LifeTimeline

Hyman Nemser

    • Born

    1899
    • A young worker (or woika as it was pronounced)

    1917
    • Marries Beatrice Glass

    1920
    • Graduates from law school

    1925
    • Becomes union organizer

    1928
    • NOV 23

      Hy and Bea have a little baby girl (Sandra)

    1932
    • Throws a really big wedding for his daughter!

    1957
    • He becomes an (awesome) grandfather

    1960
    • Works for Democratic politicians

    1964
    • Becomes president of the Brooklyn Women's Hospital

    1970
    • Michael's graduation

    1978
    • MAR

      Died

    1979
  • Born

    He group in a tenement on North 6th street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In this amazing photo, Hy is the grumpy little boy standing in the center
    Sandra Waldman
    Louis Nemser and Celia Ritoff Nemser came to the United States from Rezekne, Latvia. The family lived in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, eventually owning a home on South 2nd Street. They had seven sons (Joseph, William, Benjamin, Abraham, Jacob, Philip, and Hyman) and one daughter (Victoria). In her later years, Celia was blind. In this amazing photo, Hy is the grumpy little boy standing in the center.
  • A young worker (or woika as it was pronounced)

    The family lore is that he went to work as a pants cutter but was terrible at it. So probably around the time in this photo he started to have other ideas about how he might use his skills.
    By Steven Waldman
  • Marries Beatrice Glass

    In 1920 he married Beatrice Glass (known to us as Grandma Bea). We dont know how they met but that they both lived in Brooklyn and eventually moved from Williamsburg to Bensonhurst.
    By Steven Waldman
  • Graduates from law school

    Although he never graduated high school, that didn't stop him from going to New York Law School at night. The story is that his brother Willie, who looked like him, would some times sit in on the class for him so he wouldn't be marked absent.
    By Steven Waldman
  • Becomes union organizer

    We dont know what year this picture is from but it give us a glimpse into the fact that our jovial old grandpa must have been quite a formidable man as he tried to organized employees in the retail clothing stories in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
    By Steven Waldman
  • Hy and Bea have a little baby girl (Sandra)

    They had one child, Sandra Lee Nemser. They lived in a variety of locations in Bensonhurst Brooklyn.
    By Steven Waldman
  • Throws a really big wedding for his daughter!

    By Steven Waldman
  • He becomes an (awesome) grandfather

    We really have such fond memories of him as a Grandpa. He would usually visit us in Great Neck but I also remember the excitement of staying over in his Manhattan apartment. I couldn't believe people fell asleep with sirens going all night. A bit later, we would go into the city to have lunch with him at Luchows. At the end, he would slip us each a $20 bill.
    By Steven Waldman
  • Works for Democratic politicians

    As a local union official -- in a day and place when they held serious sway -- Hy was very involved in politics. We have pictures of him with Robert Kennedy, Harry Truman, Hubert Humphrey and Lyndon Johnson
    Steven Waldman
    With Harry Truman!
    Steven Waldman
    Some more pictures of Grandpa Hy with famous pols.
  • Becomes president of the Brooklyn Women's Hospital

    Hy was very active in the creation and running of the Brooklyn Women's Hospital, which provided care for poor and working class women. In 1970, he served as its President. Here's mom describing his involvement.
    By Steven Waldman
  • Michael's graduation

    This is the last picture I could find of Grandpa, in the spring of 1978, about a year before he died. He was a reliable attendee of all major family milestones.
    By Steven Waldman
  • Died

    He died of a heart attack, walking back from a negotiating session, along with Julius Frankel, who he had worked with for about 40 years. His funeral was attended by roughly 500 people, including many of the clothing store clerks he had helped over the years.
    By Steven Waldman