Friedman, Norma, 1935-

Norma Friedman was born to Rose and Jacob Adler on July 22, 1935 and was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

She married Leon Friedman in 1957 and had two children, Brad and Jodi. In 1973, Norma’s husband became a partner with his brother-in-law Oscar Alterwitz to purchase Walker Furniture in Las Vegas. This would require a cross country move from Gary, Indiana. It was July 4, 1973, when Friedman and her husband, Leon, moved into their new home of Las Vegas, Nevada. They were content with leaving Gary, Indiana behind and starting fresh with the family’s new ownership of Walker Furniture.

Friedman’s first stop in checking out Las Vegas was to visit the synagogue – Temple Beth Sholom being the only option. Her oldest son would soon have a bar mitzvah. She and her sister-in-law who was also relocating to Las Vegas for the furniture business, searched for new homes.

Friedman settled into the community through volunteer work as well as through employment outside the family business. She worked in the real estate briefly and in a jewelry store at the Dunes. Friedman immersed herself in religious and civic organizations including the Jewish Federation, Jewish Family Service Agency, and volunteering at Selma Bartlett Elementary School in Henderson, Nevada.