Esther N. Schulman, 1918-2009: Dynamic businesswoman played key role in husband Eli's restaurant, cheesecake business
Helped husband draw politicians, stars to restaurant
By Rick Kogan
Tribune reporter
September 2, 2009
As comfortable with celebrities and politicians as with her own grandchildren, Esther N. Schulman proved a dynamic businesswoman after the 1988 death of her husband, Eli Schulman, of restaurant and cheesecake fame.
Mrs. Schulman, 91, died Monday, Aug. 31, in her Chicago home after a long illness.
"Long before there was something called the 'working mom,' she was the working mom," said her son, Marc, president and CEO of Eli's Cheesecake Chicago. "She was mostly behind the scenes, working in the office all day, when she wasn't focused on taking care of me. After my father died, she really took over all things at the restaurant and became the face of Eli's. She did so with grace and enthusiasm."
The daughter of Isadore and Sadie Nettis, she was raised on the city's West Side, graduated from Marshall High School in 1936 and, while studying accounting at night, went to work at her father's business, the California Ale & Beverage Co. in Chicago.
Shortly after the end of World War II, she was introduced by mutual friends to an older neighborhood resident, Eli Schulman, fresh from Army service as a mess sergeant. They married in 1948 in Chicago and together opened a grill at Sheridan Road and Argyle Street.
More 
Linear Mode
