Herman George Kaiser, who fled Nazi Germany in 1938 and went on to become a successful oil producer and prominent civic leader in Tulsa, died Wednesday at the age of 88. Funeral services are scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Sunday at B'nai Emunah Synagogue. Burial is in Rose Hill Cemetery under the direction of Fitzgerald Funeral Service. Kaiser was born in Nardorf, Germany, and attended Frankfurt and Berlin universities. He married Kate Kaiser in 1930. She died in 1987. He practiced law and served as a judge in Germany until the Nuremburg Laws, passed in 1933, barred Jews from serving as judges. Kaiser escaped to England where he lived two years while awaiting a visa to the United States. In 1940, the Kaisers came to Tulsa, where they were sponsored by a relative, Sam Miller. Kaiser worked in the pipe business until 1949, when he entered the oil business. He operated as an independent oil producer until his retirement in 1969. Kaiser gained citizenship in 1945, and in honor of America's first president he adopted George as his middle name. The Kaiser's philanthropies have included Hillcrest Medical Center's Herman George and Kate Kaiser Rehabilitation Center and the Jewish Retirement Center's Herman and Kate Kaiser
Extended Health Care Facility. Kaiser was president of Congregation B'nai Emunah, and involved in Republican Party politics. He was educated in classical history and enjoyed reading about the subject. He also enjoyed golf, said his son, George Kaiser, president of Kaiser-Francis Oil Co. and chief executive officer of the Bank of Oklahoma. Survivors include a daughter, Ruth Kaiser Nelson of Tulsa; his son, also of Tulsa; a sister, Toni Neuwald of Tulsa; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Friends are contributing to B'nai Emunah Synagogue.
Tulsa World
Oct. 1992