(Bursa, 1908 – Seattle, 1992)
Much could be said about Sam Bension Maimon, well-known figure in Seattle’s Sephardic Jewish community. But his son-in-law Eugene Normand chose four words to sum up this unique personality: humor, curiosity, insight and concentration.
“He was a very popular person with hundreds and hundreds of students over the years,” Normand said.
His brother, Rabbi Solomon Maimon, said only a handful of people in the United States have had a deeper understanding of the tradition and culture of Sephardic Jews. And, Rabbi Maimon recalled, his older brother’s joy came from teaching others about that tradition: “His special knack was that he entertained while he taught. He was a natural-born storyteller.”
Sam Maimon was born in Bursa, Turkey, and came to Seattle when his father, Rabbi Abraham Maimon, was called to be spiritual leader of Seattle’s Sephardic Bikur Holim Synagogue.
He attended Garfield High School and in 1933 became a founding partner in the 24th Avenue Market at 24th and Yesler Way.
For decades, the market was a hub of activity for the local Sephardic community. During the Depression, when many could not afford telephones, the market was an informal message center for those seeking work, a phone number they could give to prospective employers.
A voracious reader, Mr. Maimon devoured all the important documents of his own culture but did not stop there. “He read not only on Hebrew and Jewish subjects, but authors such as Voltaire and Mark Twain, and on world history and many other topics,” Normand said.
For more than 40 years, he served as assistant hazzan of the Sephardic Bikur Holim Synagogue. “He was a grocer by trade but a hazzan by avocation,” recalled Rabbi Maimon, the congregation’s spiritual leader for many years.
For nearly 50 years, Sam Maimon taught classes to adults and children in various aspects of Jewish faith and culture, including many classes in Ladino.
After leaving the grocery business in 1969, he turned his attentions more directly to the synagogue, where his work included a column in its monthly newsletter, La Boz, from 1971 to 1982.
Sam wrote the first Ladino-English dictionary, published in 1980 as part of Studies in Sephardic Culture. In 1983, he was profiled in the book, “Let Me Hear Your Voice: Portraits of Aging Immigrant Jews,” by Mimi Handlin and Marilyn Layton.
Sam Maimon passed away on January 18, 1992 at the age of 84. He was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Lucy Maimon. Survivors included two daughters, Vicki Schain of Salem, Ore. and Esther Normand of Seattle; a son, Albert S. Maimon of Seattle; three brothers, Jack, Isaac and Rabbi Solomon Maimon, all of Seattle; two sisters, Louise Azose and Rachel Benoliel of Seattle, and nine grandchildren.
Learn more about Sam Maimon’s life and legacy here.