My name is Dick Conoboy.  My maternal grandfather, Morris (Moishe) Rinzler was born in Lenkoutz (Lenkovsti/Lenkowitz) near Czernowitz in 1882.  His mother was Ilsabe Neuberger from Jadowa.  She died in Bucarest in 1951.  My great-grandfather was Bendit Rinzler who was born in Lenkoutz and died in Czernowitz in 1938.  Ilsabe’s parents were Sura Held and Owadie Neuberger.  Bendit’s parents were Chaim Rinzler and Rose (Reiza) Breuer.

My grandfather came to the US after having spent a short time in England to learn English.  I understand that the family had wanted him to be a rabbi but he chose a path that would lead him to Cleveland, Ohio after immigrating first to New York City.  In Cleveland he met my grandmother, Julia Siegel, who was born in L’vov (Lemburg) in 1887.  Julia and Morris both spoke, Yiddish, German and English.  I believe my grandfather spoke and wrote Hebrew but possibly only the language of the Torah.   When asked, my grandfather would say that he was from Bukovina.  He also told us that the family was Romanian. 

Part of a family history written by my grandfather’s brother, Herman, alleges that the Rinzler family was chased out of Spain and settled in Halle, Germany.  That the family may once have been in Halle is quite possible, however, there is no evidence to confirm that they came from Spain.  Of my grandfather’s siblings, Herman emigrated to Brazil.  His brother, David, emigrated to the US and died in Cleveland in 1956 never having married.  Oived, the last brother, remained in Czernowitz where he survived the war but reportedly died of malnutrition in 1948.  There were also three sisters; Eva, Sure and Clara.  Eva married Wolf Shejter and made aliya.   There is no information on the date or place of her death.  Sure died in Los Angeles, CA in 1979.  She had married Joseph Tannenzapf from Sadgora, just outside of Czernowitz.  Clara married Joseph Weibl.  I believe Clara made aliya also and died in Israel around 1971, sick and destitute. 

My mother married, John Conoboy, the son of Irish Catholic immigrants from County Galway, Ireland. Hence my Irish surname.  I was born during WWII in Cleveland, Ohio and I have one brother, John, Jr.  I have been married (no children) since 1995 to Cecile Hanania of Marseille, France, whose father’s family is one of Sephardic Jews from Salonica.  Her paternal grandparents were Judezmo speakers who migrated to Marseille as a resettlement option given to her great-grandfather who had served in the French Foreign Legion.   My wife’s mother’s family was Roman Catholic, from the Marseille area, who can trace a portion of their lineage to the 15^th century.  My wife is a tenured professor of French at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA where we now live.  We speak only French at home, however, my wife also has learned English without having had formal training.

I am now retired from the federal government since 2002.  During my career, I spent 13 years in the Army and during that period I lived in Germany, France, Vietnam and Thailand as well as several Army bases throughout the US.