Samuel L. Frieder, retired business owner, former copresident and trustee of Jewish Family and Children’s Service, and community advocate, has died at 86
He was an avid tennis player and constantly arranged family tournaments. Winning, however, was much less important to him than connecting with people through competitive camaraderie.
Samuel L. Frieder, 86, of Lafayette Hill, retired co-owner, chief executive officer, and president of S. Frieder and Sons cigar manufacturers, former copresident and chairman of the board of trustees at Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia, lifetime trustee of Einstein Healthcare Network, former chairman of the board at Einstein Medical Center, and community advocate, died Wednesday, June 28, of a brain aneurysm at Chestnut Hill Hospital.
Mr. Frieder’s grandfather started S. Frieder and Sons in New York in the early 1900s, and Mr. Frieder rose from a sales position in the mid-1950s to the executive leadership in the 1960s. The company, then based in the Philadelphia area, was making about 100 million cigars a year in the 1950s, according to Cigar Aficionado magazine, and the family sold the business in 1978.
Mr. Frieder’s family has a history of social activism, and he helped the Association for Jewish Children, and Jewish Family Service combine in 1983 to become Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia. He went on to serve as copresident and chairman of the board of trustees at JFCS, and remained active with the organization for the rest of his life.
He became involved with the Einstein Healthcare Network in the 1970s, was a lifetime member of its board of trustees, and served as chairman of the board at Einstein Hospital, now Einstein Medical Center, from 1999 to 2002. He contributed to many civic organizations and was a past vice president of Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.
“He was a man of great patience, wisdom, and empathy,” his son Stephen said at Mr. Frieder’s funeral service. “The commitment to serving others and always doing the right thing without any need for acknowledgment was at the core of what Dad was about.”
Mr. Frieder’s parents, Herbert and Selda Frieder, helped more than 1,000 Jewish people flee Germany to the Philippines before World War II, and their efforts were described in Frank Ephraim’s 2003 book Escape to Manila: From Nazi Tyranny to Japanese Terror and the 2013 film Rescue in the Philippines.
“They did it because it was the right thing to do,” Mr. Frieder told The Inquirer in 2014. “My dad and others, if anything, they felt badly they didn’t get more people out.”
Samuel Lewis Frieder was born Feb. 1, 1937, in Cincinnati. He was 2 when he, his older brother Dick, and their parents went to Manila in the Philippines to oversee the family’s cigar factory. The factory was decimated during World War II, and his family settled in Philadelphia in 1942 to start over.
He attended Friends Select School and later became an all-star soccer player at William Penn Charter School after moving to Elkins Park. He met Carol Flax while he was a student at Harvard University, and they married in 1957.
He earned a bachelor’s degree at Harvard in just three years, he told his children, because his parents wanted him to graduate before he got married. “What a beautiful marriage he and Carol had,” his brother said at Mr. Frieder’s service. “Perfect partners, great parents, and good friends as well.”
They had daughters Cathy and Susan, and sons Sam and Stephen, and lived in Jenkintown, Huntingdon Valley, and Lafayette Hill. Mr. Frieder spoke with his brother nearly every day and bought flowers for his wife every Friday for more than 60 years.
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He was goal-oriented, studied history, and liked classical music, bridge, crossword puzzles, and ice cream. “His warm smile made everyone feel good,” a friend said in an online tribute.
Mr. Frieder adored his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and traveled often to Long Beach Island, Boston, and Cape Cod to spend time with family. He used his skill and love of tennis to connect with people, and his son Sam said: “It was never about tennis. It was an opportunity that tennis provided to build relationships, to share experiences, and to have fun.”
He was an avid fan of the Eagles, 76ers, and Villanova men’s basketball. He followed baseball, too, but never abandoned his childhood-favorite Cincinnati Reds for the Phillies.
In a tribute, his family said Mr. Frieder “had an infectious smile and warmth that touched people from all walks of life. … He instilled the importance and values of family, ambition, intellectual curiosity, and generosity for generations to come.”
His daughter Cathy said: “I won the lottery with my dad. For him, it was family, family, family.”
In addition to his wife, brother, and children, Mr. Frieder is survived by 10 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and other relatives.
A funeral service was held June 30.
Donations in his name may be made to Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 615 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123; and Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia, 345 Montgomery Ave., Bala Cynwyd, Pa. 19004.