Longtime furniture executive Gerald Hirschhaut dies at 84

Longtime furniture executive and sales representative Gerald Hirschhaut died Friday, April 24. He was 84.

The son of furniture retailers in Buffalo, N.Y., he attended the University of Buffalo and later graduated from the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Executive Program at the University of Virginia.

He began his career as an independent sales representative in Massachusetts, western New York and Pennsylvania. He worked for Berkline for 27 years, rising to executive vice president of sales and marketing. At the end of his career, he represented Sklar-Peppler and Cochrane to national accounts.

He was instrumental in creating retail-driven incentive programs that later became a standard for the home furnishings industry. His passion for his profession, and his ability to recruit, train and mentor key personnel, are his legacy.

He is survived by his wife, three sons, including Bruce Hirschhaut, a marketing and sales consultant in the furniture industry, and five grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled on Monday, April 27, at Beth Israel Memorial Chapel in Boynton Beach, Fla. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research or the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.