Leib (Lamar) Bellman, 1894-1987
Leib (Lamar) Bellman was the third son and fourth child of David Girsh (Hersh) Bellman and his wife Raytzel Markson. Born in Mariampol, Lithuania in 1895, Leib emigrated to the United States in July 1912 arriving at the port of Galveston, Texas, a popular arrival destination for Jewish emigrants.
His profession was listed as a tailor on his ship manifest, where he was reported to be five foot six inches tall, in possession of three dollars, and was on his way to La Mesa, New Mexico to live and work with his older brother, Sam Bellman.
Lamar (as he was called in the United States) worked with his brothers as a merchant in La Mesa until 1914 when he moved to Safford, Arizona to work for his sister Rae’s husband, Eli Krupp, in his clothing establishment on Main Street. In 1915 Krupp’s opened a smaller store in Pima, Arizona, and Lamar was in charge of running that store on his own.
He enlisted in the US Army in 1917 during WWI, as did several of his brothers, earning as a result the right to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. He remained in El Paso for the duration of the war in the Quartermaster Corps.
During his army time at Ft. Bliss in El Paso Lamar met and then married Celia Levy (original name Lebiush from Shaudine, Lithuania), and returned after the war to the running of the store in La Mesa, New Mexico. Lamar and Celia had one son, Benjamin, in late 1919 and then immediately relocated the family to Safford, Arizona where Lamar worked for a time again with his brother-in-law, Eli Krupp, first at Krupp's, then with his new wife, Celia, opening the Army Navy Store which was later renamed Bellman's Department Store. The Bellmans, with their son, Benny, ran the store successfully together on Safford’s Main Street for nearly 60 years.
Lamar’s greatest love was for the land (see the photo above), leaving the running of the store mostly to his very capable wife, Celia, and son, Benny, while he involved himself with the farming and ranching of two different farms outside of Safford in the fertile Gila Valley. He was a gentle and quiet man, a self-taught scholar of history and languages, who proudly wore his cowboy hat everywhere he went – including on his many trips to Europe and to Israel.
Lamar was an important man to the community he lived in and was revered by everyone who knew him – but most especially by his son and granddaughters. For decades he presided over the small group of Jews living in the surrounding towns, taking on the role of rabbi and cantor for the High Holidays during services and Passover seders in either his or his son’s home. Generous to a fault, he never said no to anyone seeking help. His wisdom and kindness was exemplary. He died in Safford in 1987, at the age of 93.
