Stanley M. Friedman, former architect and city planner, and lifelong adventurer, has died at 93
He designed the King of Prussia Plaza in 1963, retired twice, and traveled the country with his wife in an RV. “His life was a tapestry of remarkable achievements, vibrant experiences, and enduring impact,” his family said.
Stanley M. Friedman, 93, of Lansdale, cofounder of Evantash & Friedman architects in Philadelphia, former city planner in Boulder, Colo., longtime pilot and skier, volunteer search and rescue expert, veteran, and lifelong world traveler, died Friday, June 14, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at his home.
Friends and family called Mr. Friedman a “Renaissance man” because he studied architectural drawing as a teenager, was drawn to the sky by World War II pilots, and developed a wanderlust after spending memorable summers in Missouri with his grandparents and beloved aunts. He went on to earn two degrees in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, establish Evantash & Friedman in 1958, become a lieutenant colonel in the Colorado Civil Air Patrol, and visit all 50 states with his wife, Lee.
He was also a painter and carpenter, a college lecturer and outdoorsman. He flew his airplane from Blue Bell to Atlantic City and back to buy sandwiches from White House Subs. He skied slopes in the Pocono and Rocky Mountains, and he and his wife traveled the world and lived in tents, campers, trailers, and motor homes for more than a decade.
“He had his hand in everything,” his wife said. His family said in a tribute: “His life was a tapestry of remarkable achievements, vibrant experiences, and enduring impact.”
As partners, Mr. Friedman and fellow architect Leonard Evantash earned dozens of notable commissions in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Maryland, and elsewhere from 1958 to 1974, and he traveled extensively in Europe on business trips. They designed the King of Prussia Plaza in 1963, the Curtis 1000 building in Delaware County in 1961, the West Wholesale Drug Co. plant in Philadelphia in 1962, and they fully renovated the historic Arcadia Theater on Chestnut Street in 1967.
He drew his plans by hand in those days, and friends and colleagues said in a tribute: “His imagination and creativity had a profound impact on us and the Philadelphia region. Stanley showed vision for the present and insight into the future.”
In 1968, Mr. Friedman oversaw the design of a 480,000-square foot enclosed mall plaza in suburban Syracuse, N.Y., and The Inquirer reported: “It will be the 20th shopping center to be designed by the firm headed by Leonard Evantash and Stanley M. Friedman throughout the Middle Atlantic states in 10 years. Together, these centers embrace some six million square feet and represent a total investment of almost $100 million.”
The firm also designed hotels and office complexes, and Mr. Friedman memorably expanded a friend’s home in Lafayette Hill from four bedrooms and two baths to seven bedrooms, five baths, and a den. In 1974, he sold his share of the company to Evantash to accept a job as a city planner in Boulder.
Mr. Friedman worked five years in Boulder and helped implement plans for the popular Pearl Street Mall. An Army veteran, he flew as a lieutenant colonel and squadron commander in the Colorado Civil Air Patrol in the 1980s, and served as a search pilot and ground team leader on consequential search and rescue missions. Flying, he said in a short 2020 autobiography for family and friends, “was a real love for more than 30 years.”
He was president of the Franklin Ski Club and active with the Eastern Pennsylvania Ski Council in the 1970s, and he skied wherever he could. He lectured about urban planning and architecture at the University of Colorado, and friends noted his “creativity” and “love of family” in tributes.
He said in his autobiography: “Learning and discovery is a lifelong process. … Our eternity is who remembers our life and our friendships.”
Stanley Martin Friedman was born April 6, 1931, in the Bronx, N.Y. He played basketball and football in high school, studied under architects Buckminster Fuller and Louis Kahn at Penn, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture. He served in the Army in Honolulu from 1954 to 1956, and owned three planes over the course of his flying career.
He married Barbara Green, and they had daughters Linda, Bonnie, and Carol, and lived in Lafayette Hill. After a divorce, he married Lee Wexler, and they lived in Boulder and Lansdale.
Mr. Friedman followed politics and established several start-ups with friends. He gave ski lessons to children with disabilities and was Mr. Fixit around the house.
He liked to play chess, scuba dive, and sail. He biked and hiked, fished and golfed. He rode a small Harley Davidson motorcycle, enjoyed photography, and joined the Tau Delta Phi fraternity at Penn.
“He dedicated his life to making the world around him better for future generations,” said his daughter Carol. His wife said: “He liked to create, and he was a people person. We had a hell of a run.”
In addition to his wife, daughters, and former wife, Mr. Friedman is survived by three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and other relatives. A brother died earlier.
Services were held June 20.
Donations in his name may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Floor 17, Chicago, Ill. 60601; and Compasses Care Services, 10 Cadillac Drive, Suite 400, Brentwood, Tenn. 37027.