Jean Sturman
Jean Sturman was born in Dallas in 1929 to Morris Lehmann, a pharmacist, and his wife, and she was raised in North Dallas alongside her grandparents Isaac and Sarah Weinstein, who ran a neighborhood grocery store on Travis. The family all lived together, and Jean grew up in a neighborhood that was largely not Jewish, attending Ben Milam grade school and North Dallas High School, from which she graduated in 1946 at age sixteen. She had a brother, Ted Lehman, and a sister, Charlotte. As a third-generation member, her family belonged to Tiferet Israel, and she attended Sunday school at Shearith Israel when it was located on Polk Street.
After graduating, Jean went to work downtown for Magnolia Petroleum. She married Sam Sturman at nineteen; the two had attended junior high together but met again after high school. They were married at the Melrose Hotel. The couple first lived near Golden Acres, then moved to Richardson, and later built a home off Coit Road near the Richardson border, where they raised four sons, Steven, Scott, David, and Daniel. Jean worked over the years, including as advertising manager for the Richardson Daily News, and eventually handled payroll and office work for the family company, Fixture Exchange, which Sam bought fifty years before the interview.
Jean became deeply involved in community life, serving as president of the Bluebonnet chapter and the Dallas Women's Council of B'nai B'rith Women, doing chapter consulting across Texas. She was president of the sisterhood at her congregation and became the first woman president of the Orthodox congregation, despite resistance from some of the men, and she is credited with helping hold the congregation together and hiring its rabbi during a difficult transition. For 26 years she volunteered and later worked on staff with Jewish Family Service, helping launch Senior Express, working with the Russian immigration program, and running the food pantry for fourteen years. She credited her husband's support for her accomplishments and spoke of the duty to give back.
Full Transcript
during jinkx turban and today it is April 29 2011 and we're in the Jewish Community Center in Dallas Texas that's just okay but what we're gonna do is we're just gonna talk generally about yourself and your involvement in the Jewish community in Dallas and your family so let's just start out with your family your parents and I had them get you well that's good because we had a brother and father I had grandparents who lived here in their names my mother and Daddy were Morrison V Lehmann daddy was the pharmacist and my grandparents were Isaac and Sarah Weinstein they were mother's parents and my grandfather
had a neighborhood grocery store in North Dallas on Travis which is near Travis walk long I mean it was just a little neighborhood grocery store we all live together and I haven't ever figured out it my mother lived with my grandparents or my grandparents lived with my mother and daddy but they all live together and it seemed to work fine I have a brother and a sister who both live here in Dallas named Charlotte Wickerman and Ted Lehman so you know I was born in North Dallas I lived in North I never I never lived in South Dallas I only lived in North Dallas I
went to bend my own grade school which is on McKinney and teach you and I went to North Dallas High School your family go to oh they always belong to two ferrets my grandparents remember since I was a third generation and I am a third generation it's very boy you were growing up were you involved in any Jewish activities or organizations now they really didn't have well living in North Dallas I wasn't as involved I really don't remember that to ferret headache a Sunday school as such and because of that I attended Sunday school sheriff Israel when it was down on Polk honest and I
remember we met on Sunday morning upstairs in the women's section of the show when you know as you said you were good grew up in North Dallas was that still a Jewish neighborhood we do no no I was haven't changed there were very few Jewish families know almost everyone lived in South Dallas it was before they started moving north it just happened that my grandfather had the grocery store there and that's that's where so you so it was actually the people you mostly grew up with were what we're all Gentiles ticket thank you I was thinking it was I was trying to because we're hearing
anything I don't hear there was a nice committing I mean you know I there were neighbors up the street the hanger boys who were Catholic I mean but you know I mean it was it's not anything that you don't face now I mean you know it wasn't at the time we didn't know the difference there was there's a whole difference of times now this would have been about to see now I forgot to ask when you were born can I ask that sure 1929 okay so you would have been going to school in the 1930s and so if you're looking in North Dallas you graduated
from norcaster 1946 I was 16 years old and when after you graduated did you go to work I went to work I went to work for a Magnolia petroleum we should downtown in the Magnolia building which was part of Saucony vacuum Standard Oil and what sort of work were you doing that it's 16 I think I was a called a flunky I had no particular position whatsoever now I know at some point you got yourself married I got married very young yes we were both 19 thank you did you know I already know your husband's name was Sam yes I it was really interesting the
Sam and I both went to junior high together did not do not remember knowing each other could have him probably and after great it was after graduation we met right after I graduated high school so you went out for a while before you got married if you didn't marry till you were 19 what we went together about 18 months and you were married at d'affaires Israel no we were married it at the Melrose Hotel Oh rabbi anise candor Kaplan proshare at this room and Rabbi Lefkowitz I was definitely married I was I was more than married and what was your husband doing at the time
he was going to and him did you stay in Dallas for a while honey yeah I mean and then yes I stayed here and and then he left school and came back to work he went worked for his uncle his uncle was Ed Kangas who was a tailor downtown we have four boys and their names their names Steven Scott David and Daniel just getting over two S's in two days I got I got it murdered right right you know after you married did you know I worked for Massey Harris it was a farm equipment company and this has to keep going right well their trademark
but no no no there-there trademark was who we stand behind all of our merchandise except the manure spreader that was that was what they were known for but Massey Harris I think it's now part of the deer you were very busy if you were working at having children like we didn't have children right away I would I was 22 when I hit Stephen we were we were married almost three years before I had and you we heard the dress we belonged at the fairs Israel Sam grew up at Temple he was confirmed at Temple his his parents went to share it this well he was
confirmed at Temple but yes then well no that's not true when we were first married we went knowers like all the other kids we visited all the families and everybody on the holidays remember yes I could I can still remember standing on the steps at Sherrod is on and gossiping with all the friends right I mean which was what you did yeah and then when we had children we joined the show there was no need until then no been there done it well I know that over time he became active in many of the organization I was really very active in Benet birth women I
was president of the Bluebonnet chapter and I was president at the Women's Council Benet birth in Dallas and which meant I was president of nine presidents at the time three nine chapters that was an experience wish to repeat but anyway and I was on the board the district board for Benet birth women and I did chapter consulting I did a lot of traveling reported them going to different chat as the volunteer I went to different chapters and tried to help them with their problems of getting presidents or helping them with their meetings and their programs and things it was interesting was that in Texas or
in Texas Texas I guess your your children grow up they went to we moved to Richardson Oh we lived her Queen moved to Richardson before this two children started school when we were first married we lived in a castle view near golden acres and then when I was pregnant with David who's my third we bought a house in Richardson and we moved out there and all the kids went through the school and Richardson I was Richardson was still a fairly small town very smelly it was great I'm a wuss not but on Friday night when they had the football games the whole city's shut down
you couldn't get a gash you couldn't get a grocery store you couldn't do anything the whole city closed down and everyone went to the ball game it was it was a nice it was a good place to raise kids because it was small and family-oriented and there was no any sentiments there was there was no problem so now all this time were you still working at no no no no no I stopped working when I had Steven so I was doing nothing well you've had several children oh I worked for the Richardson Daily News which was a weekly I was their advertising manager for a
couple of years and sold advertising for them and I did that when I had the children while we were still in Richardson you you so Richardson oh if you've been to Richardson lately it's no small town well it's still bounded it's not but it's still bounded by the same boundaries I mean it has no yeah I mean I think it's almost grown up as much as it can it has no place to go but you don't live in Richardson no I live in Dallas we we built our house 46 years ago and we're one block we're off of Coit and we're one block west of
Coit so we're in Dallas but we're border on Richardson so the kids all because of where we are the kids all entered the Richardson schools he was working for his uncle and then he got a job with a fixture company he was the general manager for them and then 50 years ago we just celebrated our 50th anniversary 50 years ago he bought a company fix for exchange and we started the company then I worked with then I worked then I went to work for the family doing office work or sewing no no no I I got to do the payroll oh well I got I
got to do that let me um so all this time you were take care of the family and you were working and you were active like in the neighborhoods women now how did you get involved in the first Israel activity so because I know you did quite a bit with them before became president Sam was president three times and because it was a small congregation it's it's nice because you can be a big fish in a little pond and and so we were just interested in and I mean it was something that we were interested in and he was really involved and because he was
involved I got involved no were you involved before after they moved from self Dallas to that way after way after they were already out here no just briefly took that you mentioned in this article that you know you were the first woman president now how did that come about given the I ran out of people to ask well whether but it was traditionally you know with the dogs it is it's not it still it's an Orthodox Jew I think over time it has evolved that she was at one time the show was ran strictly on a volunteer basis I mean everybody the people who did
the secretary or weren't well I think they paid a secretary but most of the people who did the bookkeeping and all the other things were volunteers and then it became a business you see it becomes a business I mean you have to have money to pay the utilities I mean it's no longer just a volunteer type of atmosphere and which is which is what what happened is is that it was just volunteering and you were one of them yeah I didn't have any better sense but I well I had a lot of kids and it was easy to get involved with the Kids program and
what was things that were going on what kind of activities were going on that you were involved with I was a president of the sisterhood for like six years six years they made me do it until I did it right and I really I was the vice president in charge of the office because of my experience in working in the business I maintained I mean I sort of took care of the office work I mean making sure the checks were written of the secretaries and that kind of thing I did I hadn't thought about this in years well that's why we want to get it
on the road I really don't remember you know it's hard to think I know what you forgotten everything you did because you did so much I enjoyed it I mean it's yeah I enjoyed the volunteerism I have to admit it's fun when you so you say I know you said just said they ran out of people to ask but there must be another reason they asked you to be President besides that I sort of worked my way up I mean I was vice president of a lot of different committees and I and I I did a lot of fundraising for them which I desperately hate
but I mean I had done since successful things and not to toot my own horn I guess I did what I was supposed to do and got it accomplished and therefore they and that was what was needed but there was some people who objected to electing you as president no not people we would that has to go on the record no the women were very thrilled I have to admit I had a great deal of support from the women they were they were really supportive the men were not so I think she should be pregnant barefoot in the kitchen and but they did live no
did they let women be members on their own sure of course so I mean if you're saying oh yeah yeah yeah I mean I'm being traditional we sort of split between being an Orthodox and conservative our services and/or is Orthodox we use an Orthodox service we have two kitchens we keep strictly kosher we have separate seating for men and women and then we have joint seating for those who want to sit together and it's recognized that way well these men who were objecting did they make - did they get rather vociferous and their objections they were chauvinistic but they they stayed members oh sure oh
no no no no I did not get rid of it I actually brought it in but I did not get rid of anyone they think we're not particularly kind but it's okay we the work how do you mean like in board meetings well no I mean just I had a real good friend I mean I guess it's had sure I feel right now who came up to me after a meeting and said you know I really like you but I hate you being president that this seemed to be the feeling I mean they were not willing to accept you were present the thing is that
when I came in term I said it really seems to be just a religious institution like any of them now it's a business and it's a big business it's a if you look at a budget it is I mean to keep up the plant and the help and what's required I mean it's at large so I really I'm very carefully stayed away from the religious side of it okay we had the prison I mean we had a rabbi and I and good boy him in the head of the religious committee and I really had nothing to do with that I didn't try to get on
the Bema because I knew that that was not a thing to do my job is I felt like it was to take care of the business then which is really what I did they survived they survived and unbeknownst to me after I had been elected president elect the rabbi resigned in the middle of this contract to start another shoe as it happened and we really had some major major problems but I've found a rabbi and we held a shul together and we held it together as it is today and it's really doing well I'm rather proud of it rabbi Cohen rabbi self the one we
have now have you met him it's a charming charming man he's a lovely lovely man and his wife or have really been an asset if I've done anything else I really think I did something great having hired him well when you were going through the hiring process was there any problem with candidates who weren't used to having a woman president oh yeah oh yeah but it was it was quite interesting and then they tell you one thing so they that you will bring them in and then when you bring them in to interview they don't mean what they say whether is so I guess there
aren't any other Orthodox synagogues and Ellis who've had women presidents are there there probably won't be well I hope there will be like I say there is nothing I mean there is no reason as long as you're interested you have nothing to do with the religion you're not ruining it you're just running it I mean it would be like running an office I mean there's nothing wrong with it I'm not sure the rabbi's quite some of the Orthodox rabbis quite agree with me but sort of we don't see eye to eye on a lot of things I'm gonna make you back just over all this
time you were working now you were working in businesses that were like downtown in Dallas before you and your husband you know start your own company where there very many Jewish people working in those companies or were you the only one you remember any of your co-workers or like at the Magnolia come I mean it was a national company and therefore you were allowed to take off the holidays with no no penalty I mean in other words you didn't have to use vacation days they understood that was your holiday and that was agreeable Nancy Harris was a rather rather small company and there there weren't
there were quite a few any semitic companies in dallas that you knew don't stay away from that you avoided very trying you avoid it very carefully there's no sense in breaking ground I mean just why go somewhere so where you weren't wanted yes we started in Dells and about probably 36 37 years ago they we were in fair park we were next door to the to the post office that Fair Park they were talking about redoing Fair Park which they did but at the time they were doing it we were going to be our building was going to be in the parking lot and it's
hard to manufacture when you're under concrete we really couldn't quite figure out a way to do it about six years before we had bought a business and a second business in Fort Worth and we just decided to combine the two of them which we did so we moved our Dallas operation to Fort Worth and we have continued it there we originally started in Dallas I think the problem that I find with Dallas is the competition I mean you know when I was growing up there were probably poor shalls' they were sharing and to ferret good a sock them in Temple and the little Romania sure
that nobody belong to but anyway and now there are 27 or 28 shows and somebody gets mad and nine men pull up ten men pull out and they started a new show on every corner there's a show in Fort Worth they have to they have the the show conservative show and they have the temple which are right across the street from each other and they have a small Abad which is very nice but there's not the competition it's it's still a family type of community I mean everybody helps everybody else I mean you have a Bar Mitzvah everybody goes in and and thanks for it
can you see that happening in Dallas don't think so I mean they try to be I mean you know I spent 15,000 I'm gonna you're gonna spend 25,000 I mean it's the competition really bothers me to a degree changed a lot since you were growing up you know it was it it ceases to be a family I mean it's not that feeling of friendship and intimacy or something like that but but each one was was an individual in its own you know I mean there were individuals in their own and now it's it's it is support work like they have won a CA chapter they
have won BBG chapter for Bonet bruh I mean all of the kids you know those that that finish at the shoe or the temples I mean they go into one of the most of them or they go into topics I mean and it's just a real friendly type of atmosphere of course the Jewish community is much larger now I mean it's got no I think Dallas has gotten too big I mean listen you used to tell somebody you know you turned at the Texaco station unfortunately the Texaco station is no longer there I mean in I get lost in my I mean I have to
tell you I get lost here and I I thought I was pretty good about knowing where I was going in not anymore okay because it's changed its changed and I'm gonna it's the times I probably would have done better to live in the 1800's with horse and buggies even when you were growing up no but 1900 see I don't have a computer I don't have a computer no I don't I didn't want no I didn't want like I can you know I can use a computer I'm not great but I can use a computer I just don't want one I don't want all the garbage
that comes on it I don't want a nice something to say I want to be able to talk if I want to invite you to dinner I want to call and say do you want to come to dinner I want you to answer me immediately I don't want to send you an email and then have to wait until you answer me back I want the human contact I think it's cold and impersonal I just like it there's no way I mean I go to my son's I stayed with one of my sex like first the satyrs for pacer and you know and I watch his
son sent him a an email or text him saying I'm do you need anything and he'll send back bring a nice he never talks to bread sometimes don't you talk to the child I mean you work on a machine I have eight grandchildren four who are married so I have 12 grandchildren I have five great granddaughters and I'm expecting a sixth one the end of July and after having the four boys having all of these girls is something really unique I mean it is really always but it's it's great kind of her nature when we get together there are 25 of us so far cadenas
her maybe they'll be another one I just assumed everybody did I mean you think everybody did the same thing well yes they didn't you know well yeah I mean in particularly the neighborhood I lived in no I mean nothing was made of it in you know my mother gave me lots and lots of the device most of it went all the way through I mean you know it was it was living my sirs and stuff but she said the three things you never talk about you never talk about politics you never talk about religion you never talk about sex I mean that was that generation
I mean yeah and I guess the religion it it was just something that you did if it wasn't outstanding I mean it wasn't I don't know if I'm explaining it I'm not sure this but I mean that's the yell I mean it was just you did it I mean you know I could remember before her pace up that in mother's dining room she would put she would put down a big white sheet in a corner and they were bringing in all the place to Ditka supplies and it would go in that corner I mean you didn't talk to touch it to pace it you know
I mean it was just but that was what you did my grandmother used to make homemade wine cherry wine and she had a big crock and she'd soaked the cherries and she had a dresser and it's that quarter sort of caddy corner at the corner and the crock sack behind it and that's where the why I mean we had the wine room see but these are things that are lost that's why we you know they're just lost I mean in it's a shame it's a shame that we had become so mechanized if that's the word daddy some mother died I'm named for her so daddy's
mother died when he was 16 and my his father lived in New York and as I understand was was president for sure they didn't realize it but as he got older then daddy had three brothers and two sisters but for some reason he came and lived with mother and daddy just before he died they were all born daddy's daddy's from Australia I mean from Austria he's the only one of the six children they were born in the United States and mother's parents were born in Russia and they met on the boat coming over to America they come to New York and I think it Sara
met on the boat as I understand that the story and offer coming over here and they marry and mother was the youngest of three children the kids to chant two sisters and Ruth was a fine and Katie was a shuffle I mean if you lived is half-dollar shooting in my grab my hands your probably knew well we haven't gotten to that are we getting to that now we want to know when I was president when I was president The Sisterhood I went to a meeting that they had and they were announcing a new service that they were starting and it was called senior Express and
what you were doing wish you were matching up seniors who with drivers and you got tickets from ArtReach and you took the teeth the seniors who didn't drive at night out and Beverly Tobin was in charge of it and really sounded like an interesting program so I said I would like to help this was 26 years ago where does the time go I don't know was 26 years ago so Beverly and I did senior Express and I started working for Jewish Family Service as the volunteer and right after that they started the [Music] Russian the immigration program I am they were bringing in and I
worked in that and one day I was asked did I know how to do bookkeeping and I suggest and I ended up the account the checks for the Russians in and because I was working with money I became part of the staff I became a staff member of of Jewish Family Service before that I had chaired the volunteer services program as a chair and different things would work to assume and everything they were coming over we did ESL I mean in the government they got you know they got housing of money they got food money they got and you know you made vehicle appointments and
I really enjoyed I mean we did a lot with them I really enjoyed it and in the end then they needed someone in the food pantry and I was ice to probably like to do that and I said yes I did that for 14 years you keep forgetting you all these things you did because you take it for granted but not everybody hit all those things well it's a long time I'm still waiting I'm not I I really had to resign off the staff because I couldn't do presidency and staff it was I the first year I was split so hard I just couldn't do
it and I told Michael I had to choose and I I don't regret what I chose I'm sorry I did it but I had to and the show just took too much or to do it right I felt like it took too much time I still do a lot of work for the food pantry I mean I'm still I'm still I do a lot of their buying because North Texas doesn't have a lot of stuff so I still get a lot of the buying and I still I still go and do a lot of stuff I've watched it evolve I mean when I was a
kid anyone saying they had to go to Jewish Family Service it was a Sunday for the neighbors it meant you it you you had a problem that you didn't want to talk about your even though you've had other I mean you had problems that everybody else had you didn't want the neighbors you know and it has evolved into such a magnificent thing they have so many support groups and I mean the things that they have done and been able to do and accomplish it's just it's unbelievable and I really do believe in the organization I'm sorry do they some of the departments are the areas
that they cover because it is amazing what they do you know they have a support they have a cancer support group they have they have they it has really grown because the people didn't realize it they have I don't think this is the term for it and I cannot think of another word of the abuse many and they they had a for a long time they had a really thriving adoption group I mean an adoption group that that has just been unbelievable they started a group with the kids about social skills with with I mean they have a program going on in this in the
schools hopefully that if a teacher recognized as a child has a problem god forbid there's a divorce or a death or something and a child has a problem they can stop the primary they can counsel with the child before it becomes a full-blown a problem that they really have a problem with that some of them ESL they have the grief group I mean they they have now been very fortunate they've got rabbi walk on the staff and and he's he's actually the rabbi for the community because they're these amazing how many people have no affiliation I mean him and I don't know if they don't
need it or they don't choose whatever reason they have no affiliation and he's there and and he is just he's really a lovely lovely charming caring man everybody had to block some words you know yeah you had to well yeah I guess you had to you did had to but but there was no reason not to I mean they have people to take care of him you know he goes with injured of burials and I mean he need us it's just a really charming charming man I'm just curious to me you are role model would you say of anyone has been a role model to
you I'm not a role model I've just done what I like doing I mean I have to be honest I would hate to think people but there are people who do even more I mean they're really I mean but um I just do what I like - like your grandparents generation thing but the women in that generation in your parents generation they may not have been presidents of synagogues but they must have been so kind of role models you must have taken something from them truthfully I really don't think so I think the reason I am what I am whatever I am but you're what
I know what's because of my husband it's very hard but he was he was good about supporting me I mean whatever he was really very chauvinistic I have to be honest he was a great chauvinist having the four boys that was that was that was quite interesting growing up in the house of men but he supported I mean whatever when I was asked to be a president he you know I mean and I came hoping and I said you know that and he said well you understand when it hits the fan and I said I mean he said you you're gonna end but whatever I
wanted to do he really supported that was probably more any more encouragement than anything that he was I mean in in I feel that if you take you have to get back if you're fortunate and I have been God knows more than fortunate than most people you have to put back and it doesn't matter how but but you just have to do it I mean you can't just constantly take thank you very much it was wonderful that was the end that is the end unless you have something more to tell us you know I have one thing yeah I'm trying I can't remember the number
I really don't I think it was 40 but I'm not going to swear to it Jewish Family Service had an anniversary and we were looking up archives and we came and went through the TJ piece and the archive of things it was really interesting seeing how every every women woman was listed as mrs. Muir mrs. Dave Anderson I was mrs. Sam sterling I was I was not a person I was Lord I was just part part part of something else it's unbelievable to see how women have been able to establish their own right for a long time we belong to the Lancers club dad well we we did until they closed up but we were charter members to the Lancers club but for years women couldn't go in for lunch until after 1 o'clock they oh no no no no women oh no they were now allowed in and the first time then all of a sudden all of these lawyers and the bankers and these women and hey guys we want and they started but I can't remember just the discrimination against women as being women and all of a sudden you cease to be I mean you became Ruth Andrus I mean you became a person in your own right and there's there's no reason not to and then that I have seen evolved ok then I had to say you