born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Dallas. Her parents met at a USO party at the JCC while her father was in the Army during World War II, and they married after the war. Her father served on the front line in Germany, was wounded and awarded a Purple Heart, and rarely spoke of his experiences. Andrea's grandparents came from Eastern Europe, and she carries her father's dog tags to this day.

Growing up, Andrea felt the Dallas Jewish community was very close-knit. She was active in BBG and other Jewish organizations, attended Kramer Elementary School, and graduated from Hillcrest High School, where she cherished small groups of close friends. She began attending OU for a semester before transferring to SMU. She married her first husband, whom she met at a fraternity party, and moved to Northern Virginia outside Washington, D.C., where her two sons were born and where she witnessed the turbulence of the Vietnam era and Watergate. That marriage lasted thirteen years before she returned to Dallas.

Back in Dallas, Andrea worked as an accountant, first alongside her father with his remaining clients and on early computer systems, and later for larger CPA firms. She met her husband, Bill, through the Jewish singles group at the JCC, and the couple have been married about thirty years. Together they raised a large blended family and have many grandchildren. Andrea and Bill remain active at the JCC, though the self-described shy Andrea wishes she could do even more. She vividly recalled the day of the Kennedy assassination and reflected on decades of technological change, offering the advice to cherish each day because children grow up fast.

Read Full Transcript