Joseph C. Mandel, business leader, philanthropist, co-founder of the Premier Industrial Corporation, Parkwood LLC, and the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation, passed away on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. He was 102 years old.
Mr. Mandel was born in 1913 in Poland and came to Cleveland, Ohio when he was 7 years old. He was a resident of Palm Beach, Florida at the time of his death. He served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of Parkwood LLC, and Chairman of the Joseph and Florence Mandel Foundation. He was an avid sculptor, displaying many of his works on his property in Moreland Hills, Ohio.
In 1940, Mr. Mandel co-founded Premier Industrial Corporation with his brothers, Jack and Morton. Premier was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1964 and merged with Farnell Electronics, plc, based in the United Kingdom, to form Premier Farnell, plc in 1996.
Mr. Mandel was a co-founder of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The Mandel Foundation supports leadership education programs in its own institutions and at several universities internationally. Over the years many institutions have been founded or named by the brothers. Some examples include the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (Case Western Reserve University), the Mandel Center for the Humanities (Brandeis University) and the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach.
Mr. Mandel was a Life Trustee of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland.
Mr. Mandel is survived by his daughters Michele (Larry) Beyer and Penni (Stephen) Weinberg; grandchildren Rob (Loren) Beyer, Anthony (Vanessa) Beyer, Timothy Beyer, Pamela (Craig) Kahn, Jennifer (Grant) Dinner, and Stephanie (Jared) Miller; great-grandchildren, Bliss, Belle, Alexander, Nikolaus, Caroline, Eleanor, Campbell, Katie, Emily, Benjamin, Nathan and Jay. Mr. Mandel was preceded in death by his wife of sixty-two years, Florence.
