Leon Israel, Jr.

"The Israels"

Leon Israel Jr., an international coffee trader for more than 50 years, died Thursday morning at his home in Millington, N.J. He was 75 years old.

Mr. Israel was chairman emeritus of ACLI International of White Plains, a leading commodity concern. He was president of the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange from 1956 through 1958.

Born in New York City, Mr. Israel attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania before becoming a coffee trader in Leon Israel & Brothers, founded by his father in 1898.

The company, which was established as a trading house in green coffee beans, eventually became one of the world's largest brokerages, dealing in grain, steel, gold and other metals, along with currencies, coffee, cocoa, sugar and rubber.

The company's name was changed in 1971 to ACLI, for Adrian C. and Leon Israel. Adrian Israel, a cousin of Leon Israel, is now president of the company. Last month, it was acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary by Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, investment bankers.

Mr. Israel joined the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange in 1929 and, in addition to serving as its president for two years, was on its board of directors from 1949 until 1963. He was president of the New York Coffee and Sugar Clearing Association from 1964 to 1967 and president of the Green Coffee Association of New York from 1963 to 1965. He was decorated by the Governments of Colombia and Brazil.

In 1970, Mr. Israel was elected Mayor of Passaic Township, N.J., a municipality of 7,000 residents, for a one-year term. He was also active in the Passaic Township Free Library in Stirling, N.J.

He is survived by his wife, Audrey H.; two daughters, Judith Heidkamp of Edina, Minn., and Carol Allen of Baltimore, and six grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held in Millington at 2:30 P.M. today at All Saints Episcopal Church, 15 Basking Ridge Road. Interment will be at Somerset Hills Memorial Park in Basking Ridge, N.J.

NY Times Dec. 12, 1981

"Leon Israel Jr. married Audrey Hollander in 1935, the daughter of the heiress of Sunny Brook Distillery and a famous London and New York lawyer. The marriage brought together two very wealthy New York families."

"The Israels"