Charles Groman ^People

Groman was born in Bessarabia, which was then part of the Russian empire (present-day Moldova), and came to the United States at the age of ten with his fam- ily. Settled in Chicago, he became a foreman at one of the city's largest hat factories as a teenager. Groman came west toLos Angeles in 1907, when he was twenty-four years old and became an active member of Jewish community life in his new home. He opened one of Los Angeles first Jewish mortuaries and helped to found the Jewish Free Burial Society (Chevra Chesid Shel Emeth) in 1909 to cover the costs of proper burials for poor Jews in the area. In 1916, the Burial Society, under Groman's leader- ship, raised funds to purchase land in East Los Angeles to create M.t Zion cemetery (located near the Home of Peace cemetery).Groman also helped to raise money for the ]CRA's Sanatorium, the Home for the Aged, and several synagogues and Talmud Torahs throughout the city. Groman also called the first meeting of the Bikur Cholim Society in 1920 and served in a va- riety of leadership roles in the Mount Sinai Home for Incurables in its earliest, most fragile years. Mr. Groman cared deeply about the spiritual and physical health of his community, in life and in death. After his death in 1932, his sons decided to carry on in their father's craft and opened their own funeral parlor named Groman Mortuary, which continues to serve the LosAngelescommunity today.