Harold Schulman

On July 2, 1931, the world welcomed Harold Schulman, a remarkable individual, whose journey through life was marked by love, family, community and a profound passion for teaching history, cinema and Judaic studies. Harold was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Joseph and Dora (Dina Yatwick) Schulman, and lived in Roselle, New Jersey, surrounded by a close-knit and loving Jewish family, filled with many aunts, uncles and cousins within just a few blocks of each other. He lived in an apartment, at 1140 Frank Street, 2 blocks walking distance from the main thoroughfare, which was St. George’s Avenue. This area was where most of the jewish owned businesses were located. He grew up in a traditional and religious home where they kept kosher, and where his father advocated for higher education for both Harold and his older sister, Ada. Harold’s parents, Evel Souchman (Joseph Schulman) and Dina Yatwick (Dora Schulman) met in her shtetl - Petrokov, Minsk-Guberne, Belarus.  As a Russian Soldier, Joseph was placed in Dina’s home. Joseph served as a quartermaster in the Bolshevik army, fighting the reactionary Czarist White Army during the civil war following the overthrow of Czar Nicholas II. Dina and Joseph were married in Russia, 1922, and soon after immigrated from Minsk, Belarus to the United States, to Ellis Island in 1923, where they started their new life with the Schulman family in New Jersey. When Harold turned five, he began Lincoln Elementary School in Roselle, New Jersey. From an early age he learned to be responsible and independent. He walked to and from school by himself. He was a good student. At this time the German Army had already invaded Russia. The province of Belarus - Babruysk, where his mother’s mother, siblings, grandchildren and the rest of her family lived, was occupied by German armies sometime in June of 1941. All communication through letters stopped by the year prior, and they never heard from his mother’s family again. His mother, Dina, also had three much older brothers who lived in Farmingdale, NY with their families and owned a chicken farm. His father, Joseph’s family, had come to the United States from Eastern Europe earlier before World War 2, and before immigration laws became restricted, and lived mainly in New York and New Jersey. In October of 1941, at age 10, Harold’s parents, Joseph and Dora, along with his 17-year-old sister Ada, drove from New Jersey across the country to Los Angeles in their 1936 Oldsmobile that they purchased for $200. They sold everything (including his toys and comic books) except their clothes, which they piled into the trunk. Joseph had his life savings of $3,000 to begin a business once he arrived at their destination. During the long car ride, Harold had maps of every city and every state of where they went. He was only ten years old, but he was so interested in how many miles they traveled and the geography of where they went that he would keep track of everything. Joseph’s main reason to move was because he had allergies such as ragweed and asthma (and so did Harold) in which his doctor recommended he move to Los Angeles because it would help him health-wise. They moved into a fully furnished apartment on Van Ness Street between Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. He began Santa Monica Elementary School, and Ada began her senior year of high school. Joseph had a close friend who became his advisor, who guided him to purchase a grocery store. The store was on Normandie Avenue in Los Angeles, just two months after their arrival in December 1941. They moved closer to the store, located on 37th drive, between Vermont and Normandie Avenue. Harold started at another elementary school for the end of 5th grade - 37th Street school. In 7th grade he began attending Foshay Junior High School. At his family store, they had newspapers for sale. Harold cut out all of the articles about the war and created a scrapbook. He would continue to update this scrapbook until high school. Although the teachers and students did not discuss what was happening in Europe, he cared about what was happening in the world, and paid attention, empathizing, at such a young age. At this time, Ada was attending UCLA. His father closed the store on Normandie, and opened a grocery concession, which was part of a very large supermarket. He bought into the grocery department with a man named Auto Hirsch who had fled from Germany just before the Holocaust.  The men met standing at this supermarket. Harold’s father bought a house near the new store on the west side. Harold began 10th grade at Hamilton High School, graduating with honors. Harold began UCLA in 1949 as a science major and participated in the ROTC with the goal to attend medical school. Harold and Auto worked together from 1946 - 1951, until Harold’s father passed away on June 16, 1951 of pneumonia at age 51. Harold’s mother continued the partnership with his help. When Harold ‘s father passed away, when he was only 19 years old, he was just completing his second semester at UCLA. He jumped in to help run the family business that summer. He continued to run the store full-time, taking over his mother and father’s positions while taking classes full time in college. He changed his major from science to history, which he was much more passionate about, and more in line with what he enjoyed the most. Harold received a Bachelor of Arts in History with a teaching credential, while successfully managing the family business. Harold was hired by the Los Angeles School District to work at Pacoima Junior High School, where he was a highly regarded history teacher and then a caring school guidance counselor for 31 years, inspiring countless students. He used his own teaching methods, including slides from his personal travels to Europe, and homemade cassette recordings, to empower his students to learn. In addition to educating the students, he ensured they had a safe space to talk, had the opportunity to eat, and stay away from gangs and off the streets. He was honored by the district and faculty upon his retirement in June of 1987. The plaque read: “For your endless Dedication and Caring”. Harold’s path to love and commitment led him to marry and have two children, Marya (Schulman) Harrington and Jessica Schulman.  He was adored by them, and his grandchildren.  Harold consistently showed his unwavering support of his daughters through strong morals and values, the power of education, healthy and critical influential views of prochoice, human rights, open mindedness, inclusivity, diversity, and equity. Harold remarried to Florence Rita Wolf in June 1980, and had just celebrated their 43th wedding anniversary.  They lived at Dove Creek in Woodland Hills and then later moved to the Village at NorthRidge - a Senior Living Center in Northridge, California. They retired together and were able to spend their years enjoying each other’s company. They shared their love through travel, ballroom dance, playing Scrabble, walks on the beach, family gatherings, and experiencing programs together at the Jewish Community Center at Milken and the Village at NorthRidge. In addition to spending time with his family and teaching, Harold’s favorite activities included swimming, reading, Scrabble, Rummy Tile, walking at the beach, exercising, watching the UCLA basketball games, researching documentaries, films, and historical information on his iPad, recording educational programs on DVD’s, creating program curriculum, scheduling and flyers, and volunteering as a community leader. Harold’s last name, “Schulman”, means exactly that: “schul-man”, a man that leads symphonies, or an assembly of people that congregate to pray and connect with their spirituality, or learn teachings from Jewish heritage. Everywhere that Harold went, he created a sustainable place for his community, providing educational programs about Ancient History, United States History, Jewish Heritage, and the History of Cinema, Music and Theatre. These programs became his legacy at the Jewish Community Center at Milken in Woodland Hills, and at the Village at NorthRidge - Majestic Theatre. Harold was known as the “mayor” at the JCC because of his volunteer leadership for 25 years, earning several recognitions for his community service. He filled the Majestic Theatre at the Village at NorthRidge with his wonderful programs including:  “Jewish Americans with Harold”, “The American Songbook with Harold”, and “The American Presidents with Harold”, and “Current Events”, several times a week, always having a full house, reaching hundreds of seniors. Harold is survived by his wife, Florence Rita Schulman, his daughters, Marya Lisa (Schulman) Harrington and Jessica Ann Schulman, his grandchildren, Caitlin Elizabeth Harrington, Kyle David Harrington, Max (Madelyn Rose) Harrington, Daniella Dina Schulman Karney, Gabriel Andrew Karney, his son-in-law Sean Philip Harrington, his grandson-in-law Griffin Royce Schindler, his sister Ada (Schulman) Bender, her children Stephen Bender and Joel Bender, his wife Meryl Bender, their children and grandchildren, his step children, Roy Oken, Larry Oken, and Nancy Oken-Redfield, their nine children and their spouses, and six grandchildren. Harold Schulman sadly left us on July 1, 2023. While we mourn the loss of Harold’s physical presence, let’s be reminded of the profound impact he made on the lives he touched including hundreds of students in middle school through senior citizens and his family on the east coast and west coast. May our dear Harold’s memory inspire us to pursue our passions wholeheartedly, to embrace love and commitment without reservation, to find beauty in the spaces we create, and to carry on his legacy.