Family and close friends of Shelli and Les Taub gathered Sept. 23, 2024, at Del Frisco’s Grille, to celebrate Shelli’s birthday. From left, front row, Steve Taub, Les and Shelli Taub and Elaine Najman; middle row, Susie Taub, Julia Taub, Mallory Pink and Hayley Taub; back row, Pam Sprague, Jodi Taub, Chelsea Berk, Jake Taub, Zach Pink and Larry Taub (not pictured: Daniel Schmitt and Sydney Schmitt).
By Deb Silverthorn
Happily ever after is written on the faces of Shelli and Les Taub, who were married on March 28, 1959. The couple share a life still filled with the laughter and joy they knew when they met as young teens at the JCC in their native Bronx, New York.
“He’s still the most handsome man around and these almost 66 years have gone so quickly,” said Shelli. “It was ‘a minute’ ago that he was playing basketball at the JCC and I was flirting.
“The flirting worked because we’ve been together ever since,” she added.
Shelli, the only child of Ida and Jack Warshawsky, of blessed memory, graduated from William Taft High School; Les, the son of Estelle and Bill Taub and brother of Phyllis (Luis) Trani, all of blessed memory, is an alumnus of DeWitt Clinton High School. The couple’s families lived near one another. Her parents, who had each emigrated from Poland, owned a candy shop; his father worked for a fruit and vegetable grocer, his mother for Social Security.
The duo recalls having “the best childhood,” he said, “with sports, dances, we’d go to the movies and we had great friends. Once we graduated, we just wanted to be together.”
After graduating high school, Shelli began working at the Spiegel mail-order catalog and he began a decades-long career with Humphreys Inc. men’s accessories. Married at 19 at Burnside Manor in The Bronx, the two honeymooned in Miami, Florida, during which they both experienced their first airplane ride and hotel stay.
With Les’ job, the couple moved from New York to Columbus, then Cleveland, Ohio. In 1972, with their sons Larry and Steve, the family settled in Dallas. Les spent much time participating in the athletics programs of the JCC and Shelli was a member of the Prestonwood Newcomers Women’s Club.
Shelli and Les Taub during an April 2017 family visit to Chicago.
The Taubs have been members of Temple Shalom since their arrival, with Shelli — honored by the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation as Temple Shalom’s 2019 “Unsung Hero” — volunteering in the office until the pandemic “under four rabbis and a lot of staff,” serving on the congregation’s board and a member of its Sisterhood. For Les, Shalom Softball League and Temple Shalom Brotherhood were his calling.
Larry, an ophthalmologist with Newman and Taub Vision Center, and his wife Susie live in Plano; Steve, an insurance agent with NY Life, lives with his wife Jodi in Highland Park, Illinois. Shelli and Les are proud of their growing family, which includes grandchildren Mallory (Zach) Pink and Hayley Taub, Jake (Chelsea Berk) Taub, Julia Taub, Daniel Schmitt and Sydney Schmitt.
In 1989, the couple renewed their vows amid friends and family with the late Rabbi Kenneth Roseman officiating.
Shelli and Les Taub were married at Burnside Manor in The Bronx on March 28, 1959.
Travel has always been part of the Taubs’ lives for pleasure and, with Les on the road, for business, Shelli accompanying him often once the boys were older. Visits to Bora Bora, China and Italy are ingrained in their memories. Their living room displays dozens of magnets and shot glasses from trips around the world. When their sons were young, the family often took cruises together; vacations to Hawaii and Las Vegas with their grandchildren fill their hearts.
The couple raised their sons in North Dallas before moving to Addison, then the Bonaventure and now to The Legacy Willow Bend, where there are few programs and classes that either of them miss. Together, they participate in SAIL: Seniors on Old Shepard Road, where they appreciate classes and making and building new friendships.
Shelli and Les Taub, residents of The Legacy Willow Bend, are rarely more than hands-holding distance apart. The couple will celebrate 66 years of marriage in March.
“To be married this long you have to stay healthy. We’re doing the best we can in that department,” said Shelli, who enjoys water aerobics and several exercise classes at The Legacy. “We have each other and he’s my gem. He’s freakin’ amazing. The most loving and caring and that’s what it takes to hold on to one another.”
Les, whose eyes smile and whose face shines as brightly as his beloved’s, says Shelli is “still the most beautiful woman. I married the greatest woman I’ve ever known and together we built goodness. Truly, it’s been the best life I could’ve imagined.”
