Ruben Glueck

My father came from a small village in Maramures, Transylvania, Romania called Ieud. It is pronounced "Yoid" and yes, my dad was a "Yoider". The whole village consists of one avenue about a mile long and there is a river running through it. My father told me with irony, that travelling to the nearest big city, Sighet by horse and wagon would take several days whereas the distance from Ieud to Sighet is more or less the same as the distance from my childhood home in Van Nuys to LAX. When I visited Ieud in 1977, I saw the Jewish cemetery and I watched the locals eat a homegrown delicacy called mamaliga. It is a corn paste that they all eat. A lot has changed since the late 70's not the least of which is that they are no longer under the communists and they have television and other modern amenities. Ieud historically was not very wealthy and my father used to tell me about their austere lifestyle quite often.

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My mother is a native of the United States and was born in the twin cities,

Saint Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota. My grandfather was a barber, and my great grandfather, Zeidi Ruben, immigrated from Russia. I am named after Zeidi Ruben and so is my cousin who spells it Reuven. Zeidi Ruben had 2 daughters Ida and Ada. My great auntie Ada had 2 girls and a boy: Marilyn, Charlene and Marty. My mother's cousins Marilyn and Charlene along with my mother were like sisters and they all were inseparable. Both Marilyn and Charlene had big families and when I was a child I played with their children. My mother's brother was uncle Allen.

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Ada Fiterman was my great aunt and she lived to be 94.

Her legacy lives on:

Marilyn and Harvey Chanen's children are: Debbie, Jeff and Sherri

Charlene and Mike Plitman's children are: Lisa, Dana and Julie

Marty and Saranee's children are: Betsy, Gerri, David, Stephen and Sara