JACK FRIEDMAN

HOUSTON -- Jack Barry Friedman died peacefully Sunday evening, April 4, 2010, in his 88th year.        Service: 2 p.m. Wednesday in the chapel at Beth-El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Road, Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger officiating. Mr. Friedman will be laid to rest in the Beth-El Section of Greenwood Memorial Park.        Memorials: In lieu of flowers, consideration of contributions to a charity of one's choice, in his memory, is suggested.        Jack was born June 1, 1921, in Munkatch, Hungary, the son of Mendel and Sarah Friedman. His father immigrated to this country and settled in El Dorado, Ark., in the early 1920s. By 1929, he was able to send for his wife and three children.        Jack and his brother, Harold, opened several plants and mills, taking what had been a small family business and left it a public company, listed on the stock exchange. Friedman Industries has been selected several times as a Fortune Magazine Top 200 Small Cap Corporation.        In his later years, Jack turned his attention to philanthropy. His many interests included the Menninger Foundation, Mayo Clinic, Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. And, at home, he established the Judaic Library at TCU.        Jack had several hobbies. As a young man, he played sandlot ball and still carried a ball and glove in his trunk, just hoping. He taught woodworking at the Fort Worth Boys' Club and later mentored young boys and the men who worked for him. He always said he had wanted to be a teacher. Unofficially, he was always teaching.        He was preceded in death by his parents and sisters, Ruth Katzman and Rose Freed.        Survivors: In addition to his wife, Naomi Koshkin Friedman of Houston, Jack is survived by his daughter, Barbara Friedman Rakoover and her husband, Burton, of Fort Worth; brother, Harold Friedman and his wife, Beverly, of Houston; and several nieces and nephews and their families. Robertson Mueller Harper Funerals & Cremations 1500 Eighth Ave., 817-924-4233 To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of JACK FRIEDMAN please visit our Sympathy Store.