SARINA ROFFÉ
“LOU JEROME LIKED TO WAKE UP EARLY. HE LIKED TO RISE BEFORE THE SUN AND GET A JUMP ON THE DAY. BUT ULTIMATELY HIS MOTIVATION WAS SINGULAR. HE WOULD HARNESS HIS INNER STRENGTH, HIS UNIQUE TALENTS, AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES HE WAS DEALT IN LIFE, AND HE DID IT ALL FOR THE SAKE OF HIS FAMILY. HE AND HIS DEVOTED WIFE RUTH COULD NOT HAVE KNOWN THE IMPACT THIS SIMPLE APPROACH TO LIFE WOULD HAVE ON THOSE AROUND HIM,” SAID HIS GRANDSON AND NAMESAKE LOUIS J. JEROME.
Kings Highway on East 2nd Street was co-named Lou’s Deli Way on November 13, 2022, in honor of Lou’s Deli, a community icon for nearly half a century. The small business, opened on Memorial Day, 1960 by Lou A”H and Ruth A”H Jerome. Running a deli was in Lou’s blood, as his father also owned a deli called Meyer’s Wurst on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island.
“Today we stand on that very corner not simply to commemorate Lou but also to awaken and inspire within all of us what he stood for, and what we ourselves can stand for,” said Louis.
The co-naming was the idea of Mayor Eric Adams, and it was unanimously approved by Brooklyn Community Board 15, most of whom fondly remembered their own time at Lou’s Deli.
When it opened, everyone in Ruth’s extended Missry family came to help. They filled ketchup and mustard bottles, set up chairs and tables, helped with meal preparation and anything else that was needed. Together, Ruth and Lou worked side-by-side, almost 24/7, from the early morning lunch preparation, to the late night after dinner clean up. As soon as their children—Abe, Joseph and Esther were old enough, they helped in the family business.
Born in 1925, Lou was delivered above a butcher’s shop in Brooklyn. He answered the call to service for our country during World War II, served voluntarily in the Navy after getting special permission to enlist at the age of 16. Then he established a local deli on Kings Highway that became one of the first local community small businesses, which grew into a significant establishment that served the community for over 40 years. Various families throughout the Brooklyn neighborhood, both Jewish and non-Jewish, fondly remember Lou and Lou’s Deli as the place they went to with their families, especially on Sunday nights. Lou’s Deli is a reminder to all of us where our community humbly came from.
“I am delighted to celebrate the life of WW II veteran and generous community leader Lou Jerome,” said Councilman Ari Kagan. “I was happy to sponsor the street co-naming in his honor, together with my colleague Kalman Yeger. Lou was a man whose life acted as a bridge across four generations of growth for the vibrant Sephardic community of Brooklyn.”
“Lou and Ruth Jerome were pioneers in our community, building a business, a loving family and a lifelong devotion to hesed,” said Councilman Yeger. “They left a legacy of children and grandchildren continuing in their pathway with great devotion to serving our community. It befits their memory that the street they walked every day for so many years now bears an everlasting enshrinement of what Lou and Ruth meant to our community.”
“It’s phenomenal to honor someone who was one of the first to open a small business on Kings Highway,” said Theresa Scavo, Chairperson of Community Board 15. “I grew up here, and I remember, on Sundays my family went to get pastrami and corned beef sandwiches from Lou’s. Everyone was so cordial and friendly. I am glad we have the opportunity to honor someone like this in our community. We need more family-oriented people.”
“Every time I was there, we sat at a table in the back to the left—I think of it as the family table,” said one of Lou and Ruth’s nieces.
“Sunday night was routinely Lou’s Deli night,” said community member David Hidary. “The whole community went there to eat. Every Sunday evening I would go to pick up our dinner order. The food was delicious, and while we waited we socialized with other community members who were waiting for their orders.”
The Jerome’s were extremely generous. Often when people needed a job, Lou would hire them. Many of his nieces and nephews worked in the deli over the years, either behind to counter, as busboys, or as wait staff.
“I worked there in the spring of 1963 in the evening and Sundays for $1 an hour, the going rate. It was a formative experience, and the food was great,” said a nephew.
Joey Jerome, Lou and Ruth’s son, said that while they were not wealthy people, they took care of people, providing food, jobs, and a surrogate home away from home for many individuals and families.
Lou and Ruth provided an example to emulate. “By living up to our best selves we naturally awaken the same traits we see in the lives we commemorate,” said Louis. “We remember by action. And by so doing we resurrect within us that very source that inspired us to begin with. It is not just the story of Ruth and Lou’s lives but also of our community. The Syrian Sephardic community was still laying their roots down in Brooklyn. Along with many of that generation, Grandma and Grandpa’s life’s work helped blaze a path.”
“The naming of King’s Highway between E 2nd and E 3rd Streets, “Lou’s Deli Way” is a testament to my father and mother, who lived the American dream,” said Joseph Jerome. “Through their life’s journey at Lou’s Deli, they showed an entire community how a family could come together, work hard and survive in most any situation. Our family would like to thank the Mayor, the Community Board and City Council members who made this possible.”
“It was so nice to see the impact Lou’s Deli had on the community at large,” said Abe Jerome. “Everyone who lived in our area was a customer of Lou’s and all have fond memories of their favorite menu item. One of my friends said she has never gotten to the corner and not thought about the Deli and a hot dog with mustard and sauerkraut! Eighteen years after they closed, people still want another steak sandwich or egg roll. The sign is forever a reminder of a store that brought so many diverse groups together in a pleasant and welcoming environment.”
A genealogist and historian, Sarina Roffé is the author of Branching Out from Sepharad (Sephardic Heritage Project, 2017), Sarina holds a BA in Journalism, and MA in Jewish Studies and an MBA.
