Jack Arnold Weingarten
07/07/1929 - 02/11/2024
Jack Arnold Weingarten, 94, passed away peacefully, in the arms of his family, on Sunday, February 11, 2024, after a mercifully brief decline. Until July, Jack was still golfing in Vermont, and he continued to knock around Houston, buying his favorite items from his favorite grocery stores, throughout the fall. He enjoyed his weekly Zoom breakfasts and bridge games with friends consistently through January, playing his last Zoom bridge game on February 5, and was still requesting his favorite dishes as recently as February 2 (though if anyone tells you it was oysters, we will deny it).
As a fiercely independent person who loved the outdoors and remaining active, Jack lived a life filled with his favorite pursuits, including fishing, golfing, gardening, birdwatching, futzing around in his workshop, and finding shortcuts on backroads across town to avoid traffic. Jack had taught himself to ski in his early 20's, but his family breathed a secret sigh of relief when he retired from the slopes in the 1990's, and his years of barreling down the mountain in semi-control came to an end. Jack loved to tromp in the woods of the Norwich, Vermont home he shared with his beloved wife, Elizabeth, and was known to tackle Vermont's rolling hills on his bicycle in his middle-aged years. Every spring, he loved to drive into the country to enjoy fields full of bluebonnets.
Jack was born on July 7, 1929, in Houston, to Malvina and Joe Weingarten and had two older siblings whom he idolized. He attended San Jacinto High School, from which he graduated in 1947. Some of Jack's memories of his time growing up on South MacGregor in Riverside were memorialized in Jon Schwartz's 1987 documentary, "This Is Our Home, It Is Not for Sale."
After high school, Jack matriculated at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, NH, where he was the only Texan on campus throughout his college career, earning him the nickname, "Tex" – a name his Dartmouth classmates continued to use over the past 73 years. Jack graduated from Dartmouth in 1951 and earned his M.B.A. from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business in 1952.
After serving in the Air Force for two years, Jack then moved back to Houston to begin work for J. Weingarten, Inc., the chain of grocery stores founded by his father, Joe Weingarten, and his grandfather, Harris Weingarten. The chain started as a local Houston company and eventually grew to encompass more than 200 stores spread across Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Jack worked in the company for his entire professional career, only retiring when the chain was sold in 1980.
Jack was one of the early members of Congregation Brith Shalom, where he served as President from 1973 to 1975. This past fall, he appeared on the bima during Kol Nidre services, where he turned out to be the oldest living past president. He was touched to be honored with the recognition, speaking of it with a bit of surprise to find himself in the role of a community elder.
In 1974, Jack married Elizabeth Tarlau, of New York City, New York, whom he had met on a blind date in Houston in 1973. Jack and Liz would have celebrated their 50th anniversary this April, and we are all sad not to have been able to throw the party that their joyful and loving marriage deserved. In addition to large family Shabbat gatherings in the kids' early years, and the regular rhythm of a happy and blessed life, their marriage was punctuated by adventurous international travel; long, lovely months in Vermont, and in recent years, a mutual devotion to the lecturers of Lockdown University, an online forum for learning about literature, music, theatre, and art.
Jack's source of joy was his large and adoring family. Jack was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Bernard Weingarten; and his sister, Eveta Weingarten Levinson. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, as well as their cherished children and grandchildren: Lea, Andy, Jeffrey, and Matthew Fastow; Michael, Lili, Danielle, and Tyler Weingarten; and Jo, Michael, Laila, and Orly Golub. Jack is also survived by devoted nieces and nephews of multiple generations and a loving array of friends from throughout the decades.
What drew friends to Jack was his easy smile, steady demeanor, and gently mischievous sense of humor. His constancy earned him life-long friendships that grew more meaningful throughout the years. His open-minded approach to cultural changes over time defied all stereotypes of aging, as he continued to expand his mind and acceptance rather than narrowing his views. His insatiable appetite for reading newspapers and watching the news dominated his days, and he never tired of discussing each new development on the national and world stages.
The family would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to Juwan Johnson and Lacie January for their loving and tireless care of Jack in his final weeks, as well as his thoughtful and dedicated physician, Dr. Lisa Ehrlich.
Funeral services for Jack will be held on Tuesday, February 13 at 1:30 pm at Congregation Brith Shalom, 4610 Bellaire Blvd., Bellaire, Texas 77401, followed by a graveside service at Beth Yeshurun Allen Parkway, 3502 Allen Pkwy., Houston, Texas 77019.
Jack was devoted to causes that supported peace, justice, and the Jewish community. He therefore continued a legacy of community service that was begun by his parents, Joe and Malvina Weingarten, who were great champions of many Jewish organizations during their formative stages in Houston's early years, including as founding members of Beth Yeshurun. In his memory, we invite you to donate to one of the following organizations that meant so much to Jack: the New Israel Fund (https://www.nif.org/), Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel (https://www.handinhandk12.org/), Congregation Brith Shalom (brithshalom.org), Congregation Beth Yeshurun (https://www.bethyeshurun.org/), Jewish Family Service (https://www.alexanderjfs.org/), or a charity of your choice.