Abraham (Avrum) Norman was born in Buki, Ukraine November 1, 1892 to Bertha and Pinchas Novminsky. He emigrated to the US in 1912 which he liked to recall was “when Taft was President”. He was a carefree young man and recalled his trip, mostly on foot, from Ukraine to Hamburg as being fun. There he embarked, in steerage class, to the new world.
His recollection of entry in New York was chaos, forever after substituting Castle Garden for that word as that was where the new immigrants were housed while being processed on Ellis Island. He hustled to earn a living, probably selling produce in the street. He likely met his wife, Minnie, in New York. She was a recent immigrant who quickly became involved in the garment workers strikes.

In 1917 they moved to Boston where other family members including a brother had already settled. Their first child, Sally, was born soon after. In 1921 they moved to Buffalo after hearing from Minnie’s brother, Louie, that business was booming. Of course they soon found it was not. Nonetheless they carved out a life. Avrum sold produce from a horse drawn cart, worked in factories including Pierce Arrow and ran a speakeasy during Prohibition, making wine at home and suffering a number of police raids. Later he ran a small tavern after alcohol was legalized. He was known to the locals as Paul, his wife Missus Paul, Sally was Missy Paul and so on. Many years later, I recall my father being called Little Paul by a former neighbor.

They had 3 boys: Phillip, Nathan and William all of whom served in the War and at the end they all were in the service at the same time: Phil in the Pacific, Nate in Europe and Will in the Coast Guard. Avrum worked at the Curtiss plant during the war.

After the war, Avrum worked with his son William as a retail scrap dealer, briefly opening a scrap yard in 1950. He enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and also spoiling various family pets. He was a bit of a lost soul after his beloved Minnie passed away in 1958, but still enjoyed family gatherings especially for holidays. Like many of his generation he passed along to his family a strong work ethic, the optimism for a better future and a belief that in America, anything is possible. As of 2021 he is survived by 9 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and 19 great great grandchildren. His memory is a blessing.