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Mannheimer family

 Family

Biography

Rose Sheuerman and Max Shloss were married in Marengo, Iowa in 1884. Rose Sheuerman Shloss was the daughter of Abraham Sheuerman and niece of Leopold Sheuerman, Babette Frankel, Rose Adler, and Sophie Stern. Max Shloss was president of Lederer and Strauss and Company and a widely recognized philanthropist. Rose and Max Shloss had three children, Irma, Sam, and Marie Shloss.

Irma Shloss (1890-1974) was born in 1890 in Des Moines. She graduated from West High School in Des Moines and attended Bryn Mawr College from 1908 to 1910. Irma Shloss and Eugene Mannheimer were married on April 17, 1917 in Des Moines, where Mannheimer had served as rabbi of Temple B'nai Jeshurun since 1905. Throughout their lives both Irma and Eugene Mannheimer were recognized and honored as eminent civic leaders who served the Jewish community, the city of Des Moines and the stateof Iowa.

An active leader in the Des Moines community, Irma Shloss Mannheimer was a member of the founding board of the Iowa Maternal Health League, a forerunner of Planned Parenthood of Iowa. In 1938 she was elected president of the Des Moines Women's Club, the first Jewish woman to hold that position. She was also a member of the board of the Jewish Welfare Federation, the Iowa Jewish Home, and the Des Moines Civic Music Association. Irma Shloss Mannheimer died in 1974. She received a posthumous award that year from the National Conferenceof Christians and Jews for distinguished leadership in the field of human relations.

Eugene Mannheimer (1880-1952) was born in Rochester, New York in 1880, the son of Louise and Sigmund Mannheimer. Eugene Mannheimer spent most of his childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father was a professor at the Hebrew Union College and from which Eugene Mannheimer graduated in 1902. His brother Leo Mannheimer was also a rabbi; they had two sisters, Jane and Edna Mannheimer. Eugene Mannheimer served for three years at a congregation in Sioux City, Iowa, before moving to Des Moines in 1905. When he retired from his position in 1947 due to a heart condition, he had served not only the congregation for more than forty years but the entire community. He died at age seventy-one in 1952, survived by his wife and his sons, Robert and Richard Mannheimer

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Shloss and Mannheimer Families papers

 Collection
Identifier: IWA0334
Abstract

Prominent Des Moines families including Irma Mannheimer, her husband Rabbi Eugene Mannheimer of Temple B'nai Jeshurun, and her parents, Rose and Max Shloss—the owners of Lederer and Strauss and Company.

Dates: 1896-1986