Personal and Family History - VIP Biography



Paris and Paris

The Biography of Bette Sraberg

and Reynold Paris

Beverly Hills, California

2003

Lifetime Biography

Copyright 2003 all rights reserved

(800) 458-2464

Paris and Paris

Bette Sraberg was born February 12, 1925 at her parent’s home in Brockton, Massachusetts which is about 20 miles south of Boston. She was named Betty Sraberg at birth; however when she was older she changed the spelling of her first name from Betty to Bette in honor of Bette Davis. Bette is the youngest of five children, and she suspects that she was born to be the replacement for her older brother Joseph who died of scarlet fever when he was very young.

Reynold Paris was born in 1922. He resembles his father and was named after his father’s sister Rachel who died of a the flu during an epidemic before she was able to come to America

After many years of marriage, raising five children and working together daily in their Law firm, the two are still dear friends and sweethearts. If you are around them, you will see them hold hands and laugh together often.

Table of Contents

Bette Sraberg 3

Personal and Family History 3

Father Samuel Sraberg 3

Mother Ida Golding 3

Grandparents 5

Growing-up 6

Day to Day 6

School Years 6

Reynold Paris 8

Personal and Family History 8

Father Paris 8

Mother Paris 8

Grandparents 9

Family Life 10

School Years and Military Service 10

Rey and Bette Paris 13

Love and Romance 13

School Years 13

Earning A Living 14

Children 15

Beliefs and Expectations 18

Favorites Now and Then 18

Leisure Time 18

Predictions 18

Politics and People 18

Standard Pedigree Tree 19

Table of Figures 20

Bette Sraberg

Personal and Family History

Father Samuel Sraberg

Samuel Sraberg was born in Ponadel, Lithuania, and it is possible that Lithuania was still a part of Russia at the time of his birth. The exact date of his birth is unknown because the records are incomplete which has led to much speculation about his true age. Samuel immigrated to America via Ellis Island while he was still very young. Throughout his life he was very intelligent and vibrant, not someone who could easily be pinned down.

Sometime after immigrating to America, Samuel moved to Brockton, Massachusetts and began working in the shoe factories. At that time, Brockton was the shoe capital of the world, and it was filled with many shoe factories. Eventually, Samuel left the shoe business and studied real estate. He bought two properties and transformed them into rooming houses, which were similar to modern day hotels. The rooming houses became his income.

Mother Ida Golding

Ida Golding was born in America in the state of Massachusetts. She had two older sisters named Fanny and Sarah, as well as one younger sister named Katie. They were all very beautiful women. As adults, Fanny was very religious and lived in Chelsea. Sarah was always very driven and ambitious, a “go-getter” as Bette has said of her. Sarah was married many times and had a daughter named Dede, who is now deceased. Sarah had no formal education, however she was brilliant. She lived in Los Angeles, California before she passed away. Katie was somewhat of a bitter person. She was married and became Katie Fineburg. Katie’s husband was a fruit merchant and would sell dried fruit to the Sears-Roebuck Company.

Together, Samuel and Ida had five children, of which Bette is the youngest. Myer is the oldest child. He was born in Massachusetts and is many years older than Bette. Alice came after Myer in 1918. Next, Ben was born and then Joseph who died young from scarlet fever. Finally Bette arrived in 1925. All of the children in the family had beautiful blue eyes.

Myer was a thin man with fair skin, blue eyes, and curly hair. He was a brilliant man and had intelligence that came from within even though he had little formal education. He graduated from Brockton High School, but his education did not continue past this. Growing up, Myer played the violin. He was also very hyper and ambitious. After graduating high school, Myer started his own tire business in Quincy, Massachusetts where he sold tires. During World War II, Myer’s business specialized in used tires because new tires were not being made. This was very profitable because any tires were greatly desired at the time.

When Bette was in third grade, Myer married. He had three children; a daughter Estelle, and two sons named Jack and Jerry. Myer loved Bette very much. He admired her because she was very bright and intelligent.

Alice was the second oldest in the family and she was eight years older than Bette. Because Ida was not a very strong person, Alice took charge and became a sort of semi-mother for the family. She took care of Bette and taught her to read before Bette even started school. She was very attractive; however she was also somewhat bossy which probably came from having to take care of the family from a young age. Alice had trouble finding a job because the family was Jewish, and they lived in a small and anti-Semitic town. Alice was very happy when their family moved to Boston, Massachusetts because it opened up opportunities for her to work.

Alice was married and had a son before Bette and Rey had even met. Bette first dated the man that Alice later would marry, but she did not like him, so they broke up. Alice liked him, and they started dating; soon they fell in love and were married. Alice’s husband was in the United States Army and moved to Boston after basic training.

He was somewhat domineering however he loved Alice very much. Alice and her husband lived with her mother and did most of the cooking and cleaning. Alice was always very firm with her children about eating. She always made them finish their entire meal, whether they wanted to or not. She was very obsessive about eating, and her children now resent that part of her.

Ben is the second youngest in the family. According to Bette he had a very “benign” personality and was very good-natured. Because of his sweet disposition, people took advantage of Ben, even his own wife! At an early age Ben moved out of the house and lived with Myer and he also worked in the tire business. Myer also took advantage of him. Ben was not very good in school; however he was a very easy-going person and loved Bette very much. After living with Myer, he moved out on his own and lived in Walton, Massachusetts.

Grandparents

Bette’s maternal grandmother, Reba Esther Golding, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

Growing-up

Day to Day

Growing up, Bette loved to play hopscotch, which she did very well. During first grade, the school physician discovered that Bette has scarlet fever so he sent a note home to her mother with the information. Of course, her mother was very afraid, especially since Bette’s older brother had died from this. The doctor told Ida that Bette was to have very limited physical activity; therefore Bette was not able to participate in any sports or highly physical games while she was growing up.

Bette had many girlfriends while in school, and they would frequently play together after school. One of their favorite things to do was playing with paper dolls. In the evening, Bette would not help her mother much with the dinner or other housework because, as Bette says it herself, she was very “un-domestic”.

Bette lived with her family in Brockton, Massachusetts until her senior year when the family moved to Boston. The main reason for the move was the family’s desire for a larger social life. Brockton was a very small town and had very few people. Bette’s mother wanted to make sure that there were enough Jewish men available to find husbands for her daughters. Bette considers Brockton to be her home town. She describes it as a very small town, however despite its size; it was the shoe capital of the world.

School Years

Throughout her school years, Bette was an excellent student. She received A’s in all of her subjects, and her husband Rey describes her as being very “cerebral”. Bette knew how to read before she began school. He older sister, Alice, loved to play schoolteacher, and Bette played along as the student. This playing paid off, as Bette skipped kindergarten and went straight into first grade at age six.

Bette went to Lincoln Elementary School in Brockton. This elementary school was very small, having only one class per grade with between 20-30 students in each class. School started early in the morning and lasted until around 3:30pm. The same teacher taught all the subjects to the class, so there were no switching classrooms during the day. The students went home during lunch hour, and returned to school when they were finished. Lincoln Elementary School is still an active school in Brockton today.

In her early elementary school years, Bette recalls a story of her teacher thinking she had plagiarized an assignment because it was written so well. Bette had been given an assignment to describe a photograph. She was given a photo of the painting “Blue Boy”. Well, Bette did an excellent job, and the teacher accused her of copying the paper from books in the library. She later found out that the paper was Bette’s original work.

Though Bette was excellent at all academic subjects, in either fourth or fifth grade, she discovered that she was not so good at home economics. She quickly learned that sewing and cooking were her weaknesses, however she was still able to earn an ‘A’ in the class because of the written assignments and tests that were required. In her senior year of high school, Bette moved with her family from Brockton to Boston. The schools in Boston were very different from those she had attended in Brockton, especially since they were not co-ed.

Reynold Paris

Personal and Family History

Father Paris

Rey’s father was born in 1888. He had three brothers: Oscar, Joseph, and Maurice, and a sister named Rachel. Rachel died in a flu epidemic before she was able to come to America. While Rey was growing up, his father was not a good role model. Sadly, he suffered migraine headaches and was physically abusive toward his family. He sold Metropolitan Life Insurance for a living, drove nice cars and liked to take the family on vacations in the family car.

Rey’s father immigrated to America from Poland. He met his future wife on the ship on the way to the United States. Before coming to America, his last name was Harris; however his name was changed to Paris at Ellis Island. He and his wife were married in 1912, and they had their first child, Frieda in 1914. Rey was born in 1922. There was an eight year difference between the children, it is suspected due to Rey’s father contracting tuberculosis. Because of this tuberculosis, Rey’s father had to live in a sanitarium.

Rey’s father highly valued education and he graduated from high school in the United States. At this time, graduating from high school was a huge accomplishment and fairly rare. At home, he spoke Yiddish.

Mother Paris

Rey’s mother was born in 1889. She had two sisters and two brothers: Mary, Sadie, Frank, and Harry. Sadie married Rey’s uncle on his father’s side. Frank changed his last name from Fleischer to Farber. Harry was a member of the Purple Gang in Detroit, Michigan. Rey’s mother was a very comforting woman, however she was also very smart and quick witted. She did not get a high education and had to work in a sweatshop making clothing. She worked as a single person before she was married, however fortunately she did not have to work after she was married. She was a great housewife and a wonderful cook. She was also very meticulous about cleaning. Rey’s mother was very good to him, and she loved him greatly.

Rey has one older sister named Frieda who was born on March 14, 1914; eight and a half years before Rey was born. Frieda was very small framed; she stood around 5’1” and weighed less than 100 pounds. For a while Frieda attended Porsche Law School in Boston where she was a fair student; however she did not finish at this school.

Frieda was very artistic and was a talented artist and pianist. However, she had a bad temper and Rey would constantly taunt her. Rey was still living at home when Frieda was married. After her marriage, she had a son named Norman who Rey would baby sit.

Grandparents

Rey’s paternal grandmother was a Hebrew woman named Mina. She lived in Massachusetts after she had immigrated to America. Rey’s paternal grandfather was an English man named Nathan. Rey’s maternal grandmother’s name was Beatrice, and his maternal grandfather’s name was Jaimen.

Family Life

Growing up Rey was an avid reader. He loved works by London, Dickens, and stories of World War I. Rey also loved philosophy. His father urged this liking; however he did not force it upon Rey. Because of this, Rey would often discuss philosophy with his father. Rey particularly liked a Jewish philosopher named Stenoski. The church in Holland excommunicated Stenoski because he did not agree with the concept of God in human form. Stenoski believed that there were natural laws that governed the seasons, the heavens, and life, and these laws were the best representation of God. Rey enjoyed Stenoski and could both understand and relate to his views.

Rey’s family took a few road trips while he was growing up. They visited upstate New York, Washington D.C., and went to a farm in New Hampshire. One summer they stayed at a resort in Winthrop, Massachusetts. Rey’s father was an automobile insurance salesman and had to have a nice car to elicit sales. Rey remembers his father driving a 1926 Nash Automobile, a 1932 Chevy, and a 1936 Chevy. Rey enjoyed cars when he was a young child and could name all the cars that he saw.

School Years and Military Service

While in sixth grade, Rey’s teacher, Mrs. Whittier recommended that he enroll in the Boston Latin School. His parents took this advice and Rey attended the Boston Latin School from seventh through twelfth grade. While attending this school, Rey studied Spanish six years, French and German two years.

When Rey was in Latin School he joined a social club called the Spartans. It consisted of a brilliant group of boys. The key book for this group was called “Robert’s Rules of Order”. At some point in each of their lives, all the boys from this club served in the military. This group produced judges, lawyers, doctors, dentists, and even a Nobel Prize winner. This was a very stimulating group of people, and they helped Rey develop while he was attending school. Those from this group who remain living still have contact with each other. Rey also worked in the office of the National Youth Authority while he was attending Boston Latin School. During that time he would listen to the Boston Braves, a baseball team which is now located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rey volunteered for service while attending Georgetown University. He first applied to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines however he was denied acceptance because of his poor eyesight. He then applied to the Unites States Army and was accepted in February of 1943. He was stationed for a short time at Fort Lee, Virginia, which is also a processing center for new recruits. Next, Rey went to Miami Beach, Florida and joined the Air Corps, a part of the Army at the time. Soon after arriving in Miami Beach, Rey developed pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital where he stayed for many weeks.

After being discharged from the hospital Rey went to basic training at Camp Crowder, Missouri. Above his regular training, Rey also trained as a teletype operator. Soon, Rey joined the Army Specialized Training Program through the language division. For this training Rey was sent to Carlton College in Minnesota. Though Rey qualified for Spanish, the Army put him in a German class. During this time Rey went from being a Private to being a Private First Class. Rey loved this time of his Army life, and stayed at Carlton College for six months before it closed due to the Battle of the Bulge.

In December 1944, the Army sent Rey to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri where he joined the 73rd infantry division. After being at Fort Leonard Wood for one day, Rey was given a bayonet rifle and sent on a drill. Up to this point Rey had never operated a rifle before. Soon after, the Army moved Rey to Fort Benning, Georgia. He became a Signal Radio Switchboard Operator where he intercepted and translated German radio messages. After this, Rey was moved to Camp Campbell in Kentucky where he joined the 20th armored division. Along with all of this, Rey went to Germany and worked in interpretation and radio intelligence for the G5 military government group in which he would interpret for both the colonel and the mayor.

Rey and Bette Paris

Love and Romance

Bette met her husband Rey at a subway station in Boston the night that the lights were first turned on after the war. She and her sister had gone into Boston to see the lights; however it was so crowded, they could not enjoy it and decided to go home. Because the city was so crowded that night, they had to go through many subway stations until they found one empty enough to board. They finally boarded the subway, and there they met Rey. Bette remembers checking Rey’s military tags to make sure that he was Jewish.

School Years

Though her siblings were all very smart, Bette was the only one of them to go to college. She first attended the Boston University College of Administrative Studies and majored in accounting. After graduating there with high honors, she went on to law school. She was a year ahead of Rey in law school, and the competition was very large at the school. She graduated cum latte and second in her class. When Bette took the Massachusetts Bar Exam, she received the top score in the state at that time. Rey worked in the library during Law school. Both he and Bette worked on the Law Review.

Rey passed the Massachusetts State Bar Exam after his second try. Since he did average on the written exam, he had to be interviewed. Bette was in labor with their first child when his interview was scheduled, however Rey still attended the interview. Well, not surprisingly Rey did not pass this interview, his mind was pre-occupied with Bette’s circumstances, however he was given a second chance because of the situation surrounding the interview. The second time around Rey passed.

Rey and Bette moved to California in November of 1950. Earlier in his life Rey had been stationed with the Army in Cancook, California which is right outside Vandenburg, California. During this time he went to Los Angeles and it was very intriguing to him. Also, Bette’s brother Myer moved to California early in his career so they had family there.

After graduating law school, Bette found an advertisement for a law book publishing company in San Francisco, California. They sent her a test by mail which she passed. She accepted and editing job with the company. Rey also accepted a job with the same company. At this time they had one child, Richard, and decided to move to California. After arriving in California, Bette did very well with the company, and she even published an article in a law journal. Within a year, Rey stopped working for the company and moved to Los Angeles where he stayed with Myer for a short time. He began working for MacDonnell-Douglas in the computer department. Bette and Richard moved down to be with Rey in Los Angeles, California in 1951.

Earning A Living

After moving to San Francisco, California, both Rey and Bette worked at a law book publishing company. Soon after that Rey left that company and began working at MacDonnell-Douglass in Los Angeles. Rey stopped working at MacDonnell-Douglas to study for the California State Bar Exam. He collected unemployment during this time and Bette shortly worked for a company called Northrop. After Bette passed the California State Bar Exam in 1952, she put a work wanted advertisement in the Los Angeles Law Journals. She then began working for Rosenthal and Hesky Law Firm in Beverly Hills, California. She only worked for them for a short time because she quit to help Rey study for the Bar Exam.

After Rey passed the California State Bar Exam after Bette in 1952, he began working for Bernard Flakston, Attorney at Law. Though Rey did not like working for him, he worked there for approximately two years. This job held valuable as it taught him how to try a lawsuit. During this time, Bette worked for Leo Sherman at Moss and Sherman Law Firm. Quickly after this, Bette opened her own office at 215th West 7th Street in Beverley Hills. A short time later Rey joined her in this office, and Paris and Paris Law Firm officially opened in1955 at the same office Bette had opened on her own.

Since Bette was such an excellent writer, she would do most of the writing. She would write the briefs, the appeals, and draw up the complaints for lawsuit cases. She loved working in this firm and was a very intense and driven attorney, in fact, Rey says that she “lived her law practice”. Rey did much of the maintenance, though he also had a share of the law cases.

Children

Bette and Rey have five children; two sons and three daughters. Their first child, Richard, was born just a few days after Bette passed the Massachusetts State Bar Exam in 1947. Richard looks much like Rey and has blue eyes like Bette. Their second child, Jeffrey was born in 1953 after Rey and Bette had opened their own law office. Jeffrey has brown eyes; however he claims they are hazel. Jeffrey is very “street savvy” as Rey and Bette would say.

Rey and Bette adopted the three children of Bette’s sister Alice when she died in 1959 of breast cancer. There was some enmity between the children and their father and the children chose to live with Rey and Bette. There was a custody battle surrounding this in which Rey and Bette lost. However, the father never chose to execute the order of the court so the children were adopted by them. Robert was the oldest of the three children, and then there were two girls: Janice and Lorna. When they moved in with Rey and Bette, Robert was 14, Janice was 13, and Lorna was 11 or 12.

After a short time, Lorna felt drawn to her father and felt that she had a responsibility to help him, so she moved back with him. After staying with him for awhile, she left her father because she was being abused by her step mother and went back to Rey and Bette by her own accord. Lorna went to college in Arizona. She married while in college and Rey and Bette did not approve of this. She later divorced her husband, changed her last name to Paris, and moved back to Rey and Bette. Today she runs her own business.

All of Rey and Bette’s five children attended Beverley Hills High School, and all five of them graduated from college. Janice has a doctorate degree in Education. She is married and has two daughters, the youngest of which was adopted. Richard was very smart and graduated Phi Betta Kappa from the University of Southern California. Richard was granted a Fellowship to Cornell University to do cognitive psychology, however he chose law school after a while at Cornell. He is currently mediates in San Raphael, California.

Jeffrey is brilliant and went to school in New York and he transferred to the University of California, Santa Cruz from which he received his Bachelor’s degree. Jeffrey is married to Karen and they have two children, Sarah who is twelve and Matthew who is nine. Many people adore Jeffery due to his great personality.

Jeffrey and Karen are attorneys and have stepped up to the challenge of the roles of Paris and Paris, the same name of the law firm established by Bette and Rey. The law office is in Santa Monica, California.

(To be continued)

Beliefs and Expectations

Favorites Now and Then

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Leisure Time

Predictions

Politics and People

Standard Pedigree Tree

See the Paris Family Tree at for more information.

Descendants of Bette and Reynold Paris:

Table of Figures

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Figure 1

Lifetime Biography

Copyright 2003 all rights reserved

(800) 458-2464

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