My Name Is Louis Shamie By: Louis Joseph Shamie

My name is Louis Shamie.

Grandpa Lou always told me to say that, loud and proud.

He was born Eli - Eliyahu. When I think Eliyahu in the Nevi’im, I think of courage. He was a man of great conviction, a man who feared no person. A man who would get up and speak the truth before everyone with utter confidence that came from his unshakeable faith. This was my grandfather.

Born into the Great Depression, the child of immigrants, he faced the basic struggle of just making a living. And he faced it without fear, working hard every day but always confident that God would provide for him. He rose from a humble shipping clerk to the founder of multiple businesses, holder of several patents, employer of hundreds of loyal employees. He was the American Dream embodied.

He faced the challenge of maintaining Jewish identity in the face of an assimilating and sometimes hostile culture. He and his contemporaries managed to not only preserve, but strengthen that identity, creating institutions and perpetuating the values of mutual support and community.

He faced the challenge of raising a family, and succeeded with flying colors – together with his incredible wife, my Grandma Lorraine, establishing not just a loving, successful immediate family, but a legacy of generations who share his values.

Through it all, he made a name for himself as a man of great generosity, strength, and loyalty. Everyone in this room can testify to this.

We read in the Torah yesterday:

“ אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, מִהְיֹת לָהֶם, עֲבָדִים; וָאֶשְׁבֹּר מֹטֹת עֻלְּכֶם, וָאוֹלֵךְ אֶתְכֶם קוֹמְמִיּוּת”

Hashem reminds us that in taking us out of Egypt, he transformed our social and psychological status. He broke the bonds that held us in slavery – but more than that, he made us walk upright, Kommemiyut, proud of who we were and subservient to no one but God.

Who exemplified this more than my grandfather? He was never haughty or put himself above others, but he also never ashamed of who he was. One Saturday night in Bradley Beach, grandpa saw his sons home on the couch. They weren’t on the boardwalk because the locals were bullying them. Grandpa wouldn’t have it. He told them to get all their friends and get back out there. And grandpa marched up and down the boardwalk with his head held high.

He was an egalitarian by nature: afraid of no one, but treating everyone he met with dignity and respect, changing how they felt about themselves.

But this is all so serious. And though grandpa Lou was a man of great substance, he was not strictly serious in his life.

He was a man with a love for life that was contagious. Loved his waffles and ice cream, his hot dogs. He was always cracking a joke or telling a story with dramatic flair. He presided over a shabbat table that I can best describe as “loving chaos”, of loud talking and jibes and laughter. He loved to take his family to Disney world… and in his 70s, he packed up with Grandma and went there for a trip, just the two of them.

He loved to get down and play with his grandkids and great-grandkids. He was fun! On a bar mitzvah trip to Israel, he had the group in stitches playing the part of Goliath. And we can’t forget his Arabic dancing, taking over the dance floor with Grandma.

He loved to build and create. He was a man of resourcefulness, never accepting failure or limitation but always trying to work a way around. He built his homes in Bradley and Deal with his own hands, taught himself plumbing and electrical engineering. When the power went out in Deal one weekend, he rushed to Costco with me to buy a generator, build it, and start it up – because what a travesty it would be to lose the stacks of frozen sambusak in grandma’s freezer.

Yes he started out as a shipping clerk making pennies. But he told me “It didn’t matter to me, if I was going to be a shipping clerk I was going to be the best shipping clerk.”

He was one of the first American businessmen in mainland China after Nixon met with Mao. Flying by the seat of his pants, improvising in a country where he didn’t speak the language because he had a vision of what he could accomplish.

He established ties with people in China, Taiwan, Indonesia that went beyond business relationships. He built them up and prospered together with them. He explained to me years later that business should not be purely transactional. “Just because there’s a guy over there who can save you a few pennies, you don’t abandon your old partners.”

He may have been the first Jew they ever met, but he made such an impression of what a Jew was that they developed a love and respect for the Jewish people.

Grandpa Lou treated his workers well, in retail and manufacturing. Made them feel like family no matter their background. He found a young man named Francisco in the warehouse with a knack for drawing and trained him to be a product design engineer. They were a dynamic duo, spinning out idea after idea for decades of collaboration.

Grandpa Lou had a deep faith in God. I can still picture him donning his tefillin to pray in the morning. His hebrew wasn't the smoothest but his heart was in every word. He always had an eye to future generations having a stronger foundation. He encouraged my father to get the jewish education he didn't have and knew that this would transform the family.

He showed deep love and respect for his older brother Isaac. Uncle Ikey never married but grandpa made sure he always had a family. He gave him pride of place at the seder each year, and always took care of him.

He raised 3 amazing children. My Uncle Sammy, My father Joey, and my Aunt Celia. You can see his influence live on in them every day. He forged a deep connection with their spouses too… My Aunt Susan, My mother Adrienne, my Uncle Michael. He loved and cared for them, and they in turn loved and cared for him till the very end.

Grandma Lorraine, I can’t begin to talk about how important you are for grandpa and our family. The two of you are partners for life. As deep a bond as could be between two people, you had. You understood each other and cared for each other. Everything he built, you built together. When Grandpa travelled to the far east, you would travel with him for months at a time. You ran a retail store for him. Grandpa was notoriously absent minded and you would save him from himself. Most importantly, Grandma, you always put a smile on his face.

There was no mystery to Grandpa Lou. When he was frustrated, he would let out a sharp whistle. When he was happy, everyone in the room felt his joy. When he saw you, a beaming hello and a bear hug were right behind. It took just about 5 minutes for him to make a lasting connection with a total stranger.

I have so many dear memories of time with him. Walking home from shul together and talking about the parasha. Or jumping on his bed to get up and watch Yogi Bear cartoons and share a peeled orange and some product 19 cereal. Going with him to Nellie Bly amusement park.

He had a tremendous work ethic, but when he saw me working late hours in my first years of my career, he pulled me aside and told me I also needed to make time for myself and relationships.

He always built me up. He always made me feel special. He made sure he knew where I came from and was proud. I carry his name and while I know I can only be a shadow of the man he was, he will always be at the core of who I am.