Warren Weiner, 68, a Deb Shops owner

Warren Weiner, 68, of Villanova, executive vice president and an owner of Deb Shops when the national chain was sold in 2007, died Monday, Feb. 13, of leukemia at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

At the time of the $395 million sale to a private equity group, the chain was reported to operate 337 stores in 42 states from its headquarters and warehouse near Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

The report stated that the firm was, in large part, a "retailer of clothing, shoes, and accessories for young women."

Mr. Weiner was "highly respected in his industry and in the variety of charitable and philanthropic endeavors throughout his beloved city of Philadelphia," his brother, Arthur, recalled Tuesday.

Mr. Weiner earned a bachelor's degree at what was then the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, now Philadelphia University, in 1965 and began his career with the family firm.

A 1996 Inquirer story reported that Deb Shops traced its origins to when Philip Rounick, a Polish immigrant, "went to work for his uncle selling men's socks and hosiery and wound up owning the business. Early stores, named Joy's Hosiery, operated in West Philadelphia" during the early 1930s.

Warren Weiner told the reporter that Philip Rounick "needed someone to watch the store when he got married" and asked Mr. Weiner's father, Aaron, to help.

Philip Rounick and Aaron Weiner became partners during the Depression and eventually bought a small chain named Deb Shops and began to expand.

The firm opened its first mall store in Easton, Pa., in the 1970s and went public in 1983.

At the time of the 2007 sale, Philip Rounick's son, Marvin, was president and chief executive officer as well as Warren Weiner's partner.

Mr. Weiner was a volunteer adviser to the leadership council of the Main Line Health Heart Center and in 2009 was elected to the Lankenau Medical Center Foundation Board.

In October 2010, Mr. Weiner and his wife, Penny, were one of four couples who chaired Lankenau's 150th Anniversary Gala at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

A Tuesday testimonial from Lankenau Medical Center read:

"Jack Lynch, Main Line Health president and CEO, and Phil Robinson, Lankenau Medical Center president, said that 'we were privileged to have Warren as part of the Lankenau family.' "

The executives stated that they "will always remember him as a smart, humble, witty, and soft-spoken man who was totally committed to celebrating Lankenau's caregivers."

Mr. Weiner was a principal in Spring Mill Partners, a real estate investment group, and vice chair of the board at Hyperion Bank.

Besides his wife and his brother, Mr. Weiner is survived by daughters Robyn Carp and Kimberly Block, and five grandchildren.

Services were set for 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at Joseph Levine & Son, 4737 Street Rd., Trevose, with burial in Roosevelt Memorial Park.

Donations might be sent to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Eastern Pennsylvania, Suite 5010, 555 North Lane, Conshohocken, Pa. 19428.