Mannheimer, Eugene Max, 1880-1952

Eugene Mannheimer was born in Rochester, N.Y. He grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio where he attended the University of Cincinnati and the Hebrew Union College. In 1902 he was ordained as a Rabbi and moved to Sioux City, Iowa to assume his first rabbinate. In 1905 he moved to Des Moines to become Rabbi of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun which became on of the leading Jewish congregations in the Midwest under his leadership. Rabbi Mannheimer was instrumental in organizing the Federated Jewish Charities (now the Jewish Social Service); the Jewish Settlement Association (later the Jewish Community Center); and the United Jewish Philanthropies (now the Jewish Welfare Fund). His service outside of Des Moines included terms as president of B'nai B'rith District 6; president of the Iowa Conference of Social Work; and member of the Board of Trustees of the School of Religion of the State University of Iowa in Iowa City. Eugene Mannheimer married Irma Schloss in Des Moines in 1917. The couple had two children, Robert and Richard.