PRHWRITERSBLOCK
Dorothy Holper a Woman Ahead of Her Time
Philly
D
by Donna Meidt orothy “Dotty” Holper was born April 8, 1924, to Louis and Sadie Segal in Camden, NJ. Her mother died giving birth to another sibling. After Sadie’s death, Louis married a woman by the name of Celia who came to the marriage with a daughter, Anita Goldberg. In the 1930 census, the family was living at 647 Walnut Street in Camden. She had an older brother Morris and two sisters, Pauline, and Adrienne. Louis owned an ice cream and candy store and a rooming house.
W R I T E R S B LO C K
When Dotty was 15, the family moved to Philadelphia and opened a seafood market on Ridge Avenue, where Dotty worked. The family made their home in that building. In 1946, she married Saul Holper, whose family lived nearby. They purchased a row home at 6013 Agusta Street in the Oxford Circle neighborhood, where they raised their daughter Sharon “Shotsy,” born in 1948, and son Harvey, born in 1951. Saul worked in furniture sales to support the family. The friendly neighborhood was a mix of Irish and Italian Catholics and Eastern European Jewish descendants who co-existed peacefully. Dotty was incredibly happy being a homemaker in that setting. Dotty was a woman ahead of her
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time. In the early 1960s, as her children became more self-sufficient, she was able to get a warehouse job at the nearby Sears, Roebuck, and Co., where Adams Avenue met Roosevelt Boulevard. She accepted the job of a dispatcher, which was rare for women of that era. She sat on the loading dock in all kinds of weather and became a member of the Teamsters Local 107. She collaborated with the truckers who were loading appliances. They needed to be perfect at the time of distribution. Since some appliances became damaged, she was able to offer those goods at a discounted price to employees. She worked there until it closed in the early 1990s. Dotty inherited a remarkable singing voice, which was passed along to son Harvey and his family. Over the years, they have been involved in vocal, instrumental and stage perfor-
| ROWHOME MAGAZINE | July / August / September 2022
mances. In later years, she and Saul were members of the Workmen’s Circle Yiddish Chorus. She enjoyed family gatherings with her siblings and cousins at Segal Cousins Club events. Dotty celebrated the holidays by cooking and baking special treats. She was known for her sweet fruity holiday noodle kugel and her chocolate chip cookies. As the years passed, she began to learn survival skills. When Saul died in 1994, she sold the row home and purchased a condominium at Delaire Landing on State Road. She became competent in driving, and in banking and investing, as well as maintaining and decorating her new home. Shotsy married Marty Abramson in 1969. In the 1970s, they moved to Arizona. Harvey married Laurie Jacobs in 1972. They have lived since that time in the greater Philadelphia area. The four of them graduated from Temple University. Dotty lived in her condominium until the time of her death in 2011. Special thanks to Family Historian, Adrienne Saltzburg; Harvey Holper and supplemental researcher Sharon Shotsy Abramson. PRH
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