..inte: Malcolm Straus ..intr: Dorothy Pickelner ..da: 1986 ..ca: ..ftxt: An Interview with Malcolm Straus October 8, 1988 Transcriptionist: Carol Ruttan Interviewer: Dorothy Pickelner Arizona Jewish Historical Society Log for Malcolm Straus Interview Pages 1 Born in Toledo, Ohio 12/16/16 1 Brother came with wife to Tucson; then Sam Straus to Phoenix to run Daniel's Jewelry Mary Straus Elmer Present 1- 3 Arrived In Phoenix In 1936 Joined Beth El; organized first Jewish Sal Lebeau basketball team Iz/Al Oseran Leno Off 4 Worked In the business community with brother, Sam 4 Went into the Army 5 Worked for Bliss Jewelers 12 years; Korrick's became president 5 Bought Leonard's Luggage in 1959 Leonard Goldman Sylvia Goldman 6 1952 - president of Arizona Retail Jewelers Association 6 1960/61 - president of Beth Israel Rabbi Plotkin 6- 7 Met Marcia Pearlstein; married 3 years Rabbi Krohn later 7 Son, Bill, married Peggy; their children: Jennifer and Charley 7 Son, Robert, married Sarah; their daughter: Samantha Irv Pearlstein Yolan Barkin Shirley Jacobs Lynn Pearlstein Billie Shepherd Pattie Soukoff Carol Pearlstein 9 1983 - elected Chairman of Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Allen Rosenberg Sam Kotzen 11-12 $100,000 to build Jewish nursing Sam Kivel home - involved in transaction - Harry Rosenzweig turned funds over to Jewish Frank Gibson Community Council Hirsh Kaplan 13 Businessmen involved in the growth Korricks of Phoenix Diamonds Barry Goldwater 14 Concerns for the future of the Jewish community 15-16 Accomplishments, board positions held, community Involvement, awards 17 Future of sons and Leonard's Luggage Malcolm Straus Interview This is Dorothy Pickelner and I am interviewing Malcolm Straus, who is a prominent businessman here in Phoenix, Arizona. He lives at 5328 Questa Tierra Drive, Phoenix, Arizona and is president of Leonard's Luggage. He was born in 1916 in Toledo, Ohio and arrived in Arizona in 1936. His parents' names are Sandor and Helen. Beautiful Marcia is his wife. His two sons are Bill and Robert Straus. And we will talk further. PICKELNER: Good morning, Malcolm. I'm very happy to be interviewing you today, because I've been a long time admirer. Malcolm, tell us about yourself - your origins, your family. STRAUS: Dorothy, I was born in Toledo, Ohio and my family moved east and we lived in Philadelphia four years where I went to high school. I came out here right after high school to work for my brother, Sam. My brother, Sam Straus, came to Arizona in 1929 from Toledo, Ohio. He left Toledo on the evening of his wedding to come here. He was married to a Wasserman girl. Some of their family eventually migrated to Phoenix, too. Sam and Mary, my sister-in-law, moved to Tucson. In order to give you a good background I have to tell you about my brother, Sam, because he was instrumental getting me here: Sam and Mary moved to Tucson to work for Daniel's Jewelry. Daniel's Jewelry was a company that really was started in Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Present, Elmer Present, who was a pioneer in Tucson from 1925 brought my brother, Sam, out because he had a bad winter with pneumonia and when he got married he went to Arizona. He did so well working for Mr. Present in Tucson that when they opened a store in Phoenix, my brother moved up here in 1933. So my brother Sam moved to Phoenix from Tucson in '33 to manage Daniel's Jewelry. Then when I got out of high school I came here at the request of my brother to go to work for him and learn the jewelry business. So that's how I landed in Phoenix, Arizona. And I must say that my first job was $60 a month and I was very happy to have the work. PICKELNER: That's very interesting. Tell us more about Sam and the kind of a man he was. STRAUS: That's a loaded question, because I love my brother dearly. First of all, Sam was married to Mary. Mary made her mark in the community by being the president of the Council of Jewish Women when she was in Temple Beth Israel. My brother, Sam, was on the Board of Trustees for Temple Beth Israel, was an officer in B'nal B'rith and was very vitally involved in the Hebrew Men's Club. He did a lot of the things that set for me a pattern of community work. Sam always told me that when you work in the community you've got to pay it back for what good you get out of it. Sam was the one that planted that seed in my mind and he really taught me giving and caring. My brother, Sam, was a wonderful person. PICKELNER: I know that he is highly spoken of whenever the name comes up. STRAUS: Whenever the old-timers talk about Sam Straus they talk about it with dignity and pride, and even more with Mary. Mary died of leukemia in March of 1946 -- I'd just gotten out of the service. She was a wonderful person, too, but she made her mark in the women's groups. All of the older women that remember her remember her with a passion because she was just that kind of a person. PICKELNER: When did Sam die? STRAUS: Sam died January 9, 1969. PICKELNER: 1969. I remember that. Tell us about your involvement in business and how you adjusted to -- what Phoenix was like when you came in 1936. STRAUS: I came in 1936 and the Phoenix community was about 35 or 36,000 people. We knew everybody in town. I lived with my brother and sister. Whenever they went to the Temple, why, I went with them. Now, I must tell you that when I first came out here I was raised rather Orthodox and so I found it difficult to accept Reform Judaism. That's a paradox because I later became president of Temple Beth Israel. But, I first went to Beth El. I started to go to their services until after the war when I accepted Reform Judaism. It was a little more compatible with me. I must tell you something: When I was a member of Beth El, I helped organize the first Jewish basketball team in the state. We had on our team at that time Saul Lebeau, Iz and Al Oseran, a fellow that worked at Korrick's who was the number one draft in 1940, before the war, by the name of Leno, L-e-n-o, Off, 0- f-f. He worked in Korrick's wholesale. I can't remember some of the other players, but we played a lot of basketball. I even remember the name the Beth El Esquires. It was rather funny, but it's an important thing because it was the first time a Jewish team had ever participated in the church league here. That continued on many years and even when I came out of the service I played basketball again with the Beth El team in the church league. I think we were Beth Israel then - I'm not sure, but it continued on. PICKELNER: That's very interesting. I hadn't heard about that from anybody else. Now, how was it to become involved in the Jewish business community at that time? STRAUS: Of course, working the way I did, coming in and working my way up in the jewelry business was a lot of fun for me. I learned the business well and, unfortunately, after being here almost five years I was drafted. I was drafted before the war - served 54 months in the service. I rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant. I was a bombardier instructor all through the war so I never went overseas. My severest missions were 68 night missions over El Paso. I had a lot of students and I'm still very involved in a group called Bombardiers. I stayed on in the jewelry business after the war when I came back. I was the assistant manager at Daniel's for about three years when I had aspirations to do something. My boss, Elmer Present, opened a store for me called Bliss Jewelers. I started Bliss Jewelers - I named it, I created it. I had it for about 12 years - 9 years we were in the old Penney building on Washington and 3 years before that we were in a 12-1/2 foot store next to Korrick's. I used to pride myself by running in my ads "Korrick's is next to us". It was a little 12-1/2 foot store and here was the big giant department store. Charlie always used to tell me, he said, "Any time you mention my name I'm happy." So, I ran that ad for three years that I was there next to Korrick's. PICKELNER: That's interesting. So, for 12 years you ran the Bliss Jewelers. STRAUS: Yes. Then I got out of that and had an opportunity to buy Leonard's Luggage and I consummated the deal in December of 1959 and actually took over on April 1st of 1960. I am now in my 29th year of business. PICKELNER: That's interesting. Now, was that a new business? STRAUS: No, that was an old business that was -- not really old. It was started after the war by Leonard Goldman - Leonard and Sylvia Goldman. I bought the business from them. Sylvia was dying of cancer and Leonard was making more money in the real estate business, so he offered me an opportunity to buy his store, which I did. I bought two stores at that time and I now have six. PICKELNER: Very Interesting. Didn't you tell me that somewhere along the way you became president of Beth Israel? STRAUS: Well, I've been telling you about my business life. Now, let me go back and just tell you a little bit of myself. In 1952 or '53 I became president of the Arizona Retail Jewelers Association and I was president for two years. I worked very hard for that organization. I became president of Temple Beth Israel in 1960 and 1961. PICKELNER: Who was the rabbi? STRAUS: I might say this, that I've been telling you about myself and I haven't mentioned my wife. PICKELNER: Yes, we're coming to that. STRAUS: All right. The rabbi was Rabbi Krohn. When I became president it was Rabbi Plotkin, I beg your pardon. PICKELNER: Oh, and then Rabbi Plotkin. He came -- STRAUS: No, Rabbi Plotkin came two years before I was president. PICKELNER: Oh, yes. Now, we haven't talked about your family and you can talk about that now. Tell us about your beautiful Marcia and something of her family, too. STRAUS: When I got out of the service I had the good fortune to have as a roommate a fellow from back East by the name of George Cymbal. He worked for Funk Jeweler's. He introduced me to a very good friend of his, Bill Pearlstein. Through Bill, who was a returning Air Force Major in the service, I met his family. of course, I met my wife, Marcia, then who was 14 years of age and much too young for me to consider. But, three years later, when Bill developed cancer and died at Mayo Brothers, in paying my respects to the family one year my little Marcia had grown up, and it wasn't long after that that we were married - three months. Rabbi Krohn married us. Within a year we had our oldest son, Bill, who now has two children, Jennifer who is 13 and a half, and Charley who is going to be 10. Then, four years later, we had Robert and Robert has a little daughter by the name of Samantha, named after my brother Sam. PICKELNER: Oh, that's nice. Give me your sons' names and their children again. STRAUS: Bill, and his daughter is Jennifer Jean. And Charley, not Charles, Charley. PICKELNER: What was Bill's wife's name? What's her name? STRAUS: Peggy. He's not married now, but her name was Peggy and she's still here and she's still a good mother. PICKELNER: Are they divorced? STRAUS: They're divorced. PICKELNER: And your other son? STRAUS: Robert E. E like in Estes. That was my mother-in-law's maiden name. And his child is Samantha. And as I say, she was named after my brother, Sam. And his wife's name Is Sarah, and they're very happy. PICKELNER: Was Sarah a local girl? STRAUS: Sarah came from Ohio and her father was a vice president of the Valley Bank, and passed away. PICKELNER: It's fun to have little granddaughters after not having had any girls of your own. STRAUS: I'm extremely happy with all of our grandchildren. PICKELNER: That's lovely. Tell us something about Marcia's family because they were quite prominent here, too. STRAUS: I'm sure by this time you know that Marcia's oldest brother is Irv, and Irv certainly has made his mark in this community, not only with his charitable contributions but the giving of the camp for Camp Charles Pearlstein, who was my father-in-law. Irv led the United Jewish Welfare Fund drives for many years and was a pillar of the community until he retired. I still think he does a lot. That was Irv. Marcia's oldest sister is Yolan Barkin and Yolan and Phil are still around. They are good members of the community and they have three children. Shirley Jacobs, who is Martin Jacob's wife, was Mrs. Irv Cooper until he died. They had three sons, one Doug and he had two others, but they brought three to the family together. I didn't mention Irv's children. His oldest son is Lynn Pearlstein, a very prominent lawyer in Phoenix, Billie Shepherd and Pattie, who became Mrs. Soukoff. Then the other one is Carol. She's married and lives in California. So they have a large family. PICKELNER: Would you like to go back and tell about your feeling about the relationship between--a good citizen and his community? You mentioned it before, but STRAUS: Well, I got to see this from my brother and I have tried to live like that, and I think I've been a good example of a person that thrives in a community and gets on well there. Whatever wealth or riches I have, monetarily, I feel that I should pay back to the community. I'm going to give you a list of my accomplishments. I've been president of many organizations and always with pride and always knowing that I represent the Jewish community. The one thing that I mentioned to you was that I was the chairman of the board of the Chamber of Commerce In 1984/85, '83/'84 -- 3/4 or 4/5 -- I'll find out in a minute, but I was the second Jewish chairman of the board they've had in their 100 year history. The first one was Allen Rosenberg and myself, and I felt very proud that I would be that. Also, I was the first small businessperson, the first retailer, to ever be chairman of the board of the Chamber of Commerce. That is an accomplishment when you consider that there were the Diamonds and the Korricks and the Rosenzweigs and everybody, and I was the first one with a little old business to be their chairman. So I felt very flattered. PICKELNER: Tell us something about the growth of Phoenix as you have seen it since your arrival. I mean, what was it like when you came to Phoenix as compared to what it is today? What did It look like? STRAUS: I came out of high school and there was a smattering of people and if there were eight families that had Jewish daughters we knew them all. Out of the eight if there was two good-looking ones they were all taken. So, naturally, it went 'round and 'round that way. Of course, the complexity of the whole community changed after the war because more families moved in. PICKELNER: That's very interesting. Tell us about your experiences in the war. I mean, as a Jew, did you come back to Phoenix for leave, for example, and did the people take good care of you? STRAUS: Interesting, yes. I was stationed for a part of my air corp training at Thunderbird Field where I washed out. And of all people to come address us one day was Rabbi Krohn. Seeing me there as an aviation cadet he hugged me and I wasn't embarrassed because he was my rabbi, but it was like coming home. Yes, Phoenix was always the place that if I had any leave I would always come back here. I looked forward to it and many times when I was stationed at Deming, New Mexico, once a month I would drive into Phoenix just to spend the weekend. I remember my brother, Sam, in those days was, oh, 35 or 36 years old and we went to Sam Kotzen's Delicatessen for lunch. My brother, Sam, told Sam Kotzen that he thought he was going to be drafted. Sam Kotzen said, "Sam, If you're drafted there goes the country, because when they take an old goat like you we're in deep trouble." Two weeks later my brother was on his way to boot camp. PICKELNER: Oh, how fascinating. STRAUS: Fortunately, we didn't worry about the country because we came out of it pretty good. PICKELNER: You came out officers and gentlemen. STRAUS: We hoped we were gentlemen when we went in. PICKELNER: I heard that the ladies of the Phoenix community during the war were kind to the soldiers who were stationed nearby. STRAUS: They were. I never had a chance to partake of that, but I do know a cute little story. That is, my sister-in-law, Mary, who was always my guiding light, used to save her gas stamps so that when I came home I could have the car to use. PICKELNER: How sweet. STRAUS: It was. PICKELNER: She was a special person. STRAUS: Let me interject a story. I don't know if anybody has ever mentioned this, but when I was the treasurer or secretary of Temple Beth Israel in 1957, '58, in that era my dates may not be right -- but, we got a call one day from Valley National Bank that a fellow by the name of Kivel had died and left Temple Beth Israel $100,000. Harry, who was president at that time, Harry Rosenzweig, who is my closest friend, and I went over to see Frank Gibson at the Valley Bank to find out what it was all about. He said, yes, this recluse by the name of Mr. Kivel, who had family in Tucson, died, left the Temple Beth Israel $100,000 because of friendship that was bestowed on him by Rabbi Krohn. The purpose of the money was to start a nursing home, a place for indigents. We, at the Temple board, said, hey, what do we know about nursing homes. So, we kept the money in the bank and it earned interest. We told the Jewish Community about it and, ultimately, Hirsh Kaplan, who was the head of the Jewish Community Council, came to us and asked us if we would consider giving them the money for the purpose for which it was intended, that is, to start a nursing home, which we did gladly. By the time we gave it to them it was $118 or $120,000. Then I understand they got Hill Burton matching government funds, and they were able to build the Kivel home. I don't know whether that story has ever been told. PICKELNER: I think Hirsh told us something about it, but it's very interesting hearing its beginning because you were treasurer. STRAUS: I was treasurer and Harry was president. I might have been secretary, maybe not treasurer. Anyway, Mr. Gibson was great at the bank. He said, "All you got to do is sign here and I'll give you the check today." We said, "Hey, we can't take it. We don't want to open a nursing home. We've got our own problems." PICKELNER: I remember those days. STRAUS: Trying to raise dues. PICKELNER: Yes. Did the people take part around you? Were they civic-minded? Did they take part in what was going on In the community and see the growth? What impressed you? STRAUS: In the old days, what impressed me was when I served on the downtown merchants, for instance, and this is right after the war. I had earned my spurs and now I was a manager of a store and I could go to those meetings with my brother and to represent different companies. But I was very impressed to be sitting with the Korricks and the Diamonds, Barry Goldwater. We talked about our problems and it was interesting for me to listen to Barry Goldwater. They were talking about parking downtown - there wasn't enough parking, that we ought to go to the city and demand them to build us lots. Barry stood up and said, "Don't ask your city or state or government to do anything for you. Let's do it ourselves." So, we went out and bought parking lots and all the merchants banded together and really made a go of it. We eventually got our money back, plus, and had the use of the lots all those years. I remember Barry being that conservative even then in 1947 and '48. I told him that at a meeting once and he said held forgotten that story. But it was nice to be involved and in those days it seemed that anybody that was in business always was involved. Today, I see less and less of the involvement. It may be that I don't know the new people that are coming up, but, you know, when I was on the Chamber of Commerce there wasn't one Jewish person on the board. I made inquiries into it and found out it wasn't a thing that was on purpose. They had asked several people and they were turned down. It seems that the Jewish people, most of them, not all by a long shot, but most of them do their own thing for the Jewish Welfare Fund, for the Jewish causes and don't get out in the community. We belong to a big community here. United Fund gave me a list about five years ago of people. We had two people on United Fund that gave over $500 in the Jewish community, outside of the Rosenzweigs. It was ridiculous. So I've been on a tirade ever since trying to get people to understand that we don't live in a homogenized society, that we have to spread ourselves out into every form. PICKELNER: Very Interesting. What do you see as the prospect, now that the Jewish community is so large here? We'll maybe reach 100,000 by the turn of the century. STRAUS: Dorothy, I don't know. All I know Is that -- you know the old story: If you have ten Jews you've got to have four temples; if you have 100,000 - we have 13 congregations now - we're probably going to have 26, because there's going to be some that nobody will want to go to. I fear the duplicity of the money. I fear that there are too many altruistic ideas and not enough people to pay for them. I just don't know if we can afford to pay $100,000 for somebody to raise a million dollars and then bring somebody else and pay him 75 (75,000) to raise another half a million. It seems that there should be a closer central coalition of all fund raising and everything else in the Jewish community. Otherwise they'll be so fragmented that there won't be any good done. I guess that's what I'm saying. It ought to be like the Mormon Temple. The Mormon people have wards and they go by population. They have a ward every so often. Jewish people can have a temple on one corner and a "shul" across the street. That's fine because that's the way we are, but it seems to me that there ought to be less and less - that more people ought to be going to fill up what we got. PICKELNER: I think that's an interesting point of view. What else would you like to tell us about your experiences as a young man growing up in Phoenix? Your business life has certainly been exemplary and your family life. You've certainly taken part. I'd like you to read into this, review the list of the accomplishments and tell us what you . . . STRAUS: This list that I'm giving you just says that I'm currently serving as Chairman of the Board of the Samaritan Medical Foundation, which is the fund-raising arm for the Samaritan Health Services. This was in March of '88. It says I'm president of the Sun Angel Endowment, but I'm past president of that. I'm still on the board of the Better Business Bureau and the Arizona Retailers. I'm a past chairman of the Arizona Retailers, past chairman of the Better Business Bureau, past president of the National Luggage Dealers Association and past president of the Small Business Advisory Council. I am currently serving on the board of the "100" Club, and that's the group that raises money to give to the policemen and firemen that die in service, and you know we've had a rash of that this year. My community involvement is that I'm a member of the board of the Phoenix Boys Club, the Arizona Division of the American Cancer Society, the National Conference for Christians and Jews, the Samaritan Health Service, Cancer Research Center at the University of Arizona and the Sun Angel Foundation. I am also past president in the communities for the Phoenix Boys Club, 1967; American Cancer Society for the state of Arizona, 1975-77; National Conference for Christians and Jews, 1976. I was chairman of the board of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce in 1983-84 and I was chairman of the Sun Angel Foundation in 1986-87. Religiously, I'm the past president of Temple Beth Israel, 1960-61. I have received several awards which I'm very proud of - one is the Keystone Medallion from the Boys Clubs of America In 1981, the Torch of Liberty Anti-Defamation League award, 1973; two Bronze Keystones Boys Clubs of America, '77 and '78; the Distinguished Service Award from the American Cancer Society in 1980; and the National Divisional Award American Cancer Society, 1981. The one that I cherish the most is the Human Relations Award from the National Conference for Christians and Jews, 1985. PICKELNER: That's most commendable and the most praiseworthy list, Mal. You have given much to your community and we thank you. STRAUS: I don't know what I've done for the historical part of it, but I've been here 53 years almost and I've enjoyed every minute and I hope I'm around a little bit longer to see what you're talking about goes on. I hope you and I are both here for that. PICKELNER: Thank you very much. Thank you for your interview, Mal. I think this was interesting and productive and we'll see each other more around the community. Mal, what do you see as a future for your boys? STRAUS: Well, I think my boys are going to take over my business. As a matter of fact, that's what I'm shooting for now. My young son, Robert, has been with me, oh -he's going to be 36, he's been with me almost 14 years. My son, Bill, has been with me as long, but he left for 8 years. My son, Bill, was the youngest racetrack announcer in America. When he got out of college he was supposed to be -- I refer to my kids as the lawyer and the doctor -the lawyer was going to be a lawyer, but he became a racetrack announcer. He was in with me, didn't like it, went into radio advertising and he just came back after 8 years of absence and he is now my general manager for the stores. My son, Robert -- he was going to be the doctor -- he graduated Arizona State. My oldest son graduated University of Iowa where Marcia's from, and Bobble is doing all my buying of luggage and has for the last ten years. So, I'm leaving my business in good hands and I have no hopes to retire, and they don't want me to, but I want to be around to help them and I can. PICKELNER: Thank you very much. God bless. STRAUS: Thank you, Dorothy, for coming. MALCOLM STRAUS March, 1988 Wife: Marcia Family: 2 Sons - Bill & Bob, 3 Grandchildren Born: Toledo, Ohio 12/16/16 Residence: Phoenix, Arizona since October 1936 Currently: Chairman of the Board - Samaritan Medical Foundation President - Sun Angel Endowment Business - Board member: Arizona Retailers Assn. Better Business Bureau Community Board Member: "100" Club Phoenix Boys Club Arizona Div. American Cancer Society National Conference for Christians & Jews Samaritan Health Service Cancer Research Center - University of Arizona Sun Angel Foundation Business - Past President and/or Chairman of the Board: Arizona Retailers Assn. 1969 Better Business Bureau 1978 National Luggage Dealers Assn. 1971 Small Business Advisory Council 1984 Community - Past President: Phoenix Boys Club 1967 American Cancer Society, Az. Div. 1975-77 National Conference for Christians & Jews 1976-77 Phoenix Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce 1983-84 Sun Angel Foundation 1986-87 Religious: Past President - Temple Beth Israel 1960-61 Awards: Keystone Medallion - Boys Clubs of America 1981 Torch Of Liberty - Anti Defamation League 1973 Two Bronze Keystones - Boys Clubs of America 1977/87 Distinguished Service Award - American Cancer Society 1980 National Divisional Award - American Cancer Society 1981 Human Relations Award - National Conference for Christians and Jews 1985 [end of transcript]