Baum, Lester V. Dallas attorney Lester Baum passed away on July 3, 2020, from congestive heart failure. He was born in Breckenridge, Texas, on February 12, 1935, to Herman Baum and Bess Kuperman Baum. He attended elementary and secondary schools in Fort Worth, proudly graduating from Paschal High School in 1952. Although he later moved permanently to Dallas, Lester in many ways remained a Fort Worth boy at heart and kept strong ties with his childhood friends.
Lester attended Wharton College at the University of Pennsylvania, along with his older brother Kenneth. Lester was a member of the Mask and Wig Club, the oldest all-male collegiate musical comedy troupe in the country, and Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity, where he formed some of his most cherished and long-lasting friendships. Before his graduation in 1956, Lester received the prestigious Herbert S. Steuer Memorial Prize, awarded to Wharton students who are the most outstanding in scholarship, personality, and qualities of leadership – one of his proudest achievements. After graduation, Lester earned his law degree from the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University in 1960. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and served as Articles Editor at the SMU Law Review (then known as the Southwestern Law Journal). During this time, he won the Texas Association of Plaintiff's Attorneys Award and was elected to the Order of the Woolsock. He returned in later years to teach there.
After law school graduation, he worked in the office of the Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C. Lester returned to Dallas in 1965 and began private practice with Johnson, Bromberg and Leeds, where he worked for 35 years. During his early years as an attorney, he practiced tax law, but over time he shifted his practice focus to real estate. During his long career he represented many notable Dallas real estate developers and investors. Several of his client relationships developed into friendships that spanned decades. In 1995 Lester joined Powell Coleman & Arnold LLP, a boutique firm specializing in real estate related matters, where he practiced until his retirement in 2018. He was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America. Lester also held multiple business leadership positions, including serving on the Board of Directors at Sherry Lane Bank and Liberty Capital Bank, where he also made lifelong friends.
Lester contributed to multiple charitable causes, including North Dallas Shared Ministries, where he oversaw the renovation of the site’s dental clinic and expansion of services; the Dallas Holocaust Museum; Temple Emanu-El, where he established the Katherine F. Baum Adult Education Fund and spearheaded landscaping efforts to its cemetery – a project on which he placed great emphasis; and his childhood synagogue, Temple Beth-El in Fort Worth, to which he recently contributed to re-landscape the two main entrances to the building.
In 1968, Lester met Katherine Flaxman and married her within six months. They were married for thirty-seven years until Kathi lost her battle to cancer. Lester and Kathi lived for most of their marriage on Cedarbrush Drive, where they raised their two children, Michael and Betsy, and where Lester cultivated his love of gardening. For many years, he kept an enviable rose garden. Lester loved to play golf, read extensively on American political history, watch movies, including his favorite, Patton, which he viewed too many times to count, sailing, and travel. He was an avid professional sports fan and especially loved the Cowboys; he was a season ticket holder of the team beginning in their second season at the Cotton Bowl through the end of their tenure at Texas Stadium, and loved taking the family to see them play, particularly on their annual Thanksgiving Day game. Lester also loved stand-up comedians. In a glorious lapse of judgment, he endeavored to take his two children, both under the age of ten, to see his favorite, Richard Pryor, at the Preston Royal movie theater. (Thanks to Kathi this was a very short-lived affair.) His favorite musicians included Billy Taylor, Waylon Jennings, and, later in life, Jimmy Buffett, who he saw in concert for the first time last summer. Lester, with Kathi, treasured spending time with his family, including annual family trips to Port Aransas with his extended family.
After Kathi passed away in 2005 and for the remainder of his years, Lester shared joy, affection, and world travels with Gayle Goldman Johansen. He maintained longstanding friendships until the very late stages of his life through his regular “Tax Breakfast” and “Saturday Golf” groups.
He is survived by his son Michael Baum and wife Christell of Dallas, his daughter Betsy Block and husband Lawrence of Oakland, California, his beloved grandsons Addison and Brendan Baum of Dallas and Aiden Block of Oakland, who knew him as “Papa,” his sister Lila Berlin, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife Kathi, brother Kenneth, and sister Freda Gail Stern. The family wishes to express its deepest gratitude to the physicians, nurses, and caregivers who provided support and compassion to Lester during his final months.
A private burial will be held for Lester on July 5, 2020. A memorial service in his honor will be held at a later date. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be sent to the Katherine F. Baum Adult Education Fund at Temple Emanu-El, The Dallas Holocaust Museum, or another charity of choice.
DONATIONS
Katherine F Baum Adult Education Fund at Temple Emanu-El
Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum300 N. Houston Street, Dallas, Texas 75202
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