Rene Lehmann

Rene Lehmann, aged 94, died at Passages Hospice on April 21, 2020 in New Orleans. Married to the late Razele Midlo Lehmann for almost 55 years, survived by his children Lawrence (Dashka Roth) Lehmann of New Orleans, Rabbi Allan (Joanne Schindler) Lehmann, Newton, MA, Dr. Barbara (Richard Stocker) Lehmann, St. Paul, and Carolyn (David Karesh), Houston, his grandchildren Dr. Emily Lehmann Levin (Dan Levin) Saline, MI, Hannah Hofrichter (Michael Hofrichter) Houston, Rabbi Elie Lehmann (Anya Manning) Cambridge, MA, Jacob Karesh, Los Angeles, sisters-in-law Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Guanajuato, Mexico and Elizabeth Lehmann, Palo Alto, CA, many great grandchildren, nephews and nieces, and is mourned by the many people touched by him. In addition to his wife Razele, Lehmann was preceded in death by his parents Leo and Marie (Landau) Lehmann, his brother Henry Lehmann, his grandson Rafi Lehmann, and his friend and companion Margot Strauss Garon. He was born in Karlsruhe, Germany. His grandparents hailed from Germany, Alsace, and Galician Poland. Lehmann spent his childhood with his parents and brother in Leipzig, Germany, from where he began his family's refugee journey from Nazi Germany, to Nice, France, then Sao Paolo, Brazil, and landed in New Orleans at age 15 where he lived almost 80 years, from 1941-2020. Lehmann was educated in New Orleans schools, Fortier High School, and received his BA at Tulane (Phi Beta Kappa). After college, Lehmann taught economics at Southwestern Louisiana University and served as an educator in the US Army before earning a law degree from Tulane (Order of the Coif) in 1949. A New Orleans lawyer for over 70 years, specializing in tax, Lehmann joined his father-in-law Herman L. Midlo's firm to form Midlo and Lehmann, later Lehmann, Norman and Marcus. Among his pro bono work was helping refugees and Holocaust survivors to seek reparations. For many years, he was an adjunct instructor at Tulane Law School in the fields of real estate and succession law. He was a founder of the New Orleans Friends of Music in 1955 and a charter member of The Conservative Congregation of New Orleans, (now Congregation Shir Chadash) in 1960. He served as president of both organizations. The Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana honored him with its Young Family Award for Professional Excellence and Tzadakah Award. He was a fluent and voracious reader in several languages and a self-taught Judaic scholar, mentor and companion to generations of rabbis and lay people of the Jewish community. His Friday noon Talmud class, examining many aspects of classical Jewish law, met in his law offices for many years. Two years after being widowed, Lehmann lost his Lakewood South home in Hurricane Katrina, but he returned to New Orleans a few short weeks later, moving Uptown and resuming his Jewish, legal and cultural activities. Late in life, he became a regular at the fitness center at the JCC, where he inspired younger people by his regular exercise program. He was respected by many and inspired many to remain active in many ways even in his tenth decade. For those who wish memorial donations may be made to Congregation Shir Chadash or the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana. Interment at Chevra Thilim Memorial Gardens. Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.