3 minute read
Legacy Spotlight: Laurie and Harry Sparks
September 2023
By Harry Sparks
I grew up and was raised in Olivette, MO, a suburb of St. Louis. My dad’s family were members of the reform temple, where I became a bar mitzvah, before we moved to the reform synagogue of my mom’s family. I fondly remember traditional holiday dinners at my grandmother’s house, a tradition that was later inherited by my mom. After graduating from Brown University, I returned home to St. Louis in 1976 to work for McDonnell-Douglass. In 1978, I moved to Chicago still with McDonnell-Douglass.
Laurie grew up in Queens, NY. Her family was active in their conservative synagogue, where she became a bat mitzvah. Her family observed holidays at home and lit candles on Friday nights. When she attended the University of Rochester, Hillel became a major part of her life and significantly impacted her commitment to Judaism.
We met each other in Chicago in 1980 while Laurie was attending graduate school at Northwestern. We were married in October of 1983 and a year later moved back to St. Louis where our daughters, Jackie and Emily, were born. We were active members of the reform congregation with Laurie serving on the temple board. Both of our girls became b’nai mitzvah and attended the Jewish Community Center’s sleep away camps and day camps.
In 2004 we moved to Charlotte and immediately joined Temple Beth El (TBE). Through the temple we were able to develop a social network that assisted us to adapt to our new hometown.
We have remained connected to the temple and many of those original friends. We both participated in the Farber Leadership program. Since 2004, Laurie has sung in the TBE choir and has also served on the membership and youth committees, as well as the Sisterhood board. I recently became a Brotherhood board member. Jewish Family Services (JFS) is also very important to us. I served on its board for 10 years and am a past president. In 2008 I witnessed firsthand how JFS assists community members when I utilized the job placement services that they offered at that time.
We believe that a Jewish community is as strong as its local Jewish agencies. A legacy gift provides a link to sustaining these institutions for future generations. For that reason, we’ve established legacy gifts to support both TBE and JFS. We cannot imagine a strong Charlotte Jewish community without them.
