Esther Hazan-Cohen
Esther was born in 1950 in El Paso, Texas, into a family of many cultures. Her mother was born in Mexico City, with siblings born in Cuba, and her father was raised in Turkey, arriving in New York through Ellis Island as a young boy. Her father served in the Army during World War II and afterward opened shoe stores, settling the family in El Paso, then Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, and finally Dallas. Esther grew up surrounded by her grandmother from Turkey, who lived with the family, along with Middle Eastern and Mexican traditions, learning Spanish during summers with her cousins in Mexico. She recalled her father's colorful stories, including hitchhiking across the country and working as a movie extra.
Esther attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, where she was one of only a few Jewish students, and went on to study at the University of North Texas for about two and a half years. She met her husband Jamie, an SMU graduate and CPA, at a bar mitzvah at the Fairmont, and they married in 1971. The couple lived in Lewisville for about five years before settling in Dallas, where they raised their son Marcus and daughter Susie. Jamie worked in fabric before the couple opened their own business, ABC Textile, which they ran for around 25 years. Both children attended Akiba, and went on to Brandeis and Miami universities.
Esther considers her community involvement among her favorite pursuits. She worked with the PTA at Akiba, served as school president, and helped lead a large youth group with hundreds of children meeting at the JCC. She volunteered with Jewish Family Service on Meals on Wheels and senior trips, and helped create kosher-package centerpieces tied to food pantries, a project that ran nearly 15 years and drew volunteers from across the community, including during Hurricane Katrina relief. A member of a Dallas congregation, she participated in a mission trip to Israel and was honored by her community. She treasures teaching her grandchildren fishing, poker, and Jewish traditions.
Full Transcript
you have an involvement with the Jewish Community sir I think that's my favorite thing that I do I um started with my kids when they were both in akba uh when Marcus was there I would work you know with the PTA and we um first we did lunches and then we did uh auctions and the dinners that we would do and then you know you break off and you go into B Zion we had B AA which was the youth group that we were involved in and uh we had a shilak from misel who came and then we had one that came down from New
York that also worked with our kids which was banaa and we um we did very well we had over 300 kids that would come every every Saturday and basically Sunday cuz Saturday was chabas and we would hold it here in The JCC which was really nice and that went on for almost 3 years and then we had B went into to feret which we were members at and uh with Rabbi Weiss and his wife we all did you know plenty of activities and we would do a lot of fun things you know for the kids so basically it was with our children yeah and then
I also um became president of the of the school of AA for two years and after that I started work with um Jewish Family Service and I did you know like their uh Meals on Wheels and then they did their senior trips you know where they would do some of the seniors with people who could drive still and then they would take them to the theater and wherever and then we broke off there and we started um centerpieces for Seda and these are centerpieces that had um a correlation with um the food pantries so what we did is the packages that we would use would
be all kosher packages we would empty them and we would make them into centerpieces tie them up put whatever colors you want on them and the project took off we did the project for almost 15 years wow and I think it's still going but it was beautiful to see an idea that came out of St Louis and Janine Pullman and I and I think it was Sue Schwarz and my friend Janny Riceberg and a bunch of other people within the community so we had like the Nations because I had people from Israel that helped us Spanish people helped us people from the community and it
was a way that we grew to know people and friendships that were made and uh I had one uh friend of mine her name is Selma she would come in and she would tell me I'm not doing it I can't do that I said Salma you can do she was my right arm after that she did anything and everything but it was it was it's nice because you you really find people who don't have things to do this keeps them busy gives us an opportunity to help within the community and when Katrina came and we had all the people that came in to do the
food they displaced us from there from Jewish Family Service and we came to my house and we did centerpieces at that time still we must have done four big orders that had to go out because we already had them on the books so we would make them and the people would come and pick them up but it was amazing to see our community come together and there was one shoe placed Jay Renee on Preston Royal who donated over 2,000 pairs of shoes it was just phenomenal and the people who volunteered who came and they worked so hard it was truly I can only tell you
it was truly a labor of love for the people who did yeah um and Michael fer we had gone on the Mission to Israel it was what 400 us MH L personally came to DFW picked us up and took us directly to so you did not passco you did not have to go to like London and wait you know and uh it was a beautiful trip so I met him there and I liked him so much and I said no I got to work for this man and that's where our our relationship was so I worked with them for a long time and I worked
at taret um I served on the board of directors and um they it was so funny funny I was doing several jobs so my at that time Bruce Feldman was the president he says no no no we need to honor you and make you a nation TI I said no you don't but he did anyway so they honored us uh they honored me at an asent time dinner and then they did a dinner I can't remember if it was 2007 or 2009 they did The Pillars of Strength the where they honored the alman's and us so you know a young age you've been honored you're
like okay what did I do but it very it was very gracious of them so we you know and we still have our hands in the community right whatever we can do to help her there and it's a lot with the synagogue that you belong to a lot with our children and I'm still active with my kids at akba so that's where my love is right there the year that they honored us with banaa they were going to bring in Ariel Chiron something Happ they couldn't bring him in they brought in the IDF guy wonderful wonderful person and I think they they had over 500
people at the Sheran it was just a beautiful beautiful evening wow and we also brought in um Netanyahu it was incredible that that year was really unbelievable we had all the kids from Baka we went to the airport and you would have thought he would have gotten off with bodyguards whatever he walks off the plane with the guy that came in from the newspaper from Israel because he came came in first and we were with him and he walked nanahu right off the plane all of us got to see him shake his hand whatever and then we had the dinner at the hotel it was
phenomenal to have him here what a speaker just impressive that was the Year my son was able to give him the present from us and they gave him a you know a little 10-gallon hat from Texas and he he has it he has it Esther 1950 El Paso Texas but you didn't stay there long let's go back what do you remember when you were a little girl oh I can remember my grandmother used to live with us she was from turkey and uh that was it was so funny because that was the agreement my mom and dad made when they got married is that his
mom would come and live with us so she basically was there all most of my life wow um and I remember was a little like a GI home because my dad was out of the war and you could you could see the little porch and she would go out she would play with us in the in the backyard um it was wonderful I was there until I was 3 years old yeah and my older brother came before me so we used to play out there you know you dress up as little Cowboys and Indians what they don't do now and um it was uh it
was nice it was really nice now you said your dad was involved with World War II stationed in Hawaii so I'm I'm not sure if he was in okanawa or not but I do know that he was in the Army and um he got out in 45 40 no 47 and he married my mom he took her to El Paso and then from there um I remember Mom used to walk and they had all the hills in El Paso she developed what do they call that um where you can't breathe asthma she developed asthma she couldn't speak English and all the little neighbors would come
over and they wanted to drink coffee with her and everything but you know she learned she learned English and then she became pregnant so she had the kids but she she was like a war bride as they called them in the 50s yeah so it was was a nice experience for us now you were telling me your background is from all over it is it is tell me where everybody's from my mom was born in Mexico City and her older siblings I think three of the other siblings were born in uh Cuba and then two other ones besides my mom were born in Mexico City
and my dad was raised in Turkey he came to the states when he was 7 8 years old to New York came in an Ellis Island and uh my grandmother came over with all three of the kids and they lived in New York in uh Trenton New Jersey and my dad it's so funny he would tell me the stories that the globe trods some of the boys would come over and my grandma would fix food for them so they became a little Jewish you know but it was nice I mean you know he grew up and he played the violin and you know it was
was it was a great experience that I will never forget he used to tell us the stories he had an older brother and um uncle Victor used to do uh he wrote for the in Spain mhm and he was a photographer in New York all the buildings in black and white and he would go to Spain and do a lot of research work for his things but he was um very very um what would you call them very picturesque people and uh they came from there my father and his buddy Pike after they got out of the out of the service they decided to hitchhike
from Jersey all the way to California oh gosh so they had to come and they got into Mississippi well in Mississippi it was so funny he says we were selling panty holes well PS the panty hos had holes in them and they were sitting on the side of the road so they picked them up for vagrancy and the judge says okay you guys don't have any PR I'll take you home with me so the judge took them home kept him out of the jail and then they finally came it was really it was amazing I don't know how they made it and then they went
all the way into California and they got them the set of MGM and they took them as extras and what if they dress them up as Arabs my father's like 61 with a big black mustache you know he could have passed for the a you know but it was it was too cute so a lot of stories we learned from them you know and his uh my grandmother was kosher at that time brought all the dishes over and everything so when I was little I must have been what 3 4 years old and I'm sitting on the floor in the kitchen I politely threw all
the dishes on the floor and I broke them off so what can I tell you she was not happy with me but you know we we grew up and we had wonderful time she would make Dolmas off of the vines that we had in the backyard in Oklahoma and she'd roll them up well the Dolmas never made it to the table every time one of us would come by we'd have to open the pot you know have a little bite but we um we grew up with a lot of traditions a lot of um what would you call them Middle Eastern right ideas and and
traditions and I think that made for us a very you know exciting life I mean we learned a lot about all the different places and my mom since she was from Mexico we would visit my cousins and my uncle would um take me in for 3 months out of the year when I didn't have school his daughter had school in Mexico so we were about a year apart and I learned Spanish through that way and you learned the Traditions that they had where the beima was in the middle and all you know the men were on here the women were up in the balcony so
we had a little bit of everything it was a a very unique way of growing up now did you know your grandparents at all besides I knew my grandma and grandpa the ones from Mexico um I knew my grandma better because my grandpa he passed away in 57 a little bit after we moved to Dallas um and my grandma from my daddy's side she lived with us and my grandfather I didn't know him as well because they had divorced when he came over and so we um you know I knew both of my grandmas real well yeah yeah now you know what your grandfathers did
for a living my grandfather when he was in New York he sold insurance and that's so funny because my younger brothers just like him he's very good in the insurance business so um my dad sold shoes uh lady shoes he did it in the White House in El Paso he came to Dallas they opened a store in Downtown Dallas on Main Street and it was Rogers Factory Outlet and then we went to O cliff and he opened his own store which was Victor's Outlet shoes Factory Outlet shoes and then we opened one in forest and March so he was always in the shoe business when
you were young you left El Paso we left El Paso we went to Albuquerque in 52 and my younger brother was born in 53 okay and then from alquerque we went to Oklahoma City and then came to Dallas we stayed 2 years in Oklahoma and then we came to Dallas was this all for your dad's work yep he opened up different stores in the same business and then his partner was in uh Fort Worth so um that was their connection and then when they broke the partnership was when he opened in O Cliff now uh any of your father's businesses still going today no he
sold the business in O Cliffe and it was like about maybe what I say maybe two years before he passed away because he died maybe seven and where did you go to high school Thomas Jefferson yeah yeah what was high school life like it was good it was good we had a lot of fun growing up um high school was tough because you know we were like one of maybe four Jewish kids in the high school but you know you went to the games and everything at that time we were the TJ Rebels now they naturally changed that because Rebels is not so hoty tsy
anymore but um we did good we did good you know you had a lot of friends you did bbo and then uh we went to uh College my brother went away and I stayed here and I went to North Texas and I must have been what two years in school 2 and a half years and I met my husband so we got married so that ended my college career you have kids you stay um and then it was it was really nice it was really nice now where did you meet your husband I met him here we were at a bar mitzah down at um
the Fairmont and he had just graduated from SMU so he's so cute he tells me he say we're not getting married I'm not getting married I said okay fine so we I had him help me for an exam that I was going to take in uh accounting cuz I went to Mexico for the wedding with my cousin and I missed it so I said why don't you come over and help Tut to me so I can pass it so he came over he helped me so I invited him to my brother's wedding he came this was in July by September we were Eng engaged so
I thought okay but um and we married in 71 so it's like about 42 years we moved to Lewisville for about 5 years and my son was born there um and then we moved to Dallas in 77 and my daughter was born in 79 yeah and and what business did Jamie get into Jamie was he graduated as a CPA and he worked for one of the price water house here in Dallas and then he left them and he went into business with his um sister and brother-in-laws in the Fabric business and then in 70 I want to say 77 we opened our business ABC textile
and we sold fabrics and we did that for about what 25 26 years until he closed the business and um my two kids they went to akba MH and they did the Jewish Day School and then my daughter went to Episcopal my son went to St Marx and after that they um Marcus went to um brandise university which was wonderful I mean what an experience that was and then my daughter went to Miami University they both graduated uh my son went into law and my daughter went into forensic accounting and uh thank God they're both doing well they're both married and uh Marcus married a
girl from um Michigan her parents were from um New York and her grandparents this is beautiful the Karen's mom was from Czechoslovakia she was a gymnast and she came to the United States when she was like 17 18 years old and she stayed so she grew up in New York she married uh Karen's dad and uh it was it's an amazing relationship because her mom and dad they finally moved him here his mom and dad would from New York would come down and they both were rabbis oh so the Jewish Education that my son got it helped him through life which was beautiful it was
really really nice um and then they um they have three little boys mhm one is nine and the other two will be six in September and then my daughter she married her husband also from Miami and the little family is growing so it's a beautiful time in our lives but you know you Che you teach them the Judaism that you learned as a kid and having a past with all the different nationalities that we have she married a boy whose parents are from his father's from Italy and his mother's from Colombia so it's a nice little mixture we got one more one more Nation um
but you know it's wonderful because you we do speak Spanish and my grandmother every time she would come you need to speak I have 13 grandchildren you're the only ones I said okay Grandma so we learn you know and I taught that to my kids and I'm hoping that Mark will teach that to his but um the Traditions that we have I think we learn you know from our parents and I'm so grateful that he had both sides of the grandparents alive you know Susie didn't have it as much as my son did but I think he learned very well from both of them it
was a great way to grow up just tell me about your two brothers my older brother was in the business with my dad he sold shoes and then he went off to New York he sold for Nina and that took him um to travel to Brazil he went to um China they would make shoes in China so he would go back and forth and he married a wonderful girl in New York and they live up there now my younger brother is here he also is in the insurance business still and he has two beautiful little children um I shouldn't say little they're already grown up
and my uh niece is uh teaching special ed in school and my nephew is he's working with ups and the place where they sporting is goods and it's it's a beautiful family beautiful little family what was the happiest time in your life I think when my kids were little yeah yeah all the parties that you do for them all the times that you have your parents around with with you um it was nice because I guess our home was the place where everybody congregated and all the families were here thank god um Jimmy has two sisters and a brother with all their children and so
when there was a family affair it was always congregated in our home which was really nice you know thank God you you have your house you like to enjoy it and I think that that's a lot of the fond memories we have come from there was it a big deal to you when the Beatles came the town no okay I mean I liked him yes but there was I think the music from the 50s 60s and 70s were all great you know um and Elvis I liked his music but I was not one of the crazy people who went you know to see it was
there an invention that came along in your lifetime that you went wow when this when you when you first saw it I think the television The First Time the TV came into the house you know and then and then my father was able to buy the first colored television I was like oh my gosh but yeah I think the TV was a big one um probably as you grow up I think you know when they brought Apple into the big world uh that was new and you know the innovations that we've had have been phenomenal in your lifetime you've lived through so many momentous occasions
some good some not so good of course the Vietnam War era the hippie era you know uh President Kennedy assassination oh I think that was the blackest day in our lives yeah yeah that was awful awful awful I remember I think I was in what sixth or seventh grade and you heard that in the television and you were like oh my God so wherever you went for the next couple of years oh my God you all killed JFK and I said no he was killed in our city but you know it was a terrible thing and I know it was just it was awful it
was a loss to the world you and uh Jamie have two kids three grandkids something tells me you're the fun grandma okay I confess I teach well I teach them what I can teach them you know but what I love to teach them is I would take my boys and we would go fishing so my pop taught me because I you know two brothers what is the daughter going to do so I would take them fishing and my grandson he's so cute the oldest one little Jay tells me he says Lea can we go fishing I said sure So I would pick him up and
my older brother David would come down to visit and um he goes are we going fishing I said sure yeah yeah yeah and this is in May May is supposed to be nice you know like 80s 75 we got there that morning it was 65° you could have froze to death so you have all of us strung out on the little walkway here and the water's here and the little fishes you're thinking these fish are not going to bite we picked up 45 fishes that day wow they were freezing to death my hairdresser I could see that I saw his truck and he's over here
fishing on the other side so he came up and fished with us and he would pass me his fishing I would pass him his and he would pick up the bass out of the water we throw it back in and then we picked up the turtle and I thought oh my God how we so my younger brother goes don't worry I'll take care of this so he cut the line and the turtle went back down but it was you know it was great there was like what nine of us up there and it was my younger brother and his son my my older brother my
husband myself my son and his older son so now we brought the two little ones and they can't wait they go when is Uncle Dave we need to go fishing again and the little one my little Alex he picked up two of them by himself you know he puts the thing in the water he pulls them out like this he says Le I'll teach you how to do so I'm over here on the bank man he says I'll come and teach you so he pulls pulls the pole out of my hand you don't think he pulls that one I said he took my he took
my spot because I was always the first one to catch it my brothers always they would yeah why is she always the first one well hello so then it was cute because my dad always taught us how to play poker when we were kids right so my grandkids come over and they go B will you teach us said sure So they come and they sit down and they play they have to put the little chips for them and the cards and I'm laughing because I'm watching them and they go and what do I do and and L Alex is over here going L look look
look and he shows me what he has he goes should I keep this one I said what you need to keep so they had become professional go so I told my older brother I said they can't wait for you to get here they're chomping at the bit to play with you but it's it's adorable you know I mean you have to teach them the good stuff with the fun stuff but yeah and uh we make puzzles together and we read together and they go Lea tell us a story again so I didn't have the book with me so you have to make it Happ and
he goes are you sure that's the way I said this is my story you teach it your way I'll teach it but yeah you know we love to play with them they're great so what advice would you like to leave to your grandkids in the Next Generation to be considerate of others do kindness do Sedaka a lot of uh what you would like for people to be with you I think they need to be conscious of how how you present yourself how you take care of others I think it's a good thing for them to have that and I see it when uh we used
to take care of my grandma when she was elderly I would like for them to be able to take care of us like that you know because that way I think throughout their life they will be people that think about others that do for others and it's a it's a wonderful warming experience when you do help other people I think um and you know to teach them to love their religion love the country that they live in and uh hopefully one day maybe they will go to Isel like we did it's a great experience just wonderful yeah my son went to Israel and they put
him on a kibot and so he says ma 5:00 in the morning they have me up and I have to go and get the chickens because if I don't get the chickens we don't eat that night so you see him over there grabbing chickens by like this he said Mom it was unbelievable and they learned how to pick cotton and what was the other one that he did um there was one other thing that he learned but it was amazing it was amazing he loved that trip so much and it built the identity of who he is today um he is just uh incredible incredible
he loves he loves to teach his kids he does shabas with them on you know on Friday nights and I think that that builds who they will be right and uh they're just they're they're good little boys and then we were while he was there we were in Northern Africa Tunis we were in Tunisia and we were on a we were on a boat and so we stopped in Tunis that was the day they invaded Kuwait so you have a Jew in Tunis with an Arab speaking guide and I'm thinking to myself I need to get back on that ship real quick and my son
was in a lot so he's watching all of this happen and he said so we called we tried to do ship to shore he says no Mom I'm okay I'm safer here than if I was at home so I couldn't wait for him to get back from that trip it was it was that I think was one of the scarier times in our life is to have our son right in the middle of all of that and us too so and it was funny because when we did get back on board there was an Israeli person on board that was watching all of the Jewish
passengers come back on so they they were very very uh I guess they knew what was happening they took care of it and we were safe so we got home but yeah I mean a lot of experiences that you have um I don't think they will leave us good thing so I hope my grandchildren will have that same beautiful past that we have and keep the tradition well thanks for doing this today my pleasure you did a great job well thank you thank you