SURMA’S BAKERY OPENED IN SAN ANTONIO IN 1948.
It was a time that vaguely rings familiarity for most of us, but for those who experienced the after effects of a devastating depression and tumultuous war, that time represents the onset of a new America.There was great loss, but with challenge and hardship also came new opportunity for those determined to overcome.
Downtown San Antonio was a relatively small, yet eclectic area burgeoning with small businesses. Within its corridors was a quiet yet bustling strip center at 3010 Nogalitos that housed Winn’s, Somer’s Drug store, the Piggly Wiggly, and Surma’s Bakery, featuring the city’s most delectable desserts to entice even the most discriminating baking enthusiast.
In the mid–1940s, there was a modest 145,000 people living in the city. Joe Surma was one of them. He was 21 years old when he arrived from his hometown of Chicago.
FROM APPRENTICE TO AFICIONADO
Sometimes, one garners a skill by learning a trade through coincidence, yet other times it must be learned through necessity. During the depression when most families were losing their homes, Surma realized he needed to learn a trade. At the age of 18, Surma began working in various bakeries as a young apprentice.
“That’s how I learned the blending of spices,” he proudly admits. “The reason why our product was so good.” From the beginning, Joe featured trays of various sweets including breads, cakes, pies, cookies, and his very own favorite, glazed doughnuts. “We made the best doughnuts in town,” he gloats. The glazed quickly became their most popular doughnut, but there was plenty to choose from including other favorites such as French, potato, and even cake doughnuts. In the years that followed, Surma’s Bakery began specializing in cakes. “We made cakes all the time,” Surma says.
Every kind of cake from fresh banana and fresh orange to strawberry shortcakes, gingerbread cakes made with cinnamon, weekly rum cakes, the original German chocolate cake, and chiffon cakes made with egg yolks, fresh orange, rum and caramel was offered at Surma’s Bakery.
“Everything required a certain flavor,” Surma says. “We got our spices from all over the world. We had the best of everything; cinnamon from Saigon and Belgium chocolates.”
The bakery’s popularity achieved citywide attention as locals, tourists and some of San Antonio’s most elite political figures such as U.S. Representative Henry B. Gonzalez and Mayor Lila Cockrell became its most loyal enthusiasts. “We made cakes for all the Mayors and judges,” recalls Joe. However, their biggest source of business came from nearby Kelly field.
THE SWEETEST LOVE
Perhaps it was destiny that interceded for Surma and Margie, his wife of almost 60 years, to meet one fateful day in 1942, only a week after he arrived in San Antonio. “She was an angel,” Surma says with deep affection.
Two years later, the pair was married. Together, they have three children; Bob, Nancy and Cheryl. Upon deciding to open the bakery, it took a huge leap of faith and determination. But what Surma says made the difference was that they worked together; complementing each other’s strengths, with the willingness to go the extra mile to create what would become the most well–known bakery in San Antonio.
“It was never easy, but boy, we sure enjoyed it,” Joe says as he holds a picture of his beautiful wife in his hands. Surma and Margie shared a partnership stemming from the fervor of true love and an affinity for baking and their entrepreneurial goals.
“She took care of the children, our home and the finances,” Surma says. “She’d stay up at nights until midnight counting the money from the store. I don’t know how she did it all, but she was an incredible woman.”
As a true culinary master, Surma worked in the back baking everything fresh and from scratch daily, at times alongside his children who helped prepare ingredients and learned the many “tricks of the trade.” Margie took center stage in the storefront selling and assisting customers. “She always said I smelled so sweet,” Surma says with a smile.
A SAN ANTONIO TRADITION
Surma’s Bakery has become a fixture in San Antonio for over 40 years.
“I knew the business completely,” Surma says. The store stayed open five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday. On Sunday, Surma donated all their leftover goods to St. PJ’s orphanage.
In 1984, after many years of dedication creating the best cakes in the city, Surma and Margie retired from the business. Today, Surma enjoys the time he spends with his children, five grandchildren and two great–grandchildren. While he conveys a deep longing for his wife, who passed away six years ago, Surma’s comfort is embedded in years of memorable snapshots of their life together. “The whole family has had a very blessed life,” Joe says. At 89 years old, he recalls the past with fervent memories he will never forget.
While most people might say Surma was lucky in life, one cannot dismiss the vision and unyielding commitment of a man determined to make a better life for himself and his family. The Depression was a pivotal epoch in his youth, as he remembers peddling bread from door–to–door only making a modest 30 cents a day. Yet, through challenges and great successes, Surma says it takes the tenacity to give it all you’ve got and to work your way up to make any man or woman to succeed in life.
“You have to look forward,” he says. “and see all the positive things in life.”
And that’s exactly, what Joe Surma will always be remembered for.
