Herman Ginsberg, longtime Cedar Rapids jeweler, dies at 99

CEDAR RAPIDS — When someone walked through the doors of Ginsberg Jewelers in Cedar Rapids, longtime owner Herman Ginsberg saw them as a person first and customer second.

Ginsberg, a third-generation jewelry store owner, approached his work with creativity and curiosity. In addition to the basics of what the customer was looking for, he often dug deep into the customers themselves.

“He was genuinely interested in other people and in learning about what they do, what they go through and their perspectives,” said Herman’s youngest son, Tom Ginsberg. “He might sprinkle in what he thought sometimes, but he would talk about himself last.”

If each customer were a story, Herman Ginsberg could have filled a library by the time he passed away Sunday, April 20, at the age of 99.

Born in 1926, he was the oldest of three born to Isadore (Izzy) and Rose Ginsberg. He spent his early years in Sedalia, Missouri, where in 1929 he was crowned the blue-ribbon baby at the Missouri State Fair’s baby contest.

The family later moved to Cedar Rapids after Izzy Ginsberg purchased Rozen’s Jewelry on a tip from his brother Elliott and followed in the footsteps of his father, Charles, and became a second-generation jewelry store owner.

Herman Ginsberg joined the family business in 1948 shortly after serving in World War II. His first day at the jewelry store coincided with his graduation from University of Iowa, and he became a staple behind the counter for the next seven decades.

Creativity, connection drives business success

One of the busiest days of Herman Ginsberg’s career came on Christmas Day in 1987 when he opted to open the store to last-minute shoppers after placing a small, same-day advertisement in The Gazette stating “For you real procrastinators: Ginsberg Jewelers is open today 9 to noon.”

“My wife didn’t like it, and none of the employees would come to work (on Christmas) … so I went down alone, and there was about 10 or 15 people jammed up in the front door,” Ginsberg recalled in a 2018 oral history given to The History Center.

A harried, but pleased Ginsberg conscripted a customer he knew off the floor to help with sales, and the day turned out to be a smashing success — albeit one that he did not try to replicate any holiday season thereafter.

He often said his favorite part of the job was working with young couples — particularly when it came to selecting wedding and engagement rings — and seeing the joy on their faces ahead of a happy union.

“The jewelry business … is almost always associated with a happy event,” said Steve Ginsberg, who later took over the business from his father Herman. “Dad could easily engage in the personal desires and ambitions of a customer because it’s all part of the subjective, emotional process of jewelry making.”

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Driven by that customer-first attitude, Ginsberg led the family business through myriad changes and locations. The store operated for decades in the downtown area, acting as a cornerstone of the downtown shopping district.

After the 2008 flood, however, the store moved to temporary quarters in Twixt Town Shopping Center before later relocating to a new building at 4647 First Ave. SE in Marketplace on First near Lindale Mall.

Herman entered a “soft retirement” in 2019, although customers could still frequently sneak a peek of his grinning face when he came to visit Steve and see how things were going with the store.

“He’d be the first one to say, ‘I’m just retiring on paper,’” said Steve, who now runs Ginsberg Jewelers as an appointment-based jewelry concierge business after the storefront’s 2023 closure. “He really loved his job.”

Family, community important tenants

Outside of work, Herman Ginsberg found joy in spending time with family and friends. He met his wife, Phyllis, on a blind date in 1957, and the pair were wed just six months later in a union that lasted until her death in 2000.

The couple had three children, Julie (Ginsberg) Brusen, Steve and Tom, all of whom were heartily encouraged to identify and pursue their own unique hobbies and passions from a young age.

The kids learned early on that their father was a well-known figure around Cedar Rapids, Brusen said, whether they were at the jewelry store, out shopping or just taking a walk around downtown.

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“We could be anywhere, … and people would say ‘Oh, hi Herman!’ or wave as they were walking by,” she recalled. “It was almost like being with a celebrity.”

One such acquaintance was Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell, who first came to know Herman through his then-adult children and later through her own visits to the family’s jewelry store.

“When you think about pillars of this community, Herman definitely stands among the tallest,” O’Donnell said. “He was always doing business, always making relationships, … and you could tell he really cared about Cedar Rapids.”

Ginsberg carried that interest through his whole life. He made sure to keep up to date on local, state and national events, and over the years, Ginsberg Jewelers donated both staff time and jewelry to several area nonprofits.

He worked into his early 90s and maintained an active lifestyle even after his on-paper retirement. And through it all, he maintained his focus on his relationships with his friends, family and the community at large.

“There’s many, many things” I’ve learned in life, Ginsberg said during his oral history. “But relationships are absolutely the most important — that overshadows everything else.”

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