January 12, 2018

Marilyn Schaffer

Marilyn Schaffer's family history in Texas began in 1898, when her grandfather arrived in Galveston at the age of sixteen. When the great storm of 1900 struck, he wrote to his parents warning them not to come, but they came anyway, fleeing persecution in Russia. By 1910, when the port of Galveston closed, her entire family had settled in Texas. Her mother and her mother's siblings were born in Galveston, and her father came to Texas at twenty-five to meet relatives, met her mother, and stayed. Marilyn's maiden name was Geller, and her mother's maiden name was Lerner. She grew up in a small but close Jewish community served by the well-known Reform Rabbi Cohen.

Marilyn grew up in Galveston, where her graduating class at Ball High School included only a small number of Jewish students. Active in BBYO, she often traveled to Houston on weekends to stay with her aunt and cousins. She attended the University of Colorado for two years before returning home and marrying Don, a Dallas native, in 1960. Determined never to raise her children in a small town, she embraced Dallas wholeheartedly. By the age of twenty-five she had three daughters. In 1979, with her children growing older, she went into real estate, working with Henry S. Miller and later Virginia Cook, a career she has treasured.

In Dallas, Marilyn and Don were members of Temple Emanu-El for twelve years before joining Shearith Israel, where their children became involved. Don served as president of the JCC, the Federation, and the Foundation, and Marilyn shared fully in that community life, including young leadership and involvement with the Holocaust center. She traveled to Israel several times, first with a national mission in 1972, and later joined a Federation trip to Poland. She and Don are longtime supporters of the Dallas arts, including the symphony, the museums, and the Nasher. Proud of her family of three daughters, four grandsons, and two granddaughters, Marilyn remains an enthusiastic champion of Dallas and its future.

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