Simon Klotz
Simon Klotz (born December 16, 1855 in Nancy, Lorraine, France; died June 17, 1941 in Birmingham) was a merchant, insurance executive, French consul, civic leader and three-term member of the Birmingham Board of Aldermen.
Klotz was the son of Henry and Miriam Klotz of France. He was educated there and emigrated alone to the United States when he was 14 due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. In 1872 he found his way to Klotzville, Louisiana, living with an uncle and doing odd jobs while learning English. On June 28, 1882 he married the former Camille Caheen and had two children, Marcelle and Raymond.
Klotz moved to Birmingham around 1886 and worked with his wife's brothers Fernand and Salvador Caheen at their Caheen Dry Goods Store (later Caheen's department store) on 2nd Avenue North. By 1899 he had opened his own men's furnishings store at 113 20th Street North.
Klotz was soon recognized for his assistance to fellow French immigrants by being named as honorary French Consul for the district. He was later awarded membership in the Légion d'Honneur during a return visit during the opening years of World War I.
Klotz was elected president of the congregation at Temple Emanu-El in 1900. He was elected to the first of three terms on the Birmingham Board of Aldermen in 1905, taking the Ward 2 seat formerly held by newly-elected Mayor George Ward.
After closing his retail business, Klotz founded the Simon Klotz Insurance Agency in 1908, keeping offices in the Brown-Marx Building.
Klotz was president of the Young Men's Hebrew Association from 1915 to 1935. In 1919 he launched a $20,000 capital campaign which resulted in completion of a new YMHA Building at the corner of 7th Avenue North and 18th Street in 1926. During the Great Depression he consolidated fund-raising activities under the umbrella of the Birmingham Federation of Jewish Charities. Through that organization, he popularized the idea of saving the money used to cover graves in flowers for use in charity work. His efforts allowed the YMHA to continue providing a range of services, including to Jewish refugees from Germany.
Klotz resided in the former W. A. J. Kopp residence at 1484 Milner Crescent. He retired from business in the late 1930s and watched with alarm as German forces overtook his native France. He died at home at the age of 85 and was buried at Temple Emanu-El Cemetery.
References
- Prominent Jews of America (1918) American Hebrew Publishing Co., p. 154
- "Death Takes City Pioneer Honored by Native France." (June 17, 1941) The Birmingham News, p. 2
- Elovitz, Mark H. (1974) A Century of Jewish Life in Dixie: The Birmingham Experience. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press ISBN 0817369015
- Dabney, Richard (2006) Birmingham's Highland Park. Images of America Series. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Press. ISBN 9780738543437
External links
- Simon Klotz at Findagrave.com