Temple Judea founder Harry Shain dies

A founder of San Francisco's Temple Judea has died. Harry Shain, of Sun City, Ariz., died Tuesday, July 11.

Shain was born in New York City in 1909 or 1910 — no one was sure of the exact date, said his son Henry Shain of San Francisco.

Shain was the third child of seven, and his father, Morris Shain, was a well-known cantor. Harry Shain was 11 when his mother died, and his father remarried. His stepmother was unable to care for her new stepchildren, so they all went to orphanages or were on their own.

Henry Shain said he doubted his father finished high school. He rode the rails and ended up in Kansas City, where he met a Jewish family who owned a grocery store. He lived above it and worked there.

In 1940 he married May Gelb, Henry's mother. The couple divorced, and Harry remarried in 1961.

During World War II, he served as a radar instructor in the U.S. Army.

Later, he moved to Daly City, working as a sales executive with the Joe Lowe Corp., selling products to companies that made popsicles. He and his wife were among the few Jewish families who lived in Westlake, and felt it was too far to attend synagogue in San Francisco. They met in a clubhouse, and first called themselves the Westlake Temple Group. Later, the group became Temple Judea, which much later merged to become Congregation Beth Israel-Judea. He also was a member of B'nai B'rith Unity Lodge.

Henry Shain described his father as a ladies' man, saying he was extremely good-looking, and "a regular guy."

In addition to his son Henry, Shain is survived by his wife, Nenea of Sun City, Ariz., and two grandchildren.