Gross, Dorothy Bercu, 1917-2015
Biography
Naomi Dorothea (Dorothy) Bercu was born June 14, 1917 in Douglas, Wyoming. Her father George Bercu owned the Chicago Hide, Fur and Wool Company in Douglas and in Denver. He married Olive Mistachkin and the couple became parents of Dorothy (1917-2015), Harryette (1918), Robert (1919), Bernard (1921), and Berverly (1935). From 1925-1928, Dorothy and Harryette danced on the Orpheum Vaudeville circuit around the west. They were later joined by Bob and Bernard and the whole troupe performed from New York City to Juarez, Mexico. The sisters also danced from 1936 to 1939. Dorothy attended the University of Utah in Ogden, Utah beginning in 1930 at the age of sixteen. She started a theatrical booking agency in Salt Lake City and taught dancing. Dorothy married Norman Gross in 1941 after he had signed up for her dance class. They raised three children, Valerie (Schreiber), Gary, and Dennis in Dallas, Texas. She also taught fitness classes. She died in Dallas in 2015.
Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:
Bercu Sisters Records, between 1925-1936
The file contains a "Bercu Sisters" business card, a 1934 program, a telegram and two letters, and a contract. Dorothy and Harryette Bercu were vaudeville performers in the 1920s and 1930s. The 1934 program, the telegram and a letter are from Hotel Ben Lomond in Ogden, Utah.
Box 48, 1929-2002
Contains scrapbook (1930s and 1940s); Harold (Bob) Bercu photograph and correspondence (circa 1945); Norman Mistachkin (1935); George Bercu photograph (circa 1925); pencil drawing of Dorothy Bercu (2002) and George Bercu Masonic documents (1929).
Horwitz Brothers Letters, between 1965-1996
Contains letters and cards to Dorothy Bercu Gross from her Horwitz grandsons.
Russell Horwitz, 1967-2011
Contains birth announcement for Russell Howard Horwitz on December 25, 1967; Letters from Russell Horwitz to his grandparents, Norman and Dorothy Gross; and 2011 "Academic Psychiatry" article written by Russell Horwitz, M.D., Ph.D. The article is titled "Rising from the Rubble: Perspectives of an American Expatriate in Haiti."