The Dinovitz Family

Maximilian (1859-1903) and Lea Rose Goldstock (1862-1912) Dinovitz immigrated to Pittsburgh from present-day Poland in the 1890s with their three sons, Samuel, Israel and Benjamin. A fourth son, Charles, was born after the family settled in the Hill District.

Samuel Dinovitz (1889-1919) worked for the Fifth Avenue merchant Louis Gordon Jr. before enlisting with the 109th Infantry of the 28th Division of the U.S. Army during World War I. He was one of the dispatch runners tasked with warning the American Signal Corps about an oncoming German offensive in the Second Battle of the Marne in July 1918. He went missing in October and was later listed as killed in action.

Israel Dinovitz (1887-1939) spent 20 years with the Wolk Clothing Company before opening the Dinovitz Clothing Company in 1926. The wholesale business at 912 Fifth Avenue sold men’s and boys’ clothing. Dinovitz later moved into a larger space at 806 Fifth, next to the Peerless Wallpaper and Paint Company. After Dinovitz died, his wife Rebecca Dinovitz and his brother Charles Dinovitz (1900-1954) took over business.

Charles Dinovitz was active in the Pittsburgh Wholesale Credit Association and led the Independent Retailers Division of the United Jewish Fund in its 1948 campaign. In the late 1950s, the Dinovitz Clothing Company sponsored semi-pro basketball teams in local leagues, including a squad made up of players from Fifth Avenue High School.

Charles Dinovitz married Rose Dobkin in 1923. They lived in Squirrel Hill and were members of Beth Shalom Congregation. They had a son Sanford “Chick” and a daughter Eleanor “Cookie,” who married Benjamin Rosenberg. Rose Dinovitz lived to be 101 and knew four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.

Benjamin Dinovitz (1891-1960) worked for the wholesalers Max Horn & Company and Emanuel Spector & Company before opening an infants’ wear business at 906 Fifth Avenue. In 1922, Ben Dinovitz married Rose Granite, formerly of Albany, New York. They lived on Murray Hill Avenue in Squirrel Hill with their two sons, Morton and Jerome.