Jews in the D continued from page 15 16 | OCTOBER 10 • 2019 the early 1940s until he retired at the age of 89. He mostly monitored all the trucks that came and went. ” Rena’ s late husband, Jerry, who had worked in sales, joined the business in 1981 as Dave Schwartz was preparing to retire. Only one year later, as Jerry was immersed in learning warehouse operations, Schwartz suffered a debilitating heart attack and Jerry took charge, turning to his son to help with the transition. “When I was 7 years old, my grandfather started taking me to work and instilled this love for Porter Bottle in me, ” recalls Larry, sometimes joined by sister Doreen. “He’ d ask me to stand on pallets — what he called the stairway to heaven — to screw in light bulbs. “My grandfather made it a cool and fun experience. I had to pack and repack pal- lets exactly the way they were before, and I tooled around with my grandfather on a forklift. As I grew older, my grandfather had me writing up purchase orders. ” When Larry was 12 and his dad was in charge, the two joined forces to redo the filing system. Larry filled in the information that Jerry had not yet experienced. As Jerry assumed leadership, Larry went on to advance his education and establish his own career path, first as a database analyst and later with his own eBay business selling archival hobby supplies. THE NEWEST GENERATIONS After Jerry became ill and passed away in 2007, Larry closed his own business and took charge of Porter Bottle with the partnership of his mom, and the two upgraded the computer operations. “When my dad stopped working, we had a two-signa- ture checkbook, ” says Rena, whose responsibility at that point was handling payments beyond working days in a gift store office. “I would sign the checks remembering my dad had taught me to notice who would be getting the checks. He told me that the information would stick in my mind and I might need it someday. “Since Larry had been away, he didn’ t know the places that sold to us, but I did. At that point, I became the bookkeeper and started going down to work twice a week. ” The youngest Schwartz descendants — also having fun with family business experi- ences — have given their atten- tion to inventory and packing pallets for specific orders. They include Evie Dickman 18; Jillian Dickman, 11; and Jordyn Tepman, 8. Although functions, includ- ing warehouse operations, auto- mated over the years, family values sustained. Members of Adat Shalom Synagogue, the family never opened on Shabbat and felt a kinship with Jewish customers developing kosher products, such as wine and tra- ditional cuisine. When Porter greeting cards go out in December, they’ re always about good wishes for the new year instead of religion. As downtown development has brought an enlarging Jewish presence, family members have met newcomers. Next door, a modern apartment building has housed Jewish tenants identified by their showcasing both lulav and etrog at Sukkot. Ultimately, the family gets the most direct satisfaction from helping people, especial- ly the ones launching busi- nesses (from tasty pickles to skin-soothing shea butter). It is understood that customers’ suc- cesses — with the use of Porter containers — also brings them success through return sales. Since the beginning, the offi- cial Porter acknowledgement for walk-ins has remained: “Welcome to Porter Bottle; we’ re here to help you. ” “When I was 7 years old, my grandfather started taking me to work and instilled this love for Porter Bottle in me,” — LARRY TEPMAN Rena and Larry Tepman of West Bloomfield stand in front of their store. JERRY ZOLYNSKY JERRY ZOLYNSKY 11-year-old Jillian Dickman of West Bloomfield and 9-year-old Jordyn Tepman look at the bottles on dis- play at the front of the store.