HARLINGEN — Friends remember Charley Feldman as a big-hearted community leader who helped bring the arts to Harlingen. Feldman died Monday in Dallas. He was 85.
“He was the very best of our community,” former Harlingen City Commissioner Donna Bonner said yesterday.
Bonner said she met Feldman more than 50 years ago.
“He was the truest friend anybody ever had,” she said. “He was everything that was good and kind. He held my hand through all kinds of grief and sadness.”
Feldman served on boards including the Harlingen Industrial Committee, the South Texas Chorale and Harlingen Arts and Entertainment.
“He was a contributor to everything,” Bonner said.
After serving in the Army, Feldman planned to go to law school but took over the family’s liquor store business after his brother Harry died in 1965, Bonner said.
In 1988, he was named one of top 10 package store retailers in the United States.
In 2001, Feldman sold his business before he and his wife Helen moved to Dallas, her hometown.
“His heart never left Harlingen,” Bonner said.
As they grew up, Matt Gorges lived two blocks away from Feldman.
“I can define Charley in three words — a good man. He was one of the most gracious and sincere people I have had the privilege to know,” Gorges, a businessman, said. “He had a great life. He finished the game as honorably as he lived his life.”
Gorges said he and Feldman served on the board of the First National Bank of Harlingen.
“He was always wise in his comments and recommendations,” Gorges said.
Feldman also helped bring the arts to Harlingen.
In 1958, Feldman co-founded the Broadway Theater League, bringing Broadway traveling companies and bigname stars to town.
“For years, he booked the shows with bona fide Broadway casts,” Gorges said.
Forty years later, Harlingen Arts & Entertainment established the Charley award in recognition of Feldman’s dedicated service to the arts.
For two generations, the Feldman family was like a part of his family, said Ben Yudesis, San Benito’s municipal court judge.
In 1948, Yudesis’ father Sol and Sam Feldman, Feldman’s father, helped co-found Temple Beth Israel in Harlingen.
“He was a very good, openhearted person,” Yudesis said. “He and Helen were always there when people needed something. If you needed help, they’d give you a hand. They never looked for publicity. They did things because it was the right thing to do.”
