Claude B. Kershner, 86, businessman

Claude B. Kershner Jr., 86, formerly of Bala Cynwyd, longtime owner-operator of an office products firm, died Tuesday, Jan. 6, of heart failure at his home in Audubon, Montgomery County.

Mr. Kershner was not one to waste time. In 1952, he went on a blind date with Mary Ellen McCormick. By 1962, the couple, now married, had produced eight children.

After a stint as a salesman in 1960, Mr. Kershner bought a small retail stationery store in Upper Darby with three employees.

With his family's assistance, he built C.B. Kershner Inc. in Manayunk into one of the largest office products firms in the region. It employed 170 people, and owned 15 trucks and a warehouse in Philadelphia.

The firm was known for selling office furniture and supplies, and for expanding for more than 35 years by buying up other companies.

In January 1996, bowing to industrywide pressure to consolidate, the firm was acquired by BT Office Products International Inc. of Buffalo Grove, Ill.

"You get all kinds of mixed feelings, so many employees you feel close to," Mr. Kershner said. "It's like closing a Broadway show. There's a lot of tears."

Mr. Kershner was known for quietly giving out personal loans to employees so they could buy first homes, or to pay for health care and their children's education.

He served as a medical corpsman in the Army Reserve and as a Lower Merion Township commissioner, treasurer, and police commissioner.

He was president of the Main Line Junior Chamber of Commerce and a board member of Roxborough Memorial Hospital, and was active with the Knights of Columbus.

"He inspired those around him with his faith, integrity, positive attitude, and enthusiasm for anything he chose to do," his family said in a tribute.

A patriot, an Eagles fan, and a Mummers enthusiast, he loved music and sang constantly. He enjoyed golf and spending time in Ocean Reef and Key Largo, Fla., and Avalon, N.J.

Daughter Joanne Kershner Spellane said he was a devoted family man. "He was so in love with my mother. That was what everybody said was the most notable thing about him," Spellane said.

Surviving, besides his daughter and wife of 62 years, are daughters Mary Ellen Smith, Connie Migeot, Loretta Zimmermann, and Mikie O'Mara; sons Claude B. III, Bryson, and Bruer; 18 grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.

Services were Friday, Jan. 9.

Contributions may be made to the Paoli Hospital Foundation, c/o Bryson Kershner, Box 414, Valley Forge, Pa. 19481.