Stuck

submitted by Jean

Zazy was laying a linoleum floor. He noticed a wrinkle and thought if he lifted up the stove with his back he could straighten the linoleum. He wedged himself under the stove so tight he couldn’t get out. He yelled out “Jeannie come here. Help me!” I came running only to run back out of the room laughing hard and to get my camera. As I ran I heard him respond frantically “Where are you going?". On my return, after snapping this photo, I helped lift the stove so he could get out. Note: He never lost the grip on his pipe.

Hugs

submitted by Carol

If we could have a title page with picture this should be it. These are my parents! The ever loving, smiling, jokester father and the beautiful, prim and proper mom.

Chanukah

submitted by Carol

This is one of my favorite pictures......It shows the great love Zazy had for his grandchildren and how much Allison loved her Zazy!

Smiley face

submitted by Beth

Remember the smiley face Zaze used to put inside the loop on the "L" everytime he signed his name? That small gesture sums up his whole personality. My mom says he was a born salesman. I think he was just an all around good hearted guy too.

Reading lesson

This photo is from December, 1983 of Zazy reading to Gene. Got to love that shirt!

Grandma's radar

submitted by Beth

Grandma Cele had radar when it came to her candy drawer, but only when it involved Zazy. I remember her scolding him from the kitchen (sight unseen) when he tried to sneak some candy from the drawer before supper!

Suspended in air

submitted by Beth

The last "typical Zazy" post reminded me of another "Zazy hold", the one where he would stick his arm out and tell us to grab on by locking our hands over his forearm. He would lift us up that way using only his shoulder and arm strength and leave us dangling in the air. We were obviously under four feet tall at the time! Another was when he would pick us up by the ears (by looping his arms under our armpits first then grabbing our ears) and hoisting us up. Silly Zaze, but we loved it.

Typical Zazy!

submitted by Carol

Here is a picture of Zazy and Mark in a typical pose.......Mark sitting in "the chair" and Zazy giving him one of his "holds".
Wow Mark, check out those boots!!

Miss Brown

submitted by Carol

Jean, I think her name was Miss Brown and it was on Kingsbury that Mom had her clean and iron. I remember that white powder on her face. Why didn't she iron in the house? She ironed in the basement??

Ironing Lady

submitted by Jean

I remember the ironing board in the basement. There was a tall black lady who wore white powder on her face and talked to herself all the time, real conversations. I can't remember her name, but Mom hired her to iron, paid by the basket.

Banner Maid

submitted by Carol
The grandchildren remember Movie Star in the apartment basement. I remember Banner Maid on 808 Washington Ave. This was Uncle Jack's Company and Zazy ran the business, selling on the road, running the office and the factory. The factory was next to the Statler Hotel (across from the now convention center), next door to Popes restaurant. There was a little rickety wooden elevator, with a round metal seat and a man that ran it. The office seemed so big, and Uncle Jack had this beautiful office, there was also a showroom and the big factory with sewing machines, cutting tables....just like in the movie Pajama Game. Ella, Irv, Gene were some of the names I remember of people working there, Zaze gave Norm a job there too before he went to barber school. I can still picture it. We would take the bus downtown, shop and then meet Dad for dinner either at the cafeteria at Popes, or the Statler. For a treat we would go to the Chinese restaurant downtown where, of course, they knew Lou and Jack!

Uncle Boo

submitted by Carol

The fight over whose uncle, Uncle Lou was, was between his niece Lois Chuver and Delores Schmidt. Both were his "favorite nieces", one his brothers daughter and one Mom's brothers daughter. When they were little they lived in the same apartment building in Clayton on Demun and Delores couldn't pronounce Lou so she called him Uncle Boo. When our family would visit, either the Chuvers or the Schmidts, the two girls would argue who he was visiting. Even when they grew up, Delores still called him Uncle Boo.

Zazy's clothes part 2

submitted by Carol

I have this wonderful picture that explains his fashion sense!! It is a picture of the two Lou's, Grandpa Lou and Zazy Lou. My kids were blessed with 4 wonderful grandparents, both having the same names.....Lou and Cele!!

This picture has the two grandpa's sitting on a couch with those wonderful smiles on both their faces. My father in law in pants, shirt, socks, vest, tie all matching and in perfect shape and then there sits my Dad, stripes, plaids, sweater vest, and white tube socks, all in colors that don't match, with pipe in mouth. Both so opposite but got along so beautiful!!

Movie Star Lingerie

-Beth-

I remember going down to Zazy and Grandma's basement. He let us pick pajamas from his sample collection to take home. It always felt like a very strange place to me because it was filled with all kinds of boxes and old furniture. I have a vivid memory of an ironing board with a light hanging over it from a cord attached to the ceiling. Strange, the things one remembers.

Related to this, I remember one of Zazy's words of wisdom from his traveling salesman days. He told me that when you are driving and your front window fogs up, just crack open your window a little and it will clear up right away. Go figure! Of course, he was right. It works great. I've done it many times and thought of him every time.

Zazy's clothes and cars

submitted by Mark

I am surprised no one has mentioned Zazy's clothes. He used to wear loud plaid pants and bright shirts that rarely ever matched. The seats of his cars were always filled with burn holes from his pipes. When he gave me his last car, the Topaz, I found a few pipes hidden in the trunk.

Belgorodka

submitted by Mark

The village they were from was Belgorodka and it was in the Khmelnits (sp) region of the pale of jewish settlement. It was Russia then, it is Ukraine now.

Ellis Island records

submitted by Mark

This is information taken from ellisisland.org These are passenger records for Zazy's mother and sisters.
His father must have come into the US earlier through Baltimore or Philadelphia.
I will try to post some information about the village they came from.

First Name: Chaje Last Name: Chuver Ethnicity: Russia Last Place of Residence: Bielogrodki, Date of Arrival: Oct 05, 1906 Age at Arrival: 38Y Gender: F Marital Status: M Ship of Travel: Batavia Port of Departure: Cuxhaven Manifest Line Number: 0021

First Name: Huide Last Name: Chuver Ethnicity: Russia Last Place of Residence: Bielogrodki, Date of Arrival: Oct 05, 1906 Age at Arrival: 9Y Gender: F Marital Status: S Ship of Travel: Batavia Port of Departure: Cuxhaven Manifest Line Number: 0024

First Name: Ruoke Last Name: Chuver Ethnicity: Russia Last Place of Residence: Bielogrodki, Date of Arrival: Oct 05, 1906 Age at Arrival: 11Y Gender: F Marital Status: S Ship of Travel: Batavia Port of Departure: Cuxhaven Manifest Line Number: 0023

First Name: Sarah Last Name: Chuver Ethnicity: Russia Last Place of Residence: Bielogrodki, Date of Arrival: Oct 05, 1906 Age at Arrival: 15Y Gender: F Marital Status: S Ship of Travel: Batavia Port of Departure: Cuxhaven Manifest Line Number: 0022

The ship they were on was the Cuxhaven, built by Blohm & Voss Shipbuilders, Hamburg, Germany, 1899. 10,178 gross tons; 517 (bp) feet long; 62 feet wide. Steam quadruple expansion engines, twin screw. Service speed 12? knots. 2,700 passengers (300 second class, 2,400 third class).One funnel and two masts.
**note you can see a picture of the ship on the website

History lesson

submitted by Jean

Louis Chuver was the first son after three sisters, Sarah 18, Ruth 11 and Ida 9. Then a year and a half later came baby brother Jack. Lou was born in 1907 in Livingston, Illinois the year after his parents, Samuel (Schmuel Lazur) Chuver and Rose(Chaje) Arber arrived from Russia. The family moved to St. Louis in 1918 to 1422 O’Fallon, and Lou attended O’Fallon School. He married Cecele Schmidt in 1928, September 3, at the Jewish Old Folks Home ballroom. There were 400 guests. In the bridal party; Ann Shulman, Jack Chuver, Laura and Mike Bernstein, flower girls, Marion Spasser and Marion Schmidt. They honeymooned in Chicago, Illinois.
1929, January 5, … daughter Jean Yetta was born at home, 2018 Obear Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. They all lived with Grandmother Lizzie Schmidt and Unce Sam Schmidt. Cecelia's father Jacob had died in 1927. Lou worked for a hat manufacturer and was a traveling salesman,. In 1934 the family moved to San Antonio, Texas for a good job, but the plant went bankrupt,(the boss's son was crooked) so in 1937 we returned to St. Louis to 5892A Maffitt. In World War II, Lou was drafted (at age 34 with 2 kids) into the Navy. He was called Pop by the young sailors. He had a good job as a radar man on the USS Neshoba. The Radar men had private quarters. December 31, 1938, Carol Elizabeth was born. Lou went to work for his brother Jack at Banner Maid, Ladies Undergarments.

When Lou met Cele

submitted by Carol

When Zazy met Grandma and asked her out, she liked his friend Al Gelfand. Zazy didn't know much about her except she was very pretty and came from a very pretty family. When he came to her house and picked her up Mom's father came out speaking Yiddish. Zazy was shocked, he didn't know she was Jewish. I have these wonderful letters that he wrote her during their courtship that showed his "always funny" personality.

Grandma Cele

submitted by Mark

Grandma was the most orderly person I have ever known. She ate at the same time everyday. Their apartments were always spotless. I have her and Zazy's chairs and they still look brand new. I remember when we were cleaning out their last place and it was the first time I had ever seen the couch without a plastic cover. I had no idea it was green! Also, she labeled everything. I have a couple of decks of playing cards that have her mailing label on them.
She also enjoyed working. After she retired from her full time job, she worked at my mom's store and Haddasah up until she got sick.
Her answer to any question of why we did something on a religious level was "that is just the way we do it because that is how we always have."
I spent a lot of time with her towards the end and I really got to see how funny she was and how with it she really was.
The maddest I ever saw her at Zazy was the night he cut my head on the gold table in the living room when we were wrestling and I bled on the carpet.

Devil hair and coffee cans

submitted by Beth

Here is a great photo of Jacob twisting Zazy's hair into devil horns. Jacob went along with the request not knowing that Bruce, Keith and I had been doing that to Zazy for years.

Not to be forgotten, Grandma Cele and her coffee can cookies (plus the best scrambled eggs and chicken noodle soup in the whole world).

The Navy

submitted by Carol

Everytime I see news clips from WW II returning service men being greeted by their families I remember when Dad came home. He left for the Navy when I was 4 and was gone for 2 years, I didn't really remember he returned so when we went to pick him up, he had to buy me a doll and a box of candy before I would go near him.

As big as he was that's how much of a softy he was, he was a traveling salesman and was on the road all week. When I was bad mom would say, "Wait till your dad gets home", and when he did she would tell him how bad I was and he would take me into the other room and close the door and I would sit on his lap and he would tell me about his week. When we finished we went back out and he would tell mom he scolded and punished me.

My Dad

submitted by Carol

Mark and Gene, thank you so much for getting this started, I have wanted these memories written - so not forgotten - for such a long time.
Nick, who is named after Zazy was upset because everyone knew Zazy and he didn't, so Nick This is all for you!!! Enjoy your namesake.

I was always known as Lou's daughter, (never had a name of my own) everyone knew him and loved him. I knew that he would always be there to protect me, even after I got married Norm knew that Dad would beat him up if he ever hurt me!
Arm Wrestling, he couldn't be beat He had the largest hands and fingers I ever saw

Beth, remember your wedding and how Zazy told the rabbi that he didn't know how to play pool?? He had that rabbi wrapped around his little finger by the nights end.

Zazy loved children, his daughter, his first grandson Bruce, the boy he never had, he finally had someone to teach sports to, but to his surprise his granddaughter Beth was the superstar. His face would light up with one of the last grand children he knew and that was Allison. He would do what ever she told him to do, sit where ever she said and when she was 3 and he would see her at nursery school at the JCC, she wouldn't let the other kids say Hello to "Her Zazy!", she even yelled at the men in the swimming pool for spritzing her zazy

He taught me Baseball: I could really hit that ball,
Bowler: I knew how to line up my thumb with the arrows and throw the greatest curve with the best bowling form in the league,
Racquetball, basketball, track, etc. Jeannie may have been daddys little girl but I was Daddys little tomboy!!

Don't order that Louie

submitted by Beth

Zazy loved spicy foods. We used to go out to eat together and after getting settled at our table we would have to say hello to all of the people who knew Zazy and Grandma. There was never an occasion when someone did not come up to us to say hello--I even remember being in a city outside of St. Louis and somebody knew Zazy!

Anyway, Zazy would always order something very spicy. And Grandma would always quietly under her breath sternly admonish him for doing so. She knew it wasn't good for him. He would sit there enjoying every bite, wiping the sweat from his brow, as Grandma would mutter "I told you so, Louie". The smirky smile that was all Zazy would never leave his face.

Memories

submitted by Cindy

First of all, thanks to Mark for "getting the ball rolling" and to Gene for setting this up. I obviously have never "blogged" before and accidentally added a new blog when I was trying to just add to this one. If someone knows how to delete it, feel free!

My favorite memories...
Friday nights dinners, complete with the fried potatoes that Zazy always got in trouble for, Uncle Fred's wonderful desserts from Lake Forest, Grandma waiting in the hall for us with her hands on her hips.
Zazy chair
Zazy's storytelling...Was it Winken, Blinken, and Nod?
The birds, although I remember Dumb Dumb, more than Petey
Chewing Cigars
Grandma's "set in stone" ways...lunch at noon, dinner at six, same snack daily, same routine, no matter what!
Grandma's yummy baking, complete with her address label on the cookie tin. (I still have the tins to prove it)
The little people that lived in Zazy's car
Zazy's singing or abba, babba, yabba while tapping his fingers
Uncle Sam''s two teeth and his familiar antics at the Seder
Grandma and Zazy doing everything for everyone
Tami spilling the big coffee urn on grandma's rug
The plastic on the furniture
The smell of coffee/bagels when we slept there
The candy drawer (of course, Zazy got yelled at for eating everything in it)
Zazy drinking a shot of whiskey and his big "Aaahh" afterwards
His bottle opener
The sunflower bowl that Grandma served fruit salad in...Does anyone have this?
Chuver clubs
Uncle Jack--I always thought he was a famous hockey player on the Red Wings
Aunt Sara-beautiful and sweet
Aunt Ruth-so loving, great Kmish Bread
Aunt Laura-don't ask he how she was, or about calling the weatherman
Bruce hanging Mark upside down for a quarter
Zazy cutting Mark's head open while wrestling
Grandma "Sarge"
Grandma asking my dad if was drunk because she thought his driving was so bad
Paul shocking Grandma with his comments (Michael Jackson)
Wheel of Fortune

And that is just what is on the top of my head!!

Magic

submitted by Beth

We would take a quarter and shove it into our elbow so hard it would make a mark trying to make it disappear, but give it to Zazy and the quarter would vanish only to reappear in one of our ears. Silly trick? Perhaps, but it was the delivery and the look on his face that made it so amazing and memorable. We would always say "Do it again, Zazy". I know I believed.

To Nicholas

submitted by Mark

This is a letter I wrote and read to Nick at his baby naming ceremony... (November 1997)

"Dear Nicholas:

One of your middle names and your Hebrew name is for your Great Grandpa, Louis Chuver (better known as Zazy) Unfortunately, Zazy passed away a couple of months before you were born. I am truly sorry that you won't have the opportunity to meet Zazy because he was a really special person.

There are so many things I hope you inherit from Zazy and that I want you to know about him...

Zazy had a very outgoing personality and was always happy. I can't remember a time when we saw him without a smile on his face or even angry at someone. He had a great sense of humor and loved to make everyone around him laugh. He was a salesman by trade and his personality made him very successful at his job. Zazy was very good at selling an idea or a story to whoever would listen. I guess you could say he was a great "Bser". He used to tell us stories about how he would tell people how he had never bowled before or played racquetball before...He would sucker them in and hen he would bet them!! He loved reading us bedtime stories, or actually making up stories and having us believe he was reading from a book. No matter what he said, we believed him because he was Zazy!

Above all, Zazy was a "people person". He was always doing things for everyone else, especially his family. Zazy's family meant the world to him. In fact, one of our last conversations (sitting outside at the nursing home) was about family and how important it was to be together and do things together.

Zazy was a very athletic man. He had numerous athletic talents, ranging from being a Golden Glove boxer to a minor leaguer baseball player. He kept himself active and in shape throughout his entire life. In fact, when he participated in the Senior Olympics, he would beat people who were younger then he was in various events. If he were alive today, he would have bragged about how big you were when you were born and you would be a future ball player. He would have done his best to teach you how to throw that punch, or throw that ball, or swing that club.

I have so many fond memories of my childhood and growing up with Zazy. This letter could easily turn into a book if I tried to tell you everything. Hopefully, you will grow up hearing about him and feel like you knew him too. I hope you can carry on his fighting spirit and loving personality and that you grow up to be the type of person people want to be around...Just like you Zazy!!

If Zazy were here tonight, he would lift his glass and say:
To Nicholas; L'Chaim...To Life! May you live a long, healthy life, just like your Zazy."

Cindy

Make a chair

submitted by Beth

Zazy used to sit in his living room in a chair in the corner watching TV. He would cross his legs at the ankles, gnawing on an unlit cigar stub (Grandma Cele never did let him smoke them) with his knees apart. Many a day was spent for hours perched in that special place watching TV with him, especially when he would trap you there by locking his legs over yours. I never could get out of that stranglehold. He would just sit there and laugh as we flailed away...

More thoughts

submitted by Mark

I have a feeling that everytime I read a new post, I will find something else I want to add. I too played raquetball with Zazy when I was in my athletic prime. What I remember more than the absolute beating he put on me was that he would tell me when he was going to hit a shot I could not return before he did it.
Thank you Gene Lewis for setting up this blog, I can not wait to read some new entries!

Take it easy on Zazy. Yeah, right.

submitted by Beth

Zazy. So many fond memories. Zazy used to take us (my two older brothers, Bruce and Keith and me) for rides in the car. We never knew where we were going, and according to Zazy, neither did he so we always got lost. After a long drive to nowhere and everywhere, he would tap on the dashboard to ask his friends for help getting back home. Zazy would cock his head to one side as if he were listening and tell us, "They said to turn right here". And on we'd go for awhile, then he'd start the query all over again for the next turn and the next. We tried to hear them ourselves, but they only spoke to Zazy. And they always led us back home. Amazing.

I consider myself to have been pretty successful at athletics. I owe it all to him. From his patience and persistance in teaching me how to throw a ball to his belief in the importance of honest effort and sportsmanship. Not only was he an absolute marvel on the playing field in numerous sports himself, he was a wonderful coach and mentor. To this day, when I go bowling if my delivery starts to fail me I think of Zazy's guiding instruction to "thumb my nose" on my follow-through. It brings me right back every time. Zazy was a great bowler! Even after arthritis made it impossible for him to throw a bowling ball down the alley with the normal three step approach and backswing, he would stand at the end of the lane and launch the ball off his fingertips and throw strike after strike. He was really something.

And then there was Petey bird. Zazy had the most amazing way with this little yellow parakeet. He would place Pete on his back in the palm of his hand and point his finger at him and say "Stay there" and that bird would not move an inch. Then he would signal to him with his finger by making a little curly Q in the air and that bird would arch his back and grab Zazy's finger with his beak and flip himself over. He would take Pete in his hand and launch him into the air to fly around the room a couple of times. Then he would pull open the breast pocket of these white undershirts that he always wore and point to it and Pete would go zooming into his pocket! And then there were the card games. Zazy would have his buddies over for poker and when a player folded and placed his cards on the table, Pete would skitter across the table and flip over their cards with his beak. He had Petey Two and then a blue parakeet named Dumb Dumb (because he was) after that, but none of them ever rivaled the antics of the original Pete.

When we were little he showed us how to make a really big muscle. Even though we knew what was coming we were crazy to let him show us more than once. He would tell us to bend our arms like a strongman and show how big our muscles were, then he would karate chop us in the bicep and of course our muscles would respond by tensing up and getting even bigger! He never really hurt us, but ... boy did that smart.

I remember being in the prime of my athletic career and conditioning during my college years. I went to visit Zazy and he took me to the racquetball court to have some fun. Now remember, I was in pretty good shape back then, as a member of three collegiate sport teams. So I figured this will be fun, but I'll try not to be too hard on Zazy. He was in his seventies after all. He stood in the middle of the court and shot after shot made absolute mincemeat out of me. I'm running all over the place diving for the ball. He never even broke a sweat! Take it easy on Zazy, yeah right!

Daddy's Little Girl

submitted by Jean

I remember Daddy. I was daddy’s little girl.( My sister didn’t arrive until 10 years later.) He used to sing to me “Everybody loves my Baby, but my baby don’t love nobody but me!”

He was the first of his friends to marry (at 20) and have a kid, and still play baseball, etc. When I was young, he used to take me to his baseball games and practices, and I would play under the stands with the junk and broken bottles. I also went to the pool hall with him and played under the tables. I bet if Mom knew she would not have let him baby sit.
Once when he watched me at home, he tied a rope around my waist so I would not get in trouble, well this bump on my nose tells what happens when you jerk my string.

Everybody knew Lou and he pretended to know them. When we were out you would hear “Hi Lou” , he would greet them like a long lost friend. I would say who is that, he’d say “I don’t know”. And now 70 years later people still come up to me and tell me how much they loved Lou from hand ball at Forest Park and from the “Y”, now called the “J”

He was always in trouble with Mom. Some times when he came home from work, he would open the door and wait before coming in. When I asked him why, he would reply “ If my hat comes sailing out, I’d know she is still mad.” Once he had forgotten Valentines Day, so he stopped on the way home from downtown. At the only drug store open he bought a box of candy in a Purple heart box.
He put on a good front, but he really was a softie. When I performed in school plays, he didn’t want to come because he was afraid I would mess up.

He was always the life of the party and he would drink too much. Mom said he would play the drums, loved to tap out melodies at home with his spoon, but at parties he thought he was a pro! He always told stories. We had all heard them but they got better over the years because he kept enlarging on the stories. At their 50th wedding anniversary, he spoke at the head table. We had a tape recorder nearby and on the tape you could faintly hear Mom (Cele) kept muttering ,”That's not funny Louie!”.

He was his mother’s favorite. We would go to her house on Friday night and she would take out her best table cloth and napkins and challah cover. Everything smelled like mothballs that she had in the drawer. When Bobba served the chicken soup, we all got small bowls but Daddy got a serving bowl. After dinner, she would say “ Louie why don’t you go for a walk. She knew he wanted to smoke, but it wasn't allowed on Shabbat.

He loved to smoke. When he smoked a pipe he would hold the barrel against his nose to put a shine on it. Mom wouldn’t let him smoke cigars in the house, so he would just chew on them. Years later when I lived in Washington DC, he and Mom came to visit. He left his mark (there were dead cigar stubs in the front yard!) I was far away but on Friday nights we would watch the boxing matches on TV, I was in DC, he was in St. Louis. Now I watch ”Wheel of Fortune” ( with my Mother.)

My Grandfather, Louis Chuver

submitted by Mark

My Grandfather, Louis Chuver, had the biggest hands I have ever seen. His wife Cele Schmidt and his friends called him Louie, his two daughters called him dad, his six grandchildren, ten great grandchildren and their friends called him Zazy, and his many nieces and nephews and their children called him Uncle Lou. Tonight while I was looking for some of Zazy’s things to give to my nephew Nick, I came across Zazy’s silver table lighter. I was always fascinated by this as a kid. As I was polishing the tarnish from the lighter, I thought about the impact he had on so many lives. I never thought it to be an understatement to say he made a positive impression on everyone he met. While he was alive, I saw people absolutely light up when they were around him and almost ten years after he passed people still light up when they recall him. What really astounded me tonight was the effect he has on an almost eight-year-old boy who never got the chance to meet him. I want Nick and the other younger descendants of the Chuver and Schmidt families to know some of the stories about the members of their families they did not get to meet. As one of the youngest members of my generation of this family, I hope my older relatives can add to the following recollections of the previous generation.

I was so fortunate; I was an adult before any of my grandparents passed away. I grew up going to Zazy and Grandma’s just about every Friday night for dinner. Usually when we arrived, he was wearing an apron and “working hard” over a skillet of fried potatoes. I found out much later that grandma had actually cooked the potatoes for the 60-90 minutes it takes to make them and he would step in at the end right before we got to their apartment. Most Fridays, Grandma’s sister Laura and her late sister Mary’s husband Fred would join us for Shabbes dinner, and of course Grandma’s brother Sam lived with them, so he would be there too. It was always a special treat when Aunt Jeannie, Uncle Milford, Bruce, Keith, or Betsy were in town. My memories of these dinners include Zazy playing with his birds, Petey and Dumb Dumb. Petey could do lots of tricks (nothing like the original Petey I have heard about from my older relatives, although I do have a picture of the original Petey sitting on his shoulder as he is shaving). Also, I remember him watching “The Six Million Dollar Man” on TV with me and acting like he was as excited as me during the show. When Bruce or Keith were there, they would offer me a quarter to give me knocks (with the first k not silent) on the head or to throw me over the banister, Bruce would hold me over the banister, he never dropped me, but he always gave me the quarter.

Whether it was on Friday night dinners or on the holidays, Zazy always loved telling stories. He would tell stories about growing up in Illinois and in North St. Louis. He and younger Brother Jack had a childhood filled with sports, fights, and fun. Every Passover he would tell the story about him as child trying to explain to his father about how Moses found water in the desert. He told his dad Moses used science instead of God to find water and his dad smacked him so hard in the chest that he flew against the wall. He said it was the only time his father hit him. Another story he always told was how his momma would wrestle around with his friends when they would come over to his house. Also, he loved to tell the story about how he had to pitch in a baseball game the day of his first date with Grandma and he was late because the game went into extra innings and she was so mad that she almost broke her date with him.

Zazy and grandma had a very special relationship. He always told about how beautiful he thought she was when he met her and how she became more beautiful throughout their relationship. He was very expressive about his feelings for her and I vividly remember him patting her on her backside whenever he could. I even have a picture of him doing that. Also I have a picture of the two of them from the early 1990s and he is hugging her and the smiles on their faces and look in their eyes says much more than thousands of words ever could. While he was a larger than life character and she was happy in role as the quite wife in the background, he left no doubt who was the boss. He would call her Sergeant Schmidt and he would jump to follow her orders. When we would all go to a restaurant, he would always tell the waitress to serve him a drink in a water glass so Grandma would not know he was having a drink. I think she knew anyway. I did not become close with Grandma until her last couple of years. I would drive her to the nursing home most days when he was in there and after he passed away, my ex-wife Lisa and I would pick her up to go Friday night dinner at my parent’s house. Sometimes the three of us would go to Piccadilly’s cafeteria instead and then we would take her to the grocery store. She always had exact lists, three oranges, five bananas, six apples. We had a lot of time to talk and she would tell me how much she relished her role in the background and out of his spotlight.

Sports were a big part of Zazy’s life. He was an excelled at baseball, basketball, football, golf (two holes-in-one), bowling, boxing, hustling pool, and racquetball. He was so good at racquetball that he would have to play down a few age groups at the Senior Olympics. He always took an interest in my sports. He came to as many of my hockey and football games as he could. When I was coaching high school hockey he would follow my team through the newspaper and he would call me when he saw we had won or lost any big games. Zazy was a fixture at the JCCA and he is still well remembered there. When my niece Ali was in preschool at the J, he would visit her class everyday and all of the other kids called him Zazy.

Zazy had a way of making newcomers to the family feel welcomed. He made everyone feel like they were his favorite.

Quick memories of other family members

Jack- big, loud, always smiling he taught me the offside rule in hockey

by diagramming it on a napkin

Laura- brutally honest always argued with Zazy at dinner

Fred- Cheerful, always brought dessert

Sam- three teeth always got under Zazy’s skin

Sara- (Jack’s wife) beautiful

Ruth- (Zazy’s sister) big smile big eyes, strong accent