Stars owner Tanenbaum dies

MYLES TANENBAUM, who won two USFL championships as principle owner of the Philadelphia Stars, died Friday at 82.

The Stars were a dominant team in the fledgling United States Football League.

The Stars played 2 years in Philadelphia, 1983 and 1984. In 1983, the Stars lost the league's first championship game to the Michigan Panthers.

In 1984, the Stars won the championship by defeating the Arizona Wranglers. The league, which played in the spring in the first 2 years, wanted to move to the fall in 1985 and Tanenbaum moved the team to Baltimore, rather than compete against the Eagles.

The Stars won their second title, in 1985, by defeating the Oakland Invaders in the league's final game.

"He was a great man, a great Philadelphian," said Ken Dunek, who was a tight end on the Stars for all three seasons. "Myles really was one of a kind. He developed a professional football team that in 2 years rivaled the Eagles. The Philadelphia Stars still hold the best 3-year record in professional football history."

Dunek, who lives in Mount Laurel, N.J., also was a backup tight end on the Eagles' 1980 NFC championship team.

"As an owner, the thing I remember most about Myles is the joy," Dunek said. "I talked to a lot of people about him and he was a tough businessman. That's what everybody says. But when he was around the football team, he had an ear-to-ear smile.

"Not many people know this, but he used the colors of Central High, his alma mater, for the Stars' colors - maroon and gold."

Tanenbaum was a real estate investor known for developing the King of Prussia Mall. He had an 18-year relationship with Kravco Co., which developed shopping centers.

He also was known for his philanthropy, with his gift for the Nicole E. Tanenbaum wing of Penn Law School, from which Tanenbaum graduated cum laude in 1957, after earning an economics degree from Penn.

Tanenbaum lived in Gladwyne. He is survived by his sons Steven and Lawrence, and daughter Sharon. He was predeceased by another daughter, Nicole. He has seven grandchildren.

Relatives and friends are invited to services at 10 a.m. Tuesday, at the Har Zion Temple, 1500 Hagys Ford Road, Penn Valley. Interment will be at Haym Salomon Memorial Park. The family asks that contributions in Tanenbaum's memory be made to Alzheimer's Association or to a charity of donor's choice.