[Baltimore Sun] Jack H. Pechter, Holocaust survivor and philanthropist, dies
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Jack H. Pechter, a philanthropist and real estate developer who survived the Holocaust, died Aug. 24 at his Boca Raton, Florida, home. The former Pikesville resident was 90.
“His body gave out and he died of natural causes,” said his daughter Shelly Himmelrich.
Born in Rejowiec, Poland, he was the son of Max Pechter and Sara Bittner. Beginning in 1939, as a 5-year-old, he and his family fled the Nazi occupation of Poland. They moved east and reached the Russian border on horse and buggy, then rode cattle cars with other refugees. They lived in Siberian and Uzbekistan displaced persons camps before reaching Baltimore in 1949.
His father burned all his personal documents to hide their Orthodox Jewish background.
Jack H. Pechter was honored by the Jewish National Fund in 1995 for a lifetime of work. (Courtesy)
Mr. Pechter’s mother told the family: “Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow will be better.” She also advised her son to take care of other people throughout his life and planted the seeds of his philanthropic endeavors.
He attended Talmudical Academy and Forest Park High School, where he met his future wife, Marilyn Bernstein. He studied at the University of Maryland, College Park and served two years in the Army.
“My father dove into real estate, first as a laborer, then a broker and quickly scraping a few dollars from friends and family to become an investor and developer,” his daughter said.
Jack H., left, and son Jeffrey Pechter bought the Enchanted Forest theme park. (Staff file)
He built homes along Route 40 West, along York Road and in Parkville and White Marsh. He also owned the Timonium and Perry Hall shopping centers and the old Enchanted Forest property in Howard County.
In a 1999 Sun story, Mr. Pechter said he believed the power of hate can be diminished only through education. At that time he was the largest private donor to the then-new Yad Vashem International School for Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem.
She said her father was inspired by his parents and his journey to help the less fortunate.
“He truly had a rare kindness in him that was inherited straight from his mother. He did all of the things, and worked a lot professionally and in service to others,” said his daughter Shelly.
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Named Tau Epsilon Phi’s 1989 Man of the Year, he was a founder of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Endowment Fund. He was honored by the Midtown Churches of Baltimore, a group based in the Old Goucher neighborhood, for his work for the homeless.
Mr. Pechter was also honored by the Jewish National Fund in 1995 for a lifetime of work.
He was active in the Associated Jewish Charities and Welfare Fund and the State of Israel Bonds. He also supported the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
He was a Sinai Hospital board member, and a cafe there is named in his parents’ honor.
Survivors include his wife of 68 years, Marilyn Bernstein Pechter; two sons, Martin Pechter, of Boca Raton, and Jeffrey Pechter, of Delray Beach, Florida; two daughters, Shelly Himmelrich, of Delray Beach, and Melissa Pechter, of Housatonic, Massachusetts; a sister, Dora Schwartz, of Florida; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Services were held Aug. 26 at B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton.
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