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February 12, 2019

Derval Kirshenbaum

Derval was born into the Friedman family in South Africa and grew up in the Strand, about 30 miles from Cape Town, living just across from the beach. Her father and his brother opened a large department store then known as Friedman and Colon. As a child she developed asthma and was sent to the drier climate near Johannesburg, where she attended a school she recalled as Red Hill and lived near her mother's brother. She was one of several sisters. Her husband's family, the Kirshenbaums, had come from Poland, and his mother had been hidden during the war while six of her sisters perished.

At 19, Derval married her husband, who was nine years her senior. Rather than pursue further studies overseas, she accepted his proposal, and the couple went on to raise three sons. The family built a substantial retail business in South Africa, eventually operating 13 stores, and traveled often to America to source fashion. They also ran a factory producing clothing for their stores. When the crime situation worsened and her youngest son was held up at gunpoint on the way to the bank, the family decided it was time to leave.

The Kirshenbaums immigrated to the United States, choosing Dallas in part because Derval's older sister had already settled there years earlier. About eleven family members made the move, including her younger sister and her son Gary, with her husband following later. In Dallas they opened a store on Preston Road called Onset. Derval takes pride in her large family, including her grandchildren, several of whom attended Jewish schools such as Solomon Schechter and Levine Academy. She speaks five languages and remains close to her family, who visit and care for her.

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