Jeneane Pearlman
Jeneane Pearlman came from a family with roots reaching from Egypt, England, and Austria, with grandparents who immigrated to the United States. Her parents were both American born, her father in New York and her mother in St. Joseph, Missouri. Jeneane was born in Wichita, Kansas, and the family moved frequently to follow her father's advancing career in the jewelry business, living in Oklahoma City, Springfield, Missouri, San Antonio, and Houston. Her father rose through jewelry retail, opening stores in San Antonio and later the first Gold's store in Houston. An only child, Jeneane grew up in a very reform Jewish household and finished high school in Houston.
Jeneane married Aaron Pearlman, whom she met at sixteen and later reconnected with at the University of Texas, where they both attended and belonged to Jewish fraternities and sororities. After Aaron entered the Army, the couple lived in Augusta, Georgia, before moving to Dallas around 1956 or 1957, when her parents also relocated there. Their first home was on Alva Vista, then on the edge of farmland. Jeneane joined many organizations at first, including Hadassah and Pioneer Women, to meet people and learn the city before choosing where to focus. She recalled a Dallas that has grown enormously from open fields into a bustling city.
Following her mother's example of service, Jeneane became a devoted community volunteer, helping lead Younger Set, serving as vice chairman of the Federation under Ruth Jacobson, and receiving several awards including induction into the Sisterhood Hall of Fame. She was active in Council, Temple Emanu-El Sisterhood, and the campus Jewish Network at SMU. Later she worked nineteen years in retail, helping open the shop Needle in a Haystack, and then partnered with friends to build a major charitable fundraising event she supported for more than twenty years. She was also active with the North Dallas Democratic Women and treasured lifelong friendships. She and Aaron take great pride in their son.
Full Transcript
today is September the 27th I'm in the Pearlman home interviewing Janine Pearlman at the bone adventure and uh hi hi it's nice to have you welcome thank you thank you very much uh we're going to start like we did with your husband at um with your family where they were born and if they weren't if they were born in the United States where your grandparents were born my grandparents the paternal grandparents one was from Egypt and one was from I don't know where my grandfather was from and my grandmother on the other side was from England and grandfather from Austria he always told he the
the same story that you read every it's $17 in his pocket and he made it you know the old story M and uh my parents were both born in the United States my dad in New York and but never lived there mhm or they they came I don't know he didn't live there very long and they moved to Topo and my mother was born in St Joe Missouri Liv there just she married and I was born in witto Kansas I lived there for 3 years and I went to Oklahoma City where my folks knew the uh the what may mels mels they anyway um live
there for 3 years and we lived in in Springfield Missour for 6 months and then we moved to San Antonio so I've been to Texas since I was s um what made why my D my dad was in jewelry business and in each case it was a step up and then in um when I was six or five I don't remember he joined the sale organization which was small he opened store number eight in San Antonio and I have no idea how many they ended up with but then he we were there for six years seven years and then they went into the um uh
like the cor the the high high hir in and he was sent to Houston to open the first gild store that's what I was trying to say and they lived there and I lived there until I married and then Aaron went in service and we moved to Augusta Georgia and while I was we were in Georgia the um my parents moved to Dallas that he was promoted again to what's a year on on that what 1956 MH you moved to Dallas mhm and as far as I can remember we've been involved with Dallas Community since 1957 because my parents were always involved mother was always
doing something with counsil and that Daddy was working he he gave of his money but not of his time because he had you know a 7even day job um and and I don't know we I was just brought up to to be involved MH and uh younger set started short am I getting ahead of myself no younger head started shortly after we moved here I don't remember exactly but the second year that it was here I was uh I think Barbie Lewis was the first chairman and I was the chairman after that as I remember of younger M it just started in the late 50s
or early 60s and then I just work for Federation mostly I was vice chairman under Ruth Co Ruth Jacon MH and I received the best best C best the the award for at standing whatever uh you've gotten several cours um I've kind of kept up with you through the years because of Judy yeah uh you were very active in um Council as your mother was too yes Council Sisterhood I was on um Bard no well I was on the board of everything yeah I was on the board I mean you know they find one they they they get you once you're on some board then
somebody else want you on their board and I don't remember it seems like I was on the board of every one of the Federation uh things uh never held an office as you know a president or VI president but I was on the board and I got up the oh Hall of Fame the sister had Hall of Fame okay okay a few years ago five six years ago Temple and then we became very invol FAL and that was Aon may have already told you uh through Doris and Larry no oh okay well I gave up charity work for a little while and went to work
well I was my dad was in the retail business I love the retail business or I did for 19 years anyway I worked for U we with needle and ha stack Doris Butner and I open NE H stack and was there one other person Joan Hansel and Judy well her name was St at the time MH but Doris not opened the store then they came in and then after about 10 years Doris got involved with the AL Cove and then she decided that she wanted to do a big fundraiser so who who else to help him but go what you need in there so we
got involved with that and Doris now knew nothing about giving IND event but somebody gave us the name of the head of the of the uh myON and we made them for put down there oh yeah they'd be glad to work with us they gave us a couple names of people that call that knew how to get event going and who knew how to do ticketing and we got it'sa PE for the first one and we really honestly thought he'd give us back the money we we paid him $50,000 and we honestly were naive enough to believe that oh what a good cause he'll give
us back the money well didn't happen so you learned a little bit yes we learned a little bit more but anyway we just went from there and I think we did eron and I were involved with the AL event for 20 some odd years even after Doris aler passed away and and then we quit about 3 years ago because it was time for younger people to take over it it needed to change MH and um thought that was the right thing to do so we got out of that um how has Dallas changed for you since is gr I tell you when we first came
here um 1956 we went to Russ children services in Augusta Georgia and it was about the size of the uh Chapel the temple MH and then 10 days later we were here and Temple Emanuel wasn't quite ready and they had the services at Fair Park and it was just mind boing to go you know from here to here and uh I don't know I joined everything my found my first book not long ago and I I mean pioneer women and hadasa everything because I didn't know what I wanted to be involved with and I and I met people as funny as it seems well if
you go to University of Texas you know the immediate World anyway but uh I wanted to know Dallas sites and I wanted to meet people and the first having been in the jewelry business my dad would never take anything from anybody the um reps or anything and when I got married you know I got from all the silver companies everybody gave them yeah and um the first time I went to a hadassa meeting they had drawing a a priz thing and I got a silver TR which was almost comical because I never won anything my life and I come up with this big silver TR
but I joined everything and then selected what I wanted to do but it's grown so I mean we all know this was I I don't know out here was Farm I guess remember my uncle uh chck Gardner was very involved with developing Addison and I said oh Uncle Jack I would love to we was talking to Daddy one day about some property of Northwest Highway in Inwood and I said he said I think we can pick it up for six an acre I don't know where I was I thought he me $6 and so he said I said oh I'd love to be involved with
some of that he said I'll call you next time well he found some other property he called me and or maybe was that on he said you really want to be involved with this I said yeah he said well it's so many acres it's 6,000 ACR I said what I call my daddy you got to get me out of this I mean you you get not e and he developed a lot of he would had a lot of foresight but that was I mean that was the woods mhm yeah no I I remember when I moved here in 60 we used to go out to
the country for fried chicken on Forest and Preston right young Bloods well when we want oh it's never been anything quite Youngs we used to pick it up for the kids when we go out we pick up and the smell of it going home was yeah you just you almost could couldn't stop yourself we lived on Al Vista we were the last Street before the farm mhm or the farmland and field mice were just kind mhm and it got to the point where I look out the door and you mouse was looking in Hy there's another mouse out there but I don't didn't like it
but that's how much it's grow oh yeah yeah and that was before day the hak day was built right across the street that was our first home um I I'm on a backrack you went to high school here no no okay but the high school in Houston Houston okay okay and I still have a lot of GRS that um did you ever meet with any anti-Semitism growing up you know small town to bigger town to medium town to Houston yeah I don't remember any all my friends were Jewish MH I mean these days it doesn't happen but you never want every boy you went out
with was Jewish all you went College you Jo Jey sority you know those things have changed considerably um I don't remember any anti-Semitism and we didn't know about racism because that was just the way things were when you lived in the South M you didn't know you liked it or didn't like it it just it was accepted something to think it was it wasn't you know something it wasn't something to think about and then um can I get a little bit political sure okay when I came to Dallas one of the things I got involved with was the North Dallas Democratic women pardon me and
U they used to do plays to raise money for the Democratic Party and an Richards wrote the plays and she always played LBJ and it was such funny we would do the place at um um hell Crest mhm and raise money Chris high school and we did a couple of nights and it was a blast and I don't know how many years that had maybe 10 15 years ago I don't know when Ann was governor M I didn't s her since and I went there for an event and I went up to her to say hello hi Janine how are you oh God which was
just m Bible because I was not that big a deal in the life but that's the kind of person she but having worked with her was was amazing and it was fun yeah and one time plenty of dirty words oh yeah and the but not in the play mhm and then one time another girl and I don't remember who were sitting in the ad Alphas Hotel selling tickets to Connelly John Connelly dinner and uh somebody walked up and said hi girls how's it going and we looked up and he's standing there he was so handsome you so that was fun too yeah course that's the
what is what we're going through decades what has been your favorite decade colge college at um Texas at Texas and and you know the years too course raising kids isn't easy we all know that but the years when they can come home from school and you open they open the door and ran out to play MH and at 6:00 you stood on the front porch like a fish wife and Hollard gra come home for dinner you know that was fun yeah yeah and then you know they don't do that anymore Rod the bicycles to school and you know doesn't happen anymore um Aon told me
your husband told me how you met but I want to hear your version oh well he wouldn't tell it the same way I tell that's right no we met because he was the best dancer he was definitely the best dancer in the ACN and uh one of my girlfriends he liked one of my girlfriends and I liked him and she started going somebody else and she gave me earing M and we were 16 and we one day we were talking about how many children we going to have and where we going to have a Christmas tree which I had all my wife I grew up
very very reformed and I I could imagine not having a Christmas tree had one I mean that's the something small to give up but we was first time 16 years old so he let the religion up to him well not MH we he was uh conservative MH and I was for him mhm and we didn't have a Christmas tree with that was said MH I mean he went with with me I mean it wasn't a big deal Aaron's parents weren't living as you already know and he Aaron was the son that my parents didn't have and he was the parents that he didn't have they
were and it was a a nice family it was a very close family thing but I survived in the Army without my Mother and Daddy I was the only child mhm it's a good way to grow up mhm and it's good it's it's good to move away and not have parental influence every day and in those days you didn't just pick up a phone and call cost money MH you know and and uh that's how we met and that was a done deal I went to college one semester before he did cuz he was midterm mhm and he went to Texas also but everybody knew
my boyfriend was coming but I everybody d Everybody then you all the pledges went out with all the pl I mean it was just a different mhm Yeah a different time and then he came to school and I still DED other people we didn't go steady but um we always knew we were going to get married with that we did when when the F when we got pinned I said did did my daddy say it was okay so help me he said calling it was like 11 12:00 at night and I called him and I said is it okay Daddy said yes I was I
was a daddy's girl yeah yeah but they didn't they didn't want us to get serious so yeah how many brothers and sisters do I don't have any you were only child and I wanted the another brother or sister so I was about 10 maybe eight and I realized how good I had it you know I did fine I've always been very fortunate to have friends MH and yeah know friends are I don't know how people exist without friends that's your other family yeah oh yeah and I've always been very fortunate to have close friends some of whom uh are still very close to ruy clim
was my roommate of college oh my God and uh you know she lives here in the building now I mean we're still very very close and we're sisters and it's it's so I never missed having sisters or brothers Aon hit three and I was lucky they were we got good good relationships we didn't have that much in common because of age MH but we had good relationship with his family and I'm sure that I wouldn't that my his mother would not have been a I mean I would have always respected the Mother-in-law as opposed to some my children's yeah right you started going and Ruth
stuff the camera she what that the [Laughter] K who um who were your role mods or are your role mods uh I don't know I mean I tried to follow in the in the values that my parents hadh but I can't I couldn't pick one person it was a collection it was a collection of of u i I don't know well you've led a very successful life have I left anything out any little stories you'd want to I think talk St uh we've had a good life we've been healthy I've had quite a few surgeries but I've come through them they've all been bones I
mean I'm no fun to go through the track yeah the back the foot the leg the hip I just had knee replacement um but you know this two passes MH and um we've lived here about eight and a half years and it's a fun place to live yeah you live in a city yeah all you need is a grocery store right uh it's very easy to get cloistered mhm you make plans with the people you see MH all the time as opposed to good friends that live elsewhere it um that's that's not good M it's sometimes hard to keep up with M old friends who
are like family mhm um we're happily married there's no chance obious there's no chance either one of us are going to take a walk um our kids are good uh you know R the and he's the light of my life yeah I was going to say he light of a lot of lives and he U is it about with Theater now and every time I think about the possibility that he might go to New York my know gets ready and my eyes get te and that's just pure selfishness because I want him to do that but look at all the miles you could get I'm
saving up miles now everything's going on on the American Airlines card finish what finish oh it stopped no more juice okay thanks that was great I mean I I don't know you know it's funny when you say about a role model because I really don't know well what I'll tell you now that it's off I had forgotten to mention that when the Dallas it was at SMU and the Jewish students and they started an organization and I was called to be on the board and I kind of hesitated and they said that Nancy Caston being the chaplain at SMU she was the assistant chaplain would
be involved with it not the the chance to work with her she was young I think she was pregnant with her first child or second whatever and just the idea of working with her and we I did that for a couple of years and that was um a wonderful experience and the other thing that uh is a good story is uh my dad this was started they started a fellowship or scholarship at SMU for uh the Gardner scholarship uh in the humanities and um when Daddy retired and so it ran out of money I mean it didn't run out of money but each year they
would ask him for more and more and more so finally he said the how whatever his thing was he was chairman of Deadman school that that was it he wasn't going to get me any more there was the just use what they had so um he said fine I understand now so he um he said but let's do this next when lady bir Johnson is going to be the speaker and they said fine you know and then they did a dinner at the Tower Club afterwards and uh so Liz what was her name Liz Smith Liz Carpenter was the uh lady Bird's uh secretary and
she said uh I have to stop after the the lady bird speech said um Mr Miss Pearlman you ride with me and let Mr Gartner go in the limousine with m m Johnson he said fine we get down there and he was seated we were all seated at the at Main table with Mrs Johnson and so forth and so on and on the way home uh how the dean said to Daddy did you have a good time with Mrs Johnson she was his tablemate and he said yeah he said listen call me tomorrow how he said I give you some more money he knew what
he was doing but I forgot to mention it was the campus Jewish Network and they uh were trying to get the Jewish students involved with campus activities there were there's a lot more Jewish students now than there were then and uh it was very successful and it was it was good but working with Nancy was a u a treat