The Eckhardt Family Established Three Unrestricted Funds at the Jewish Foundation
Back in 1920 when Nathan and Ida Eckhardt opened the Eckhardt Furniture Store in Seymour, there were few Jewish families in the Valley. For the High Holidays, the Eckhardts and the few other local Jewish families would hold services in a nearby German Hall. Until it was sold in 2005, the Eckhardt Furniture store was family owned and operated and an institution in Seymour for 85 years.
After both emigrating from Russia, Nathan and Ida worked hard to raise four children – Edward, Ethel, Samuel and Irving. Today, the only surviving members of the Eckhardt family are Irving, now 84 as well as two grandsons and four great grandchildren (descendants of Samuel). Irving remembers his parents as hard-working Jewish immigrants who were charitable even when they could not afford to be. The Eckhardt’s commitment and generosity to the Jewish community continued when, in 1999, Nathan and Ida’s only daughter, Ethel, established a fund at the Jewish Foundation. Following Ethel’s death in 2006, Irving established a fund and named it in memory of Nathan and Ida because “it felt right.” Following his aunt and uncle, Samuel’s oldest son, Harvey, also established a fund, which he named in memory of his parents, Ann and Samuel. Harvey said he established the fund because it was “the right thing to do to honor those who came before and sacrificed for us” and he wanted his children, Carly and Jaimie, to remember “their family, my family.” Harvey hopes that his charitable giving will “plant a seed” for his children the way his parents and their parents did for him.