Louise Eiseman (pictured), cofounder and chair of Eiseman Jewels in Dallas, died on Aug. 9. She was 91.

Born Louise Freedman, Eiseman earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She married Zale Corp. exec Richard “Dick” Eiseman in 1953.

In 1963, the couple opened their first jewelry business, with a few cases in the Dallas department store Titche-Goettinger.

Louise Eiseman later recalled buying a $3,500 pair of earrings on her first shopping trip to New York City in The Dallas Morning News.

“We were staying with Dick’s mother in New York,” she said. “We got back to her apartment, I was so nervous, I threw up. I said, ‘How can we spend that much money on one piece of jewelry? We’ll have to sell it for $5,000.’ We did. And that was that.”

The business later expanded to 14 leased fine jewelry stores.

In 1990, the couple opened their first freestanding store in Dallas’ NorthPark Center, where it remains to this day. It is both that center’s oldest and sole remaining original tenant.

The retailer became “one of the most influential independent ­jewelry retailers in the United States, with a long track record of introducing new collections to market,” JCK wrote in a 2014 profile.

Dick Eiseman died of Parkinson’s disease in 1996. The store is now headed by the couple’s son, Richard Eiseman Jr.

Still, Louise Eiseman remained “undoubtedly the heart” of the company, as the store’s website put it, noting that she had the title “Queen Mum” on her business cards.

“Mom has definitely been a cornerstone of the business when it comes to keeping an eye on our culture and the community,” Richard Eiseman Jr. told JCK in 2014. “She’s the face in the community. She’s a smart cookie.”

In a Facebook post following her death, Richard Eiseman Jr. wrote, “Mom was a great mom and a great example on how to live your life. She gave us a road map and mentored us, both personally and in business, in the way that made a difference in what our outlook and priorities should be. She, as a person, was so steady and consistent in taking care of others, which was no more evident than the 20 years of love and care she gave Dad during his illness. That same love and caring was then mirrored in how she always put family, friends, and business above herself.”

She was also known for her commitment to philanthropy, and long served as a docent for the Dallas Museum of Art.

Louise Eiseman is survived by two children, Alice Adelkind and Richard D. Eiseman Jr., two grandchildren, and their families.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Louise F. Eiseman Fund for Memorial Gifts at Southwestern Medical Foundation, or the Dallas Museum of Art Docent Program.

(Photo: Joshua Martin/courtesy of Eiseman Jewels)

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