Sidney Grossman, 102, ran Hapeville bowling alley

By RICK BADIE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sidney Grossman owned or managed several businesses in a career that started with a fur-dyeing business in Brooklyn, N.Y., and ended with a travel agency in Atlanta.

In Atlanta, he also ran a bowling alley that was one of the first in the city to integrate. Relatives say the defunct Dixie Bowl in Hapeville, which Mr. Grossman managed for several years, allowed black people to use its lanes.

“I’d built the bowling alley and he took it over,” said his son-in-law, Mark Taylor of Atlanta. “One day [members of] a Negro league showed up in suits and ties, and said they wanted to bowl. [Mr. Grossman] said, ‘Sure.’ I didn’t make the decision for him. He made the decision all by himself.”

Sidney Grossman, 102, of Atlanta died Monday of natural causes at his home. The funeral is 2 p.m. today in Ellman Chapel at Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Atlanta. Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Grossman was born in Lithuania. He was 14 when he moved to the United States, shortly after World War I. At the time, he spoke five languages — Lithuanian, Hebrew, Russian, German and Yiddish. In America, he learned English and made a point of mastering the language minus his accent. He also embraced the promise offered by hard work and determination.

In the mid-1960s, Mr. Grossman moved to Atlanta from Brooklyn. He relocated, said his daughter, Judith Taylor, to be near his grandchildren. “He loved children,” she said, “and that was the main reason for the move. Children adored him. He talked to children like they were adults, and he was funny.”

After managing the bowling alley, he briefly ran a linens store in a shopping center at the corner of Metropolitan Parkway and Lakewood Avenue. The complex had been developed by his son-in-law.

“After he got through with the linen store, I asked him to take over Francis Travel Agency,” Mr. Taylor said. “He and his wife ran that agency for many years and traveled all over the world.”

Besides travel, Mr. Grossman held a variety of interests — the symphony, ballet, theater and opera. He was loyal to the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Mets, but appreciated the Atlanta Braves. He lived well, relatives said, and he gave back.

For example, at Christmas time he gave bowling shoes to orphaned children. He drove elderly shut-ins to medical appointments. And in 2005, he donated a Torah to the Congregation Or Hadash, a synagogue in Sandy Springs.

“The Torah was really the biggest splash he ever made,” his daughter said. “He was a giver and caretaker, but he did it in a very quiet way. He was always looking for somebody to help and take care of in some way or another.”

Additional survivors include four grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.