Isadore Friedman and Tamara Edelberg
As a young boy, my grandfather, Isadore Friedman, immigrated to the United States from Kishinev, Bessarabia. He and his family arrived in Montreal. From there, they boarded the Grand Trunk Railroad, which took them to Detroit. Eventually, they settled in Chicago.
Grampa Izzy put himself through law school, but he never practiced law. Instead, he started an auto parts company, Federal Auto Products. At first, they made steel valve caps for inner tubes.
At that time, no one was making hubcaps for Model T Fords, so the company had a roller skate manufacturer supply it with hubcaps. Federal became the leading supplier of replacement hubcaps. Later, the company's heater products became so successful the name was changed to Everhot Products.
When the company began producing cooling system and air conditioning parts called Everkool, the name was changed to Everco Industries. Grampa Izzy retired in 1986. He passed away in 1989.
Tamara Mary Edelberg married Isadore Friedman in 1920. Together, they had 7 children, one of whom was my mother, Lolita Joan Friedman.
Gramma T had a way of making every grandchild and great-grandchild feel like he or she was her favorite. She sent everyone birthday and holiday cards with family news, keeping us up-to-date on family happenings. She died in December 1996 at the age of 98. We celebrated her life at a moving memorial service.
