Louis CARROL

CARROL, Louis Louis Carrol, 100, of Atlanta, passed away Wednesday, March 26, 2014. Louis was born April 1, 1913 in Toronto, Canada. He was the youngest son of Israel and Jennie Carrol. Louis and his family moved to Newark, NJ in 1917 to be closer to family. Louis attended grade school in Newark and graduated from high school in 1930. He was named valedictorian and voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by his classmates. The 1930's were a period of severe economic depression and Louis had to make the very difficult decision to enter the workforce to help bolster family finances. At the same time, he enrolled in night classes at a college in the Newark area and was awarded the first year scholarship. He was fortunate in gaining employment at L. Bamberger & Co. - a local prestige department store. After two years of night classes and a subsequent two years of law school, Louis decided to fully dedicate himself to a professional department store career. February 22, 1939 marked a very special day in Louis's life - his marriage to Lillian Neibart - after several happy years of dating. The Carrol's celebrated 71 fortunate years of marriage in 2010. They were blessed with two wonderful children: Phyllis and Richard, four grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Louis continued to make steady progress in his career at L. Bamberger & Co., becoming the buyer of furniture and bedding for the New Jersey trading area. When Macy's of New York purchased L. Bamberger & Co., it quickly became apparent that his career might be negatively affected by the influx of Macy's executives. Therefore in 1952, when Louis was approached by May Co. of Los Angeles to lead their furniture and bedding operation, he accepted the offer and moved the family to Los Angeles. In 1955, when Rich's Department Store offered Louis the vice presidency of their new Store for Homes, he accepted the promising offer and moved the family to Atlanta in December of that year. Louis had a successful tenure at Rich's Store for Homes and was later promoted to Executive Vice President for all of Rich's. Louis was a member of the Board of Directors, and Head of Merchandising, Sales Promotion in Branch Stores, and Service and Operations for all of Rich's. In 1968, Rich's offered Louis the opportunity to attend Harvard University's Advanced Management Program in Boston. It was held in the Graduate School of Business Administration, six days a week for 13 weeks. It was an arduous program, attended by 160 executives from around the world. The attendees came from a wide range of industries and government backgrounds which made for a dynamic period of study and growth. After forty years of a highly gratifying and successful career, Louis decided to take an early retirement in 1972 and reevaluate his future. First, Louis and Lillian spent the better part of two years travelling abroad and at home; enjoying several cruises to places of interest and vibrant history, as well as golfing at home and all around the country - quite a change of pace. His next career path included consulting both with retail operations and with manufacturers of retail merchandise, many corporations of which he became a director. Louis finally returned to private life in the mid-eighties. He and his wife had been members of The Temple for over 50 years and had been members of the Standard Club for many years as well. Louis was preceded in death by his parents, and three brothers. He leaves behind his loving wife, Lillian; daughter, Phyllis (Alan) Zeitlin of Atlanta; son, Richard (Gail) Carrol of Marietta; four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. A private graveside service will be held at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs.