ADOLPH JACOBS

(ABRAHAM JAKOBOVITZ)

Born in Nagyberezna, Hungary December 1, 1908


Adolph arrived in America at the age of 12, on February 16, 1921, with his mother Freda (Auslander) and sisters Helen and Bella. He was then reunited with his father, Isador, who was a house painter in Detroit. He completed school grades through graduation at Cass Tech High in just a few years time.
His father became a U.S. citizen on August 14, 1923, a few years after their arrival.
Before marrying his wife, Adolph legally changed his name to Adolph Jacobs, at her request. He married Evelyn Steinberger on January 6,1935 at the Delray Synagogue and they moved to Washington D.C. where he helped to run a restaurant in the downtown area with an uncle that had emigrated earlier.

Adolph and Evelyn returned to Detroit to open Green Seal Cleaners, where he worked as a tailor, with Evelyn, for ten years, living above the store (across from the Victory Theatre).There he and Evelyn had two daughters, Roberta Gay born 1937 and Sharon Joy born 1941.

The family moved to a house on Northlawn near Davison around 1945 and Adolph opened Mt Elliot Hardware on the corner of Mt Elliot and Theodore .The locals respected him, and helped him in his little corner store with the pot belly stove. His store survived the Detroit race riot of 1967 with the help of his customers who painted “soul brother” on the windows and door of the store, and stood watch over the store for days.
When his daughters were in college, the family moved to Archer near 8 Mile Road, close to relatives from both of their families. Later they moved to a condo in Oak Park, where they stayed until retiring to Tamarac, Florida in 1980.

Adolph died on September 28, 1986 at his home in Florida.