If Tevye of “Fiddler on the Roof” fame were a butcher instead of a milkman and Golda helped Teyve with his business instead of staying at home to raise five daughters, then Teyve and Golda might look a lot like Irving and Kay Diamant, longtime owners of Diamant’s Kosher Meat Market in University City.

Goodness knows they’ve spent their entire adult lives married to each other – 54 years and counting. They’ve raised three children together who in turn are parents to their six grandchildren.

He calls her “Precious.”

She slugged him when they first met in 1954.

He daydreams about dancing with her during their impending retirement. She jokes she’ll spend hers annoying him.

And yet, like Tevye and Golda, you know that despite occasional bickering, Irv and Kay Diamant have nothing but deep love and respect for each other. Spend a few hours with them and you can almost hear the “Fiddler” song “Do You Love Me?” humming in the background.

Their closeness has been built on decades of working and living together. Come Friday, the working together part will end when the Diamants close their storefront kosher butchery and retire. That will leave Kohn’s Kosher Meat and Deli in Creve Coeur as the only free standing kosher meat shop in the St. Louis area under the supervision of the Vaad Hoeir.

Perhaps Rabbi Menachem Greenblatt of Agudas Israel in U. City summed it up best when asked what he will do once Diamant’s closes.

“You mean after I stop mourning?” he says.

Love at first sight

Irving Diamant came to America from Poland in 1949 with his parents and two brothers. He was either 11 or 13 years old at the time, he’s not sure, because he became a bar mitzvah in both Europe and the United States.

The Diamants landed in Boston but were directed by Jewish Federation to Alton, Ill. where Irv’s father, Wolf Diamant, got a job in construction.

But Alton wasn’t exactly a hotbed of Orthodox Jewish activity, and within six months, Wolf Diamant had moved his family to the city of St. Louis where he found work in a butcher shop. Son Irv rode his bicycle to deliver orders after finishing school each day at Soldan High.

Kay Lasky Diamant spent her childhood in Dallas, where her father, Leo Lasky, worked for Edison Brothers. The youngest of 12, he was originally from St. Louis while Kay’s mother grew up in England. When Leo retired from Edison Bros., he moved the family back to St. Louis, settled in University City and joined his brothers working at Lasky Shoes in the Delmar Loop. Kay graduated from University City High School.

After her junior year in high school, Kay and some girlfriends were hanging out at the Heman Park Pool. Irv was there with some of his buddies from Soldan. She was a stunner and caught his eye. But when he approached her, she smacked him.

“I really couldn’t tell you why,” she says on a recent afternoon seated at a table in the kosher market.

Apparently, it didn’t deter him because soon after Kay graduated from high school, the two were married. At the time Irv was in the Marine Corp. and had just finished boot camp. She joined him at Camp Lajeune, N.C., where he was stationed. Two years later, the couple moved back to St. Louis.

Irv was interested in commercial art but had no formal training and “no one wanted to make me president or vice-president, so I came to the butcher shop,” he said, explaining that he joined his father and partner Simon Kohn at Diamant’s in University City, at 618 North & South Road. The shop has been in that location, or right next door, for more than 50 years.

In those days – the late 1950s and early 60s – there were 40 or so kosher markets throughout the St. Louis area. In 1963, Simon Kohn left Diamant’s to open up his own kosher grocery with his wife, Bobbi, which eventually grew into Kohn’s Kosher Meat and Deli, now run by their children, Lenny and Rosemary. That left Wolf and Irv to run Diamant’s.

Dallas Powell, 69, has worked there from the time he was 23. He’s part of the Diamant family, he says; he has been to all their milestone events, including the bar and bat mitzvahs of each of the grandchildren.

“Everyone knows Irv is a good man. No one has a bigger heart. Nothing gives him more pleasure than helping people,” says Powell.

End of an era

As most of us know, Mom and Pop businesses of any kind are difficult to maintain these days. A kosher meat market is no different.

First of all, Vaad supervision is costly. Second, there’s competition from grocery chains such as Schnucks, Dierbergs, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, along with superstores such as Costco and Sam’s Club, each of which has local stores that carry kosher meat and can afford to sell it for less.

The Diamants acknowledge that while the business isn’t nearly as prosperous as it once was, that isn’t the main reason they are retiring. Working from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days isn’t easy for twentysomethings, let alone a couple in their golden years.

Irv, who is 75, give or take, has Parkinson’s disease and other health ailments. Kay, 73, was in a major auto accident six years ago that left her with 23 broken bones. While she has healed, she knows it’s probably a good idea for the two to slow down some. But the legacy they leave behind is enormous, judging from the number of customers eager to talk about them. One is Pnina Glassman, who helps out behind the counter a few days a week.

“Every child has had their first lollipop here,” says Glassman, explaining that Irv’s ritual is to present three baskets of candy to children when they come in, encouraging them to take a treat out of each, sometimes to their mother’s chagrin.

“He always has to stop what he is doing to talk to the children,” Glassman adds. “And for the babies too young for candy, he gives them pretzels. Someone always gets something.”

In addition, she says, there are no fixed prices. “If someone cannot afford (the price), the charge is minimal. I’ve seen Irv put a bag of food on one of the tables for a single mother, so she could come in and just take it. He didn’t want to embarrass her in any way.”

Glassman says on several occasions, she witnessed the couple walking out the door at closing when the phone would ring. On the other end would be a visitor to St. Louis asking about a sandwich or a customer needing something at the last minute.

“They would come back inside, turn on the lights and make the sandwiches or cut the meat, then wait for the person to get there,” said Glassman. “They can’t bear the thought of someone not being accommodated.”

Glassman says Kay is like a surrogate mother not only to her, but to many of her customers. “A baby isn’t born who doesn’t receive a gift from Kay,” she says. “Come Hanukkah, they bring bags of gifts to Torah Prep School (located across the street) for all of the children.”

Just last Friday, all 31 girls at nearby Esther Miller Bais Yaakov high school walked over thank-you notes and other tributes they had written to the Diamants. Many told of how they had been coming to the store since they were born, had their first piece of candy there and would miss their “little talks” with Kay.

“Your store will truly be missed but your kindness will last forever,” wrote one.

Looking ahead

Earlier this week, it was business as usual at Diamant’s. The only real sign the store was closing were the shelves out front. Whereas once brimming with kosher non-perishables, there were only a few cans of corn, chili and matzah ball soup, and boxes of mac and cheese.

Behind the glass meat counter stood Irv carving a roast while Kay was hunkered over her desk. She joined Irv at the store when their children were very young, leaving them in the care of Irv’s mother. Kay has been at his side ever since, taking care of business and money matters.

Although their children helped out at the store as kids, none was interested in taking over the business. The eldest, Mike, 53, is a professional fitness coach and trainer. His original plan was to be an actor, so as a young adult he headed to Hollywood.

“For years and years, every time a customer mentioned going to Los Angeles, my parents sent a care package with them for me,” says Mike. “My father told me, ‘You may be an out-of-work actor, but you’ll never be a starving one.'”

The Diamants have a home in Town and Country that they soon might get to enjoy. They are members of Traditional Congregation.

Irv talks about wanting to learn in retirement; he never went to college and has a thirst for knowledge. When he mentions how he loves to dance, Pnina Glassman jokes that maybe he’ll take a zumba class. Kay says she looks forward to spending more time with family and friends.

“I’m going to get to do things with the kids that I didn’t get to do the first time around,” she says.

Still, you get the sneaking suspicion it may be impossible to keep the couple down. When Irv’s father retired, he went to work at his old partner Simon Kohn’s store. Lenny Kohn, who grew up best friends with the Diamant’s son Mike, doesn’t rule out the possibility that Irv might find his way to Kohn’s. Lenny has nothing but love and affection for the Diamants, who are his godparents.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the Barbara Mendelson Tomchei Shabbos anniversary event will mark the establishment of the Diamant Meat Fund — a tribute to Irv and Kay for their decades of service to the community. The fund will provide meat and chicken to recipient families.

The event will feature a free buffet brunch and presentation at 9:30 a.m. June 5 at U. City Shul, 700 North & South Road. For more information, call 314-726-2163.