Furniture representative Jack Pollack dies after brief illness

JACK POLLACK, a local furniture industry representative, died Thursday, December 5 at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after a brief battle with leukemia. He was 65.

Pollack, who ran his company, Bottom Line Sales, originally hailed from Pittsburgh, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s of social work degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Pollack was an advisor to B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and moved to New Orleans in 1975 to follow his pursuit of being a Jewish professional social worker. He soon met and married the first of his two wives in 1977 and raised his two daughters.

Later, he became a furniture manufacturer representative and traveled throughout his regional territory and abroad.

A lover of New Orleans culture, Pollack lived for Mardi Gras and especially the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He was a music enthusiast who never let a good time get away if he could help it. He also kept his love for his native Pittsburgh alive and was an avid supporter of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pollack was an inveterate photographer and combined his love of New Orleans food and culture with recording history through his photographic lens. He was a member of both Congregation Gates of Prayer in Metairie and the Northshore Jewish Congregation (NJC), which was closer to his residence.

In recent years Pollack was a much beloved religious school teacher at NJC and was very active at the school.

He is survived by his daughters, Jennifer (Andrew) Friedberg and Lisa (Jim) Walsh and three grandchildren; his sister Teri Cox; and two former wives, the mother of his daughters, Peggy Blum, and Anita Sabiston Pollack.

A visitation was held today, Sunday, December 8, at Congregation Gates of Prayer, 4000 West Esplanade, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Funeral services conducted by Rabbi Robert Loewy began at 2:30 p.m.

Burial followed immediately at Hebrew Rest Cemetery #3 (corner of Pelopidas and Frenchman Streets).

A reception and minyan was held at Gates of Prayer at 5:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor may be sent to either Congregation Gates of Prayer or Northshore Jewish Congregation, 1403 N. Causeway Blvd., Mandeville, LA 70471.