This photo of Maxine Gitelman just after she and David were married has a remarkable detail: In the round mirror on the wall, David's brother, Aaron, is seen, with his wife, Mary.

This photo from about 1958 shows David Gitelman with his two sons, David II (born 1955) and Damon (born 1957).

David's father-in-law and mother-in-law, Bryan and Myrtle Agnew, farmed in West Texas near the small town of Anson. This photo shows David Gitelman on the tractor used to farm the 200-acre Agnew farm.

This photo of Maxine Agnew, David Gitelman's future wife, was probably taken when she was around 17 years old. She had the looks and glamour of a movie star throughout her life.

David and Maxine were married in 1953, and his brother and sister-in-law, Aaron and Mary Gitelman, were special guests of honor at the wedding. In this photo, David is standing with his new bride, on the left, and his brother Aaron's wife, Mary, to the right.

In almost every photograph of David and Maxine Gitelman – and there are many of them! – both are smiling, or laughing. One of my early memories of my father was his appreciation for a good joke, a laugh ... he enjoyed humorous books and magazines, and played practical jokes on friends. Once, a friend of his bought a Volkswagen Beetle, when the first ones came to the United States. The man boasted that he rarely had to buy gasoline for the car. My father and his friends then began to sneak over to his house, and place gasoline into the tank ... so now, the man NEVER had to buy gas ... and he told his friends of this. Then, they reversed the joke: they began to take gasoline OUT of the car, and the Volkswagen owner was quite bewildered about what was happening to his car.

Once, my mother Maxine Gitelman (d. 2006) and I were watching an old movie about life in West Texas, in the 1950s. I commented to her that the men were 'rough' in this film, often violent, rude, and without courtesy or manners. My mother said to me at that time: "That's why I married your father. He just wasn't like that."

David bought and sold a number of collectible, antique cars in Dallas, including this model, which is probably from the late 1920s. He did not intend to keep them for long; they were just enjoyable to own for a short time, to show to friends.

Success in selling cameras from Germany won David a trip to West Germany in the late 1950s. One of the items he brought back was this 1910 Bank Note, which has been in our family's collection of keepsake items. Next year the note will be 100 years old. While his wife and small children could not accompany him on this trip, he and Mrs. Gitelman visited Acapulco, Mexico on a very memorable vacation.

When David and Maxine were first married, they acquired to small Cocker Spaniel pups. One, they named 'Fred'. Good name for a dog. The other was more difficult, but David eventually settled on the name 'EMANON' — which is 'No Name' spelled backward.

This photo is probably from about 1940. In addition to three sons (Phil, Aaron, and David), and one daughter, Esta, Israel and Mary adopted three other children, from Russia. In 1920, a flu epidemic left three of David Gitelman's young cousins orphaned. Their names were Seymour, Viktor, and Eugene. The three children were brought to Brooklyn, where they were raised alongside their New York cousins as if they were brothers.

These two Stars of David were crafted by David Gitelman, who acquired the skills to make these items as he learned to repair cameras. They are among my most treasured keepsake items.

This postcard to Israel Gitelman is in Russian, has a Brooklyn, New York address, and a date of 1914.

David's father, Israel Gitelman, immigrated to New York in 1913, after leaving his home in Pinsk, Belorus. According to family history, he was about to be conscripted into the Czar's army before the First World War - and Jewish soldiers often did not survive their first battles. They were taken into the army for a period of 20 years. According to this Ellis Island record, Israel Gitelman arrived in Brooklyn, New York, in May 1913. His ship left Antwerp, Belgium, and his signature is on the passenger manifest. The document notes that his language was Russian, though he also spoke Yiddish, as did his wife, Mary (Crammer) Gitelman, who was from from Vienna, Austria.

David Gitelman met his wife, Maxine Agnew, when they were working in a jewelry store in Dallas. When they married, a Justice of the Peace in Dallas conducted the wedding ceremony at City Hall. Maxine said that her new husband was so nervous, his hand was shaking when he signed the wedding document, and she had to help steady his hand.

After moving to Dallas, David because a member of a local Masonic lodge. At his funeral, Masonic graveside rites were conducted, in addition to religious services.

These two brothers from Brooklyn both went into the camera business when they moved to Dallas, Texas, in the early 1950s. Aaron build a sold business traveling in the southwest, selling many items in the world of photography. David opened a store to sell new and used cameras. Today, Aaron Gitelman is still in business, after a long and successful career in technology sales. His current line of business, in Dallas, is the sale of high-quality tapestries woven in Europe, which depict many scenes of European live in France, Italy, and other countries where the art of the tapestry flourished.

When David died in 1961, a television news station in Dallas noted the event in its evening newscast. The merchandise in Longhorn Camera Exchange was unique: most of the cameras, lenses, and other photographic equipment was then made in Germany – the LEICA was among the world's best cameras. David won a trip to Germany, from that company, for selling their cameras so successfully. On the television news story, a man was shown walking up the stairs to Longhorn Camera Exchange with an antique airplane propeller - to trade for cameras. David would take unusual and fascinating items in exchange for cameras. The store was filled with rare, exotic optical technologies, such as microscopes, projectors, spy cameras, and other items that were considered extremely well-made at the time.

In this photo David Gitelman studies a book on card tricks. He often said that instead of fighting wars, world political leaders should send out their best chess players for a tournament, and the winning chess team can make political decisons.

As a child of about five years old, David's sense of humor was already beginning to show. He named his dog, shown in this photo taken in Brooklyn, New York, "DOG".