Ruth Lillian Nussdorf

Ruth Lillian Nussdorf, a pioneering woman entrepreneur who co-founded one of New York's largest privately held companies, Quality King Distributors, died on Dec 7, 2022 at her home in Boca Raton Florida. She was 92.

Born and raised in Brooklyn during the height of the Depression to immigrant parents - one a window washer, the other a seamstress - her journey to the upper echelon of the corporate world was as unforeseen as it was extraordinary.

Despite such humble beginnings, or perhaps because of them, Ruth possessed a formidable spirit of independence, pride, and confidence. At just 16, the thought of having to rely on an allowance proved intolerable.

She recounts, "I went and got the newspaper and found an ad from Arthur Wiesenberger", a Wall Street mutual funds company. "I walked into this very luxurious office, and found five girls in front of me. I told him, 'whatever you were going to pay that girl you thought was better than me, I will take less money, I will come in a half hour earlier, I will stay a half hour later, and I will learn everything you want to teach me. I really want this job.'"

Not only did she get it, but she enrolled in night school, and "I was paid the highest bonus in the office that year. It was exciting."

When she first met her husband, Bernard Nussdorf, at a dance, she asked him, "where do you live?" To which he replied, "I live in a mansion." It turned out, he did live in a mansion; he lived in the Regina Mansion, a catering hall in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. They were soon married and Ruth left Wall Street to join her husband's catering business.

One memorable night, with the famous La Playa Sextet playing to the hall, a fight erupted and in the ensuing melee the entire dance hall burned to the ground - Bernie and Ruth were left to start again.

With two young children, no business, and no jobs, an improbable vision was born of necessity: the two would embark on establishing a wholesale business - albeit, from the back of their station wagon. Soon the station wagon became a storefront, the storefront a warehouse, and continued on an unrelenting march towards expanded facilities, more employees, and national customers.

Ruth, as she had promised, learned everything she could: accounts receivable, payables, trucking, inventory, and sales. She was the "lioness" of the corporation, leading by example with an iron will and eye to the future. She recognized almost before there were computers the value of automation and worked with IBM as a pioneer in computerizing the business.

From that station wagon in Brooklyn, Quality King became a leading international distributor of health and beauty care, fragrances, hair care, and domestically, pharmaceuticals.

In 1997, L'anza Research challenged Quality King in court. In an expansive reading of copyright law, they argued that reimporting their shampoo was somehow a violation. In reality, they were looking to the US government to enforce their pricing schemes because, as Antonio Scalia quipped, "you want Americans to pay more."

Backing down, when right, was anathema to a woman who had overcome so much, even if it meant going to the Supreme Court, and it did. There, the justices decided 9-0 that indeed she was right.

She lost her husband in 1999 and left the business in the hands of her three children, Stephen, Glenn, and Arlene who survive her. Since retiring she has focused her energy on philanthropy as a generous supporter of numerous charities. She was a reluctant dater but in 2005 she met a wonderful man, Dr. Andrew Tamas and they spent 17 wonderful years together traveling, playing bridge and attending countless operas and symphonies. It was said that if you were under "her umbrella of love you would be held there forever and imbued with her special brand of caring and attention". Her charm was unmatched, as was her brisket and wry wit. Perhaps her greatest endeavor was showering her family, including 13 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren with endless energy and unabashed love. She held them without reservation, as her greatest legacy.