Louis Asser Colchamiro

[from a book by JH & JK, with some additions by JBA:]

Upon arriving in America, Louis went to school. On July 13th, 1925, Louis was hit by a taxi. He suffered compound fractures of the right femur (leg). Louis recalled that his Aunt Mollie Kaplan, one of his father Asher's sisters, would visit him in the hospital and bring him all kinds of Greek delicacies that of course were not served in the hospital, where he had to stay a miserable nine weeks. During his stay in the hospital, his younger brother David died of heart problems, causing more grief for the family. Louis's injured leg eventually healed, but the accident left some permanent damage, and for this reason he was classified 4-F in World War II and was unable to enlist in the military.

When Louis Colchamiro finished school he too went to work in the hat industry, working for his Uncle Isaac Eliezer, but he didn't like it. His grandson Jonathan recalls the story of how Louis and his brother Jesse organized the workers in the hat factory to strike against his uncle (!)

By this time the "Great Depression" hit. Louis got involved with the unemployed, helping people in any way he could. When President Roosevelt started the "Works Progress Administration" Louis became a Recreational Teacher and worked himself up to a Supervisor. During this time he met and fell in love with Rose Gordon, and after a short romance married her on the 31 of August 1935. Rose was the daughter of Jacob and Bessie Gordon and was born in Norfork, Virginia on the 6th of October 1911. She had been a work colleague of his sister Sally, which is how he met her. They started their home in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Sondra Colchamiro, on the 15th of July 1939.

When World War II broke out Louis moved his family to Baltimore Maryland, were Louis was able to get a job as a Medical Technician, for Bethlehem Steel, because of the First Aid training he received as a recreational teacher. There they had their second child whom they named David Colchamiro on the 5th of July 1943. Louis was kept very busy because there were many accidents in ship building. He stayed there till the end of the war and then returned with his family to Brooklyn, were he became an insurance agent.

Louis worked as an Insurance Agent for the Golden Eagle insurance company until he retired in April 1987. He lived with his wife in Glen Oaks, in Queens. He was very active in the community. He was a member of the Glen Oaks Tenants Association, serving as vice president for the committees on community relations and senior concerns. He was the founder as well as the treasurer and on the board of advisory of the Services Now for Adult Persons (SNAP). It is an agency which was organized to help the senior, frail, homebound, and people 62 and older, with telephone referrals, meals on wheels, transportation and other vital needs. When not busy with the needs of the community, Louis enjoyed bowling and had been very good at it.

In 1981, Louis took the trip of a lifetime and returned to his birthplace of Ioannina. While in Greece he looked up various cousins from the Eliezer side of the family who still lived in Greece. He also visited Israel and met some cousins there as well. He was very happy that he got to return to Greece and to once visit Israel. But his wife was very happy when he returned to Queens.

Eventually Louis became bored with retirement and he went back to work in his 80s as a bank teller, only stopping when his wife became ill. Rose died on the 16th of December 1999, and Louis followed her on the 1st of February 2001 at his home in Queens, surrounded by his family. The organization SNAP which he founded named their library after Rose and present an award named after Louis annually.

[David Colchamiro:]

The above is an interesting and moving account of parts of my father's life. Mostly a good refresher for me with some interesting "new" items. While working at the shipyard - helping to build the ships that helped to win the war - in Baltimore during the war, Dad (along with Mother's older brother Nat and others) had articles published in the Yard's weekly newspaper, The Yardbird, a publication lasting until soon after the end of the war.

With help from my local library I was able to get microfilm copies of years of Yardbird publications and find articles by Dad and Uncle Nat.

Dad, Uncle Nat, and others wrote articles reflecting the patriotism of the time: Win The War. In addition, articles by Dad reflected his deep sense of social justice: improve the working conditions of 'Negro" workers within the Shipyard. Such substandard conditions were seen in bathroom facilities, lockers, and dining, among others. That sense of justice was maintained by Dad (and Uncle Nat, Mother, and other members of the family) throughout his life.