Mrs. Mildren (Min) Himmelman was a much beloved St. Louis Park citizen and activist. Min was born Mildred, but everyone called her “Min” after her Yiddish name, Mindel. She married in 1922 and worked as a dental hygenist before she left to raise four children. The family moved to St. Louis Park in 1953 from Minneapolis. The following are just some of her accomplishments and contributions:
Mrs. Himmelman became active in the mental health movement in the mid 1950’s.
During the 1950’s, she observed that doctors were charging $5 for a 50 cent polio vaccine, and she arranged for the Hennepin County Health Department to supply the shots. On one night the line was 5,000 strong.
City beautification was one of her passions, and one year she renamed the City’s garbagemen “secondary raw material collectors” and had them scatter flower seeds along their routes.
When a company threatened to build a factory in a vacant lot, the neighbors cleaned it up and raised an American flag, dubbing it Freedom Park. The plans were scrapped.
In 1968 she was very active in raising money for the new community library.
On a dare from a newspaper editor, she was the first Jewish woman – indeed the first woman – to run for the City Council. She lost by a slim margin.
In 1970 she was awarded the first annual Einar M. Martinson award by the Minnesota Association for Mental Health for being the outstanding mental health volunteer in the state. In 1971 she won the National Mental Health Volunteer of the Year Award.
One of Min’s grandchildren is Peter Himmelman, a noted St. Louis Park musician.