Louise Eiseman, Co-Founder and the Heart of Eiseman Jewels, Dies at 91

Dallas—Eiseman Jewels co-founder Louise Eiseman died Aug. 9 of natural causes at her home in Dallas.

She was 91. 

She was born and grew up in Dallas before heading to Austin for college, earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

After graduation, she worked at two radio stations in Dallas, WRR and WFAA.
 
Louise married Richard D. “Dick” Eiseman in 1953, and the couple lived in Houston and Oklahoma City before returning to Dallas.

The Eisemans opened their first jewelry store in 1963 inside department store Titche-Goettinger in downtown Dallas before moving to the Frost Bros. department store at the upscale NorthPark Center shopping mall in 1980, the Eiseman Jewels website states.

Frost Bros. eventually went out of business, but Eiseman Jewels remains in NorthPark today as one of the mall’s only remaining original tenants, according to PaperCity magazine. 

At one point, the Eisemans had expanded to 14 leased fine jewelry stores in Titches, Joske’s and Balliets and, later, three Frost Bros. stores.

Louise was the retailer’s resident “Queen Mum,” as the business cards her staff lovingly made for her stated, and was “undoubtedly the heart of Eiseman Jewels,” the store’s website states.

For decades, she was in charge of marketing and community relations for the jeweler, while also working alongside her husband to offer the best personal service and value to their store’s customers.

She was progressive in her thinking about the business and had a knack for knowing what the store needed. 

As celebrities and athletes started wearing more necklaces, earrings, rings, and bold watches, it was her call to start selling earrings as singles rather than a pair in case a man wanted to buy only one, Billy Fong, a close friend of Louise’s who got to know the businesswoman through his role at the Dallas Museum of Art, said in a memorial post. 

And, if the comments posted on the store’s Facebook and Instagram accounts are any indication, Eiseman was adored by many.

She was known for being a class act, a gracious woman, and a consummate professional. Many looked back fondly on the treasured conversations they had with a kind, insightful woman.

In addition to her work at the store, she also left a legacy of philanthropy for the community.

As a longtime community volunteer and patron, she made sure her staff understood the hard work and value of Dallas’ charitable organizations, as well as the importance of supporting them as a company.

“Mom was a great mom and a great example on how to live your life,” Eiseman President and CEO Richard D. Eiseman Jr. said in a statement posted on Instagram and Facebook.

“She gave us a road map and mentored us, both personally and in business, in the way that made a difference in what our outlook and priorities should be.”

She was constantly putting others before herself, he added. Her compassion showed in the way she took care of her husband for 20 years during his illness.

“Personal and business often blurred in her world. People recognized that she could do so much good, but she always did it from hard work and never sought attention for her efforts,” Richard Jr. said.

“Our family is so lucky to have her legacy; her grandchildren and children are lucky to have her guiding us even if not here in person.”

Louise was preceded in death by her husband Dick Eiseman; her parents, Adele and Morris Freedman; and her sister, Virginia Freedman Harteveldt Gomprecht.

She is survived by her children, Alice Eiseman Adelkind and her husband Alan Adelkind, of Toronto, Canada; Richard D. Eiseman Jr. and his wife Elizabeth “Betsy” Reed Eiseman, of Dallas; grandchildren Reed Eiseman Batesko and her husband Tyler Batesko, of Hoboken, N.J.; and Richard D. Eiseman III of New York; two nephews, Henry Holland Harteveldt III and his partner Dan Bonnett, of San Francisco; and Robert London Harteveldt, his wife Kristy Harteveldt and their three children of Greenwich, Conn; as well as several cousins and their families.

The Eiseman family has decided to wait until a later date for services due to COVID-19 concerns.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Louise F. Eiseman Fund for Memorial Gifts at the Southwestern Medical Foundation, 3889 Maple Ave., Suite 100, Dallas, Texas, 75219, or the Dallas Museum of Art Docent Program, 1717 North Harwood St., Dallas, Texas, 75201.