Eugene Jelesnik papers, 1940s-1962

Eugene Jelesnik (1914-1999) was born of the Jewish faith on 19 March 1914 in Alexandrovsk, Ukraine, Russia, to Jacob and Jenny Jelesnik. He and his mother came to the United States in 1925, after the death of his father, to escape the Bolshevik Revolution. They lived in New York before moving to his permanent home in Utah. While in Utah, he met and married Virginia Bell Washburn in 1938. They were together for fifty-four years prior to her death. Jelesnik was the founder of the Salt Lake Philharmonic Orchestra. He was a musician, an entertainer, and concert broker who arranged for such performers as Frank Sinatra and Liberace to perform in Utah. He was also the host of the weekly amateur hour "Talent Showcase" television program. Eugene Jelesnik passed away on 16 February 1999 at the age of eighty-four.