Investor James J. Altman passes; funeral in KY.

JAMES J. ALTMAN, a retired investor, died on Shabbat morning, November 4, 2017 at Passages Hospice from complications of acute heart failure and dementia. He was 94.

JAMES J. ALTMAN

A no-nonsense Republican, Altman was a tireless defender of the State of Israel and a former board member of Congregation Beth Israel until illness prevented his regular attendance at religious services there.

Born in Louisville, KY., Altman graduated from Louisville Male High School in 1941 and attended Louisiana State University, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management in 1944. While attending LSU, he met Naomi Theresa Gehr, a native of Alexandria, LA. Following his graduation, they married in January of 1945 and moved to Louisville. He became a communications officer of field artillery in Europe as World War II wound down and continued his service in the Kentucky National Guard for two additional decades. Following his return to Louisville, Altman was a businessman there and associated with Adath Jeshurun Synagogue, where he raised his family. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America in the synagogue’s Troop 30 with his sons in the 1960s, serving as an assistant scoutmaster.

Following retirement, the Altmans moved to New Orleans, where he became an investor. Following the death of his first wife in 2000, he remarried the former Sabina Chapman and the two enjoyed maintaining a Jewish home and traveling together. They were students together at the now renamed Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning and attended a  sponsored school summer course at Hebrew University in Israel in 2009. Altman was active in the Republican Party and was often seen riding his motorized scooter around town well into his late eighties.

He is survived by his second wife Sabina Altman; sons Joel G. Altman, 71, of Houston, TX., Ross S. Altman, 68, of Newtown, PA., and Benjamin C. Altman, 64, of Appleton, WI.; 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Graveside services were held at the Congregation Adath Jeshurun Cemetery on Tuesday, November 7, at 11:00 a.m. Donations are suggested to the American Friends of Migdal Ohr or to Congregation Beth Israel.