Dumes.Net
A website dedicated to the family of Chaim and Sadie Silk Dumes from Viski, Latvia
Dumes.Net
Fannie Dumes Fishman was born in Viski, Latvia in May 1894 and she passed away in 1942 after being ill for some years. She was the favorite sister of my grandfather, William. William's wife Freda spoke about how Fannie used to take William into the city (Dvinsk, now Daugavpils) to the doctor who was caring for his eye. He had lost an eye due to some kind of boyhood hijinks and had a glass eye for the rest of his life. Freda recalled that when she herself was sick, the first person that William called for help was Fannie.
Fannie married Max Fishman, another Jewish immigrant from Tiraspol, Russia. They were married in 1915 when the Dumes families were all living in very close proximity in Terre Haute, IN. Max, like many Jewish men of the time, including his Dumes brothers-in-law, went into the scrap business.
Fannie and Max had four children: William, Sylvia, Ruth and Georgia. William distinguished himself academically as well as financially in business. Sylvia tragically passed away, only 21 years old, with her new husband Barney Wigodner in an auto accident on Halloween night, 1939. Ruth was a very special person who became very dear to me and instrumental in providing much of the information for creating this website. She was very fond of my grandparents, her Uncle Bill and Aunt Freda, and interviewed Freda in 1977 with family history questions provided by her daughter Phyllis, who has been doing family history research, interviews and writing for decades.
Here is that interview.
My older cousin Fred Fishman – son of William and Clara Fishman – and I – daughter of Ruth (Fishman) and Albert Zimbler – are named for Fannie Dumes Fishman following the Askenazi Jewish custom of naming for deceased relatives. Thus I have no personal memories of my maternal grandmother while she was alive. What I do have is her Shabbat candelabrum that I light every Friday night following a long journey that brought this to me thanks to the foresight of Fred’s mother Clara. As recounted in my co-authored Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION:
THE WANDERING CANDELABRUM
My grandmother Fannie (for whom I’m named) always lit all seven candles in her seven-branched Shabbat candelabrum: one each for herself and her husband, one for each of her four children, and one for her mother [Sadie Silk Dumes], of blessed memory. When my grandmother died at a young age, my grandfather gave away the candelabrum to a synagogue in a small Southern Indiana town near his home.As an additional note for this family history, the middle name – Kelila – of my younger daughter Yael is for Clara.
Years later, when the synagogue disbanded, the candelabrum was miraculously returned to a great-aunt of mine. She sent it on to my uncle and aunt [Bill and Clara Fishman].
My aunt kept it for several years until one day, unexpectedly, she sent it to me. She said at the time, ‘One never knows what will happen.’ A month later she learned she was dying of cancer. She had sent the candelabrum to me to ensure its place in our family.
When our children were born, I began to use the candelabrum in her honor – a woman who sincerely cared for the preservation of our heritage.
