David Akchin

In 1933, eight-year-old David Akchin was admitted to the Home from Shreveport, Louisiana by his widowed father, Wolf. According to David’s son, Don, David’s mother, Hannah, died by suicide before her son’s third birthday. For five years, before heading off for college, David’s older sister, Dora, babysat her brother while Wolf worked as a traveling peddler. 

While in the Home, David attended Isidore Newman School and, in the summers, returned to Shreveport for visits with his father. Although there is no record of his graduation, David was affiliated with Newman’s Class of 1942.

In 1943, after his discharge from the Home, David’s father died. That same year, David earned a certificate in Advanced Ordnance Inspection in connection with special wartime classes offered by the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute at Centenary College in Shreveport. David served in the Army for three months, consisting of one month of basic training and two months in the hospital, before he was released on medical grounds due to asthma.

By 1949, David moved to Chicago where he met fellow Shreveport-native, Betty Wolbrette, whom he married. They later returned to Shreveport where they raised four children and David worked as sales manager for Cahn Electric Company. In 1975, the family moved to Baton Rouge where David served as president and CEO of Kingsway Corporation and was active in civic and community affairs. As described by his son, David changed employment frequently — but whatever he lacked in business acumen and success, he made up for as a loving father.

David died in 1997 at age 72. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Baton Rouge.