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December 7, 2011

Annette Jayson

Annette Jayson was born in Dallas on June 7, 1927, into families she proudly called pioneers. Her mother was a native Dallasite from the large Tobolowsky family, whose grandfather Sam Tobolowsky had come from Europe, worked as a peddler with a horse and wagon in the countryside south of Fort Worth, and became a charter member of Tiferet Israel. Her father emigrated from Russia around 1911 to 1913, sponsored by his uncle Joe, who ran a bakery in Dallas. Over the following years her father's mother, father, and siblings were all brought to this country. Her father later helped form the Goldman Baking Company with his brother.

Annette grew up in South Dallas, attending Colonial Hill School, Brown, and Forest Avenue High School before graduating from SMU. She stayed close to home during college to be near her ailing father, who died in 1943 at age 51. In 1951 she married Bill Jayson, a New Yorker who had come to Dallas for work in the garment and fabric business; they were introduced on a blind date and wed at the Baker Hotel. They raised three children. Their oldest son, developmentally challenged, lived at the Denton state supported living center, and Annette faithfully made the drive to visit him for decades.

A devoted member of Shearith Israel, which her husband had joined before their marriage, Annette leaned toward synagogue life. She helped continue the family's strong ties to both Shearith Israel and Tiferet Israel, kept a kosher home, and was active in Mizrahi women (later AMIT) and the sisterhood. Family remained central to her life, from the large Seders of her childhood to the monthly cousins gatherings and reunions, including a hundredth anniversary celebration with 160 people at Shearith Israel. Active in the Dallas Jewish Historical Society, she was committed to preserving the stories of the many families who built Jewish life in Dallas.

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