Amy Harriger

Sample Life Story

November 2020
*Names have been erased or changed and some details and sections erased for
privacy.
Chapter 1: Parents and Grandparents
My dad was born in Kovel, Poland. His name in Poland was H--- Z---. The border used
to change between Poland and Russia a lot. When my dad came to the United States,
he came from Kovel, Poland; but when he was born, it was Kovel, Russia. So, is he
Russian or Polish? I don’t know! He was about twenty years old when he came over.
And his name became T--- K---.
He met my mom and they eloped. They were young—just a little older than twenty.
They ran off to Waukegan, Illinois, which is about fifty miles from Milwaukee, to get
married. They were married in approximately 1932. Both of them were Jewish. There
wasn’t as much inter-marriage then as there is now. In those days, if you were Jewish,
you were to marry another Jewish person. Not everybody did, but that’s the way it was
in those days.
My parents came from big families. My dad had five siblings and my mom had five
siblings. There were a lot of people in my family. I knew all my cousins and I knew all
my aunts and uncles. Some of them lived in Milwaukee area and some moved out of
town. There were occasional family get-togethers. I didn’t keep in touch with the family
on a regular basis, though.
[…]
In America, Grandfather K--- saved up enough money for his wife and children to come
to this “land of milk and honey” for a better life.
I knew my dad's mother, “Baba” (Grandmother) E---, because she lived in Milwaukee
and she lived to be one hundred. But I didn’t spend a lot of time with her.
My mom’s parents were both born in Russia. My grandfather’s name was P--- V---. He
died in 1935, a year before I was born. His wife was M---. They both came from Russia.
Later, my grandmother moved from Wisconsin to California.
When I was about five years old, I remember being on a train with my sister and my
mom and there were a lot of soldiers. It was during World War II. We went on a train to
California to visit Grandmother V---. She died in 1942 when I was six years old.
My dad, T---, supported my family. He had an accounting firm in downtown Milwaukee. I
was close to my dad, but he didn’t have time for playing. He was too busy with his
accounting clients all the time. He didn't play ball with me or anything like that. He was
more of a student—a numbers guy.
When I was a little kid, I used to go with him to the Elks Club all the time on the
weekends. I remember, we would shower first and go into the steam room and the hot
 2

room. Then, I would go swimming and he would go play poker. There was a regular
poker group he played with on Sundays.
My mom, F---, was born in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. She was a full-time schoolteacher.
When I was born, she became a substitute teacher for the Milwaukee school system. As
a substitute teacher, she had to wait until she got called to come in to school. She'd get
called early in the morning to come in and she might work for a couple of days, then,
that's all. The next time, she might work just for one day to fill in for somebody.
When she wasn’t teaching, my mom did some crocheting and she cooked a lot. During
elementary school, I used to take a bus home for lunch and she’d be cooking meals. In
those days they had like a Presto cooker. You put the food in at nine o’clock in the
morning and when you ate at six or seven o’clock at night, it was done. I mean, it was
well done! We had a house keeper to take care of us when my mom was teaching. But
we didn’t go out that often for dinner. My mom cooked a lot.
I was probably closer to her than I was to my dad, but, in those days, you didn't exactly
hang out with your parents.

Chapter 2: Childhood
I was born on November 3, 1936. My younger sister, T---, was born on July 25, 1939. I
was the outgoing one. She was shy.
As a family, we celebrated birthdays, Thanksgiving, the high Jewish holidays, and
Hanukkah. I remember, we always put a Jewish star, the Star of David, in our dining
room window during Hanukkah. It was a light made with tiny blue and white lightbulbs.
I’ve never seen another one like it. I’ll always remember that!
We also had other family events and get-togethers. My mother’s sister, B---, had two
boys, P--- and S---. I was very close to them. P--- was the cousin I was closest to. He
was one year, one month, and one day older than I was. Later on, he moved from
Milwaukee to New York.
I enjoyed playing games with all of my neighborhood friends as a child. We had toy
guns and pretended to be “good guys” versus “bad guys.” We also played sports on
weekends. From age eight to age twelve, I had a very good friend named B---. He was
from Italy.
In those days, we didn't have television. We used to sit around and listen to various
shows on the radio. I listened to a lot of the kids' shows. My favorite radio show was
“Gang Busters.” I also listened to the other kids’ shows: “Let's Pretend,” “Superman,”
and “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy.” There were all kinds of radio programs. As
a family, we'd all be sitting around the radio, listening.
One of my favorite meals was “chicken delight.” That was a fried chicken dinner with
French fries. I also liked Chinese food. Those are two meals I remember. I mean, I was
a pretty big eater in those days, so I ate almost everything!
Growing up as a child in the 1940s, I remember World War Two affected all of us. There
was a lot of rationing, for example. Rationing meant you could only get so many gallons
 3

of gas. We had special stamps and, in order to get certain foods, you had to give a
stamp so you were allowed to get food. Types of foods were limited. Gasoline and other
products were also limited. Everything was going to the War effort.
We had paper drives where you’d save and collect papers. We also had tin can drives.
We used to stomp on tin cans to flatten them out and save them for scrap to make
bullets or whatever. Children and families all over the United States were doing that.
I began going to school when I was four. I felt safe at school. There was never any
thought of anything war-related or dangerous happening in the United States. However,
there were plenty of events and things to raise awareness about it. For instance, at
school, they had war bonds you could buy. First, you’d buy stamps and when you filled
out a book with these stamps, you’d get a bond. That was going on all the time. And we
used to come to school with some money—nickels or dimes—and we got a stamp. That
money went to the Government for the War effort.
I enjoyed being a student and learning. A school called Pleasant View was my
elementary school in Milwaukee. It wasn't a large school. There were only around five
hundred students. I was the captain of cadets there for a couple years. They select just
one person to be captain. Cadets were in charge of keeping law and order, watching the
cross-walks, watching out for people, and that type of thing. I did a pretty good job.
I was the only Jewish person in the entire school. I used to get picked up by a blue and
white bus after school to go to Hebrew School on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday. I went to the Milwaukee Talmud Torah School from about age six through
age thirteen. When all my friends would go out to play baseball or football, I had to go to
this school. I always felt like I missed out on some of my fun growing up because I was
learning Hebrew after school. I attended Milwaukee Talmud Torah School until my bar
mitzvah. I did it to satisfy my father. He would’ve been disappointed if I hadn’t gone to
Hebrew School.
I can still read Hebrew now. At one point, I could write it. I remember going to camp and
writing letters in Hebrew to send home.
I had an incident happen. I think I was in sixth grade. I was playing baseball during
recess and was up to bat. This one kid there just wouldn't stop discriminating against
me. He started calling me a lot of not nice names—Jewish-oriented. I kept telling him to
stop and he didn't. You don't do that when somebody's up to bat! Finally, I lost it. I went
and hit him on the head with my baseball bat. I gave him a concussion. My parents had
to come to school and they were upset with me, because I really hit him pretty hard, but,
as it turns out, he didn't get seriously hurt. I was very impressionable in those days.
From about age eight to age eleven, I took piano lessons. We had a piano teacher
come to our house to teach me. I didn’t practice enough, so I never got very good at it.
Then I stopped. I really can’t play now, but I did for a while. I’m sorry I didn’t keep up
with the piano or learn something else. I think it would be very nice to play an
instrument.
I started working when I was twelve years old. I had a paper route and delivered
newspapers. After the paper route, I worked in a drugstore for a while. I handled
 4

everything in the drugstore, including being a soda jerk—making sundaes, floats, and
malts. I also sold things, rang things up, and stocked products. I’d ride my bike to the
drugstore and work there.
When I was eleven or twelve, we moved to a different part of Milwaukee. I was happy
because I got my own bedroom and didn’t have to share with my sister anymore. We
moved to a three-bedroom home in a suburb of Milwaukee, called Whitefish Bay. That’s
where I really grew up from age twelve on. I got to pick out a big desk that we put in my
room. It took up a lot of the room! I don’t know why I got it; but I had my own room and
my own desk!

Chapter 3: Adolescence
As a young person, I did a lot of reading. I used to read the Hardy Boys series. I
remember reading lots of comic books, too—funny comics and superhero comics. I was
also into 1950s pop music. That’s when rock and roll started going!
I was active in Junior Congregation for youths in the temple. We had get-togethers
every Sunday night, dances and that type of thing. At one time, I sang in the choir at the
high holidays for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I sang in our temple choir at the
conservative temple, Temple Beth El, for a couple of years. I was also in B'nai B'rith
Youth Organization. I was active in our AZA chapter. We had events and raised money
for charity. I enjoyed it.
For a lot of the holidays, I'd go to temple. Other than that, I wasn't very religious. My
father was more religious than I was. We belonged to a conservative temple and a very
orthodox temple. However, my parents did not keep kosher even though we belonged
to two temples. My family continued attending temple, but we didn't go Friday nights or
Saturdays on a regular basis. We'd go on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah.
Also, at home, we celebrated Passover, ate Passover meals, and friends would come to
our house for Passover dinner.
When we moved in 1948, I went to Cumberland School in 7th and 8th grade, and then I
went to Whitefish Bay High School for all four years of high school. Prior to moving,
Cumberland School was right behind my house and there was a baseball field right
there. In winter time, they used to flood that area to make an ice-skating rink. It was
right behind my house. So, I used to go ice skating because I didn’t have far to go!
For my bar mitzvah at age thirteen, I had to learn and memorize a lot in Hebrew. I did
the whole service myself and I was very good. The rabbi did a little bit, but I basically
ran the entire service. First of all, I did it because I'd studied all my Hebrew. And
second, I did it to satisfy my dad. He was very well-trained in Hebrew and Jewish
studies. My bar mitzvah made my dad very proud of me. It really felt good!
But I'd had it. Once I graduated from Hebrew school, I didn't want any more. That was it.
Some people went on to Sunday school and traditional training after Hebrew school. I
didn't. I'd had years of training already at Milwaukee Talmud Torah School and enough
was enough.
 5

I became active in intramural type sports. I’d missed out on a lot of sports when I was
younger because of Hebrew school. After I turned thirteen, I tried to make up for it a
little bit.
Then, in high school, I started working a lot. I didn’t want to have to go to my parents
and beg for money all of the time like everybody else did with their parents. So, I
worked. My dad got me a car when I was sixteen. He gave me his old car and he
bought a new one. I had his 1946 Hudson! They stopped manufacturing them years
ago.
I used to skip school with a buddy of mine—we both had girlfriends on the other side of
town. If we had study hall or something in the last hour or two of school, we’d skip out of
class and drive to visit our girlfriends. We lived on the east side, where Whitefish Bay
was, and drove to the west side. My girlfriend, B--- was Jewish and attended
Washington High School. That's where most of the Jewish kids were attending high
school.
But I worked a lot—that occupied much of my time. Friday nights instead of running to
the football games like everybody else did, I used to work. I worked on Friday nights
and Saturdays all day, and sometimes even Thursdays. I sold clothes. I sold shoes. I
did a lot of retail and I was very good at it. I made a lot of money for a kid my age. I
worked at a place called Johnnie Walker's, a young men's clothing store in the early
1950s. It had all the top styles of the times. So, I had money and a lot of clothes. I was a
snappy dresser!
I was paid commission at Johnnie Walker's. There were certain products that if you sold
multiple units, you'd get a bonus. For example, if I sold a dress shirt and a tie to go with
it, I'd get an extra quarter. Or maybe even thirty-five cents. A particular tie might have
had what we called "PM’s"—a little bonus of ten cents or so. So, sell that particular tie,
and you’d make an extra dime. And, if you sold it with a shirt, you'd get a quarter on top
of that.
I would hustle. I worked upstairs. If people came in and wanted to buy a leather jacket,
the jackets were sold downstairs. I wasn't allowed to go downstairs and sell because I'd
be taking away from the salespeople downstairs, but if you sold something upstairs you
could then take the customer downstairs. So, whenever a guy would come in and say, "I
want a leather jacket." I'd say, "Okay." Then, I’d take a shirt off the shelf and just stick it
on my arm like I sold it to him (which I didn't). We would go downstairs and other
salespeople figured I’d sold him that shirt; so now, I could sell him the jacket. Here I am,
a sixteen and seventeen-year-old kid doing this stuff. I made a lot of money!
The owner was a very astute guy. He used to come over to some of the full-time men
that were in there making a living and he'd say, "What's the matter with you? Are you
gonna let a sixteen-year-old kid outsell you and make more money than you?" He’d get
them all riled up. And then he'd go over to me, and say, "Good. You're doing great!" And
he’d pat me on the back.
 6

My girlfriend and I were going out a lot on the weekends. I was very proud of the fact
that I didn't have to beg my parents for money. B--- and I had a strong relationship for a
while until we broke up.
Chapter 4: Young Adulthood
I always wanted to be an accountant when I grew up. A CPA. I used to work for my
father once in a while doing actual book work for him at his accounting firm. He paid me
by the hour. And I always thought about being an accountant.
I started college at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. My girlfriend, B---, was a
year behind me. And I wanted to be with her, so, for one year, I went to University of
Wisconsin – Milwaukee, which was an extension of the University of Wisconsin. I got
very active there and I started a Phi Sigma Delta fraternity chapter. I was with B---. And
then we broke up. When we broke up, I went back to Madison.
I went into business school and majored in accounting. I graduated as an accountant
from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1958. But in my last year, it was too
mundane for me. There was no action. I thought to myself, "I can't just be an accountant
and work with numbers for the rest of my life. I want to have some action." So, I decided
to go to law school. In my senior year of college, I combined my first year of law school
with my last year of accounting. I wound up going to law school, graduated as a lawyer
in 1961, and I had more action.
During my senior year at the University of Wisconsin—which I combined with my first
year of law school—one of my good friends from school said, "Hey! I've got a girl I think
you'd like. She's from Youngstown, Ohio." He was dating a girl (that he ultimately
married) who had a roommate from Youngstown. I had never met her. She was a
couple years younger—a freshman. My friend invited me to go roller skating with this
girl. I said, "Well, fine. I'll go." He fixed us up. It was a blind date.
I met P---. Everyone called her “---.” We went roller skating and she fell down and hurt
her knee. I rescued her. It was love at first sight, I guess! And I never went out with
anybody again. Nor did she. She is the love of my life, no question about it.
We dated about a year or so through college. We went to a lot of movies. We went to
parties. We went to dances. Sometimes, I'd bring her back to Milwaukee for parties. I'd
bring her and she'd stay at my parent’s house. I was still active in the Phi Sigma Delta
fraternity chapter in Milwaukee. I got close to a lot of guys there. We had a lot of parties
and whatnot. Whenever a major party would come up, I'd drive in with P--- from
Madison.
We also went to sports games all the time—especially Wisconsin games.
We got married on July 12, 1959. Back then, people got married really young. I was
twenty-two and P--- was twenty and her mother had to go to the courthouse and sign for
her. In those days, if you were under twenty-one, your parents had to sign off. I
remember going with her mother to get our license.
We got married in Youngstown at Rodef Sholom Temple and had our reception party
afterwards at Squaw Creek Country Club.
 7

[…]
The wedding was a terrific wedding! It was a large wedding. There were a couple
hundred people.
As a wedding gift from my parents, we got the most gorgeous powder blue, dynamic ‘88
Oldsmobile convertible with a white top. This car was dynamite! We drove out West to
California on our Honeymoon. I think we were gone for three weeks—just driving. We
stopped at all the tourist traps—the caves that you went in and saw the stalagmites, and
all that kind of stuff. We had fifty dollars to spend in Las Vegas. Before we got there, we
blew the fifty dollars in a slot machine! We stopped at a place called Elko, Nevada. My
wife wasn’t old enough to go inside the casino. She stood outside. I played the slot
machines by the window, trying to be as close to her as I could. It was ridiculous. We
blew our fifty dollars before we got to Vegas! We didn't know what the hell we were
doing.
We both like to gamble, so we started going to Las Vegas following our Honeymoon,
year after year.
[…]
Chapter 5: Adulthood
Career
I did well in law school. While there, I was the chief justice of the student court. If there
were any issues with the students, they would take them to court. It was an on-campus
court—strictly students judging other students that didn't behave or whatever
the problems were. I was like the judge, determining their penalty. I also played on the
intramural basketball team for one year before I graduated.
It's a tradition at the University of Wisconsin Law School that the graduates would go to
the football field, and walk down or march down, and then throw a cane over the goal
posts. I remember participating in that. I still have the cane at home.
I was admitted to the state bar of Wisconsin as a lawyer. And then, my father-in-law, ---
, talked with me. He wanted his daughter to come back to Youngstown. We’d gotten
married when I was still in school. When I graduated, he said, "Well I'll introduce you to
the top corporate firm, the top Jewish firm.” […] The law firm needed some young blood,
so they told me, "We'll wait for you, if you come back." Well, my intentions originally
were to go to Milwaukee and practice with my dad at his accounting firm. He had a lot of
business clients and he had all these contacts. My dad said, "You come in with me,
hang your shingle up as a lawyer, and I'll be able to get you some business from some
of my clients that need a lawyer.” So that's what I planned to do. When we were
married, we had a lot of friends from Milwaukee and we wanted to live in Milwaukee.
Then my father-in-law started chirping at me to come to Youngstown and he’d introduce
me to the firm and all this good stuff.
He talked me into coming. I'd have to study for the Ohio bar and take the bar exam,
which I did. When I graduated law school in 1961, we moved to Youngstown right away
and I took a bar review course to learn Ohio law. I knew Wisconsin law, but Ohio law
 8

was different. I went to ------ and they gave me a room to study in. I took the bar exam
and I passed it.
[...]
I’d graduated with accounting experience, so I thought I was going to go into tax work.
Well, the firm needed someone to help try cases, to be a litigator. That wasn't my forté. I
really thought, “I'm an accountant!” But they needed somebody, so, I tried a case. I won
my first case. The first nine cases I had, I won them all. They said, "You're a born
litigator!" I said, "Well, ehh." At the time, I wound up doing both: I did general corporate
planning work, but mostly litigation-oriented work and trial work. In the early days, I did a
little of everything. I did divorce work. Our firm didn’t do criminal cases. Actually, I tried
two criminal cases in my whole career. I won them both. I’m a law and order guy.
I graduated from law school in May 1961. We’d gotten married July 12, 1959. So,
between July 12, 1959 and May of 1961, I was in law school. Then, we moved to
Youngstown and I studied Ohio law.
[…]
Children
I have two children. F--- K--- was born on May 23, 1960. He was born in Madison when
I was still in law school. I don't think they let me come into the room itself, but I was at
the hospital. I was in the middle of exams at the time. There was an exam on "trusts and
estates" the next morning after F--- was born, and I was up all night at the hospital and
never got to really study for this exam. When I went, I just blanked out. I remember
going up to my professor and telling him I couldn't do the exam. I literally zoned out. I
told him I was up all night long. My wife just had the baby a couple hours ago. And he
says, "You know, I'm gonna tell you, the same thing happened to me." He said, "I'll tell
you what, don't worry about the exam. I'll pass you and don't worry about it." And he
gave me a 'C.'"
S--- K--- was born on September 13, 1962. Her married name now is ---. S--- was born
in Northside Hospital in Youngstown. […]
F--- used to stay up and watch Monday night football with me. Every Monday. When he
was little, he could stay up for the first quarter. Then, as he got older, he could stay up
for the second quarter, and, eventually, he could stay up for the whole thing! I turned
both F--- and S--- into Green Bay Packer fans.
I used to go to F---’s little league games. When I first started practicing for a few years,
we worked very hard and I'm sure I missed some of his games, but I tried to go to as
many games as I could to see him play baseball. We used to play catch. I put up a
basketball hoop in our driveway, too. We'd shoot baskets, play "Horse," and other
games.
I remember one time when S--- was running to see a TV show, she ran right into the
garage door. I remember F--- hitting her with a bat one time, too. He didn't do it on
purpose. We've had a few incidents where we had to take these kids—both of them—to
emergency just to check them out.
 9

As a family, we went together to Cedar Point, the zoo, animal farms, places like that.
In 1971, when F--- was eleven, we got involved in Children's International Summer
Villages (CISV). They selected two boys, age eleven, and two girls, age eleven. Those
four plus a leader would go to a camp with students from ten other countries. So, there'd
be people from all over the world. F--- went to Finland for camp at age eleven. My wife
and I got very active with CISV. It's still going on and it's a great organization for people
to learn how to get along with others. […]
Currently
Eventually ----- merged with another law firm. […] My whole career I've been involved
with the same group. The difference was, with the ----- firm, we had ten or twelve
lawyers. With -----, we have ninety. We have lawyers in Akron, Cleveland, Toledo,
Youngstown, one lawyer in Naples, Florida...So, that’s where the law firm’s at now.
I enjoy litigating cases or trying cases. I enjoy helping people, researching law, coming
up with the right conclusions for the client. The practice has been very good to me. I
think I've done a good job for my clients, which is one of the reasons I haven't retired,
yet. I enjoy practicing law.
I’ve been very active in our temple and the Jewish Federation through the years. I’m
eighty-tree years old and I’m still supporting the Jewish Federation. They have a
campaign every year. I take cards and raise money for Israel and the local Jewish
Center and all their affiliates. I give my time and money. I’ve always given a lot of
money to charity in my lifetime.
[…]
I'm a big Packer fan and big Wisconsin fan. I'm probably the biggest Green Bay Packer
fan in the Youngstown area. I'm not even kidding! I've had all the paraphernalia and all
that stuff. I've given a lot of it away to my grandchildren. I’m a very strong supporter. In
fact, I'm a shareholder. I bought stock in the Green Bay Packers.
We've done a lot of traveling in our lifetimes, P--- and I. We've gone on twenty-five
cruises. We’ve been to Australia, China, Japan. We’ve seen almost every European
country—Norway, Sweden, Denmark, etc. We often go on trips with our friends B--- and
D--- from Youngstown. […]
Hobbies and Interests
I'm a gambler and I used to go to the casino twice-a-week. I'd go Saturdays and take off
work half-a-day on Thursdays. I haven't been going since the Covid pandemic,
however.
I play golf. I like to do that. I watch a lot of TV—sports and all the mystery shows. I read
fiction—action-packed fiction and mysteries. I like reading all of the popular authors.
When I was a kid, I had a stamp collection, which I worked at for a lot of years. I still
have it! I also have a collection of a couple hundred hippos in my office—tiny ones and
big ones, from inexpensive to valuable antiques worth lots of money!
 10

P--- plays cards. She plays bridge, canasta, and mahjong. I’m learning how to play
bridge. I played when I was in college, but hadn’t played it since. A few years ago, I
started picking it up and I love the game.
Overcoming Challenges
I used to smoke a cigar. Tiparillo, small stogie cigars. I used to smoke those as well as
cigarettes. P--- and I quit smoking about forty years ago on National No-Smoking Day.
They started pushing no smoking and telling you and showing you pictures of your
lungs and how bad it was for you. They had a national No-Smoking Day when they
encouraged people to stop. And we decided let's stop. We just stopped cold turkey. And
we didn't throw up. We didn't fall on the ground. We just stopped. One day at a time.
Both of us. And some other friends of mine, too, in Youngstown. We all just decided,
let's take a shot at stopping, and we stopped. I had stopped before a couple of times
where I thought, "It's not good for you."
[I’ve erased the last section with specific details about K---‘s children, grandchildren,
and great grandchildren as it included potential identifiers.]