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Harold Lee Drimmer died on December 3, 2005 in Rye, NY at the age of 91. Mr. Drimmer was born October 6, 1914 to Sadie and Edward Drimmer in New York City. He attended Mt. Vernon High School, where he was the salutatorian of his graduating class in 1931 at the age of 16. He attended Harvard College on scholarship, was a starting player on the Harvard freshman football and basketball teams and graduated in 1935 Magna Cum Laude. Mr. Drimmer graduated from Columbia University School of Law in 1938. Subsequently he formed a law partnership with his law school classmate, Newton Gleckel, a partnership which endured for more than thirty years. On October 10, 1940, he married Florence Robinson, his fiancé of seven years. The Drimmers' children: Judith, Steve and Eric were born in 1943, 1945 and 1950 respectively. After 10 years of a successful law practice, in which Mr. Drimmer became a recognized expert in the New York City real estate moratorium law and regulations, a successful real estate property business developed. Soon thereafter, he and his partner, Gleckel, purchased a book printer and publisher, J.J. Little & Ives. Under Mr. Drimmer's stewardship, some truly innovative book publishing concepts were created. Little and Ives was the first publisher to sell books in supermarkets in installments. The Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Bibles of all denominations, an Encyclopedia of Science, and two phonograph record series were all very successful ventures. Little and Ives also published the American Oxford Encyclopedia in the mid 1960's. In the 1950's, Mr. Drimmer and his partner purchased a school bus assembly company, The Wayne Works, located in Richmond Indiana. Through several acquisitions and mergers the business expanded to include the manufacturing of limousines, hearses, and milk delivery trucks. A later acquisition made DivcoWayne the largest manufacturer of mobile homes in the United States. Mr. Drimmer held the position of CEO and the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1968, Divco-Wayne was purchased by the Boise Cascade Corporation. Mr. Drimmer's other successful ventures included the acquisition of Nugget Foods with a subsequent sale to Tilley Lewis Foods in the early 1970s, and the purchase and development of the Mt. Hope Mine in Eureka Nevada, containing one the world's great deposits of molybdenum. In addition to Mr. Drimmer's successful business career, he was a founding member and president many times of the Philharmonic Society of Westchester, President of Bethel Synagogue in New Rochelle, New York, and a board member and Chairman of the Westchester Community College for 27 years. The College's library was dedicated to Mr. Drimmer in 1994 and was named the Harold L. Drimmer Library/Resource Center. Mr. Drimmer also served as a member of the Board of Overseers of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. In 1998, The Jews Of Westchester, A Social History written by Baila R. Shargel and Harold L. Drimmer was published by the Purple Mountain Press to critical acclaim. Harold Drimmer was named Man of the Year by the National Society of Christians and Jews and received many awards from Westchester County for his work at the Westchester Community College. His wife of 37 years, Florence, passed away in 1977 and Mr. Drimmer married Sunny Kramer in 1978. Harold Lee Drimmer is survived by his sisters, Helen and Muriel, his wife, Sunny, his three children: Judith Deutsch, and Stephen and Eric Drimmer, two step children, Karen and Peter Kramer, eight grandchildren: Jonathan, Edward, David and Jesse Drimmer, Jeremy and Stephanie Deutsch, Amanda and Jessica, and five great grandchildren. Funeral Services will be held Wednesday, December 7, 2005 at 1:00 PM at Bethel Synagogue, 1324 North Ave #1, New Rochelle, NY 10804. Burial to follow at the Mount Eden Cemetery, 20 Commerce St., Hawthorne NY 10532. The family will be observing the Shiva mourning period, Wednesday through Friday from 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the residence of Judith Deutsch, 19 Boxwood Place, Rye Brook, NY. Memorial contributions may be made in Harold's memory to: Westchester Community College. Funeral arrangements will be handled by Riverside Memorial Chapel, 21 West Broad Street, Mount Vernon, NY 914-6646800.
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