Stanley Eigner

EIGNER, STANLEY Business and Civic Leader Stanley Eigner passed away on December 31, 2004 in Santa Barbara, California after a year long illness. Eigner was born in Youngstown, Ohio in July of 1929, the youngest of four children of Rose and Jacob Eigner. After graduating from Ohio State University in 1950, Eigner started law school at Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio, but left during his first year after being accepted into the first class of the U.S. Navy's Officers Candidate School in Newport, RI during the Korean War. His first assignment was as a Communications Officer aboard a destroyer. He later commanded a mine planter based in Chesapeake Bay. After serving in the Navy, he returned to Youngstown to work in his father's men's clothing store. During that time, he met and married his wife of nearly 49 years, Jeraldine Lippy Eigner of Niles, Ohio. In 1958, the Eigners moved to Dover, Ohio, where Stanley and his brother-in-law, Warren Fuerman, established a chain of junior department stores and developed Monroe Mall. He later founded Ohio Vision Networks with his brother, Dr. Edwin Eigner. While in Dover, Stanley served as President of the Crippled Children's' Society, United Fund and the Community Improvement Corporation, which was instrumental in attracting industry and employment to Tuscarawas County. He was also President of the United Jewish Appeal and an active member of the Rotary Club and County Board of Mental Health. Eigner served as Chairman of the County Board of Visitors, which inspected all public facilities in the area. He was a lifetime member of the Alumni Association, an avid Buckeye booster and. a member of the President's Club of his beloved Ohio State University. The Eigners moved to Santa Barbara, California in 1980, where Stanley co-owned Rips Vision Centers with Joseph Scher for four years before selling the company to NuVision. Eigner was a member of the President's Clubs of Santa Barbara City College and the University of California at Santa Barbara. He served on the UCSB Foundation Board of Trustees and on the Boards of California Coastal Rural Development Corp, Sansum Medical Research Institute, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, and the Santa Barbara Anti-Defamation League. Eigner was a past president of the Santa Barbara Jewish Federation and past member of the Laguna Blanca School Board of Trustees and Hillel.. At the time of his passing, he was serving as President of the University of California at Santa Barbara Affiliates. He was a member of La Cumbre Country Club and the Cosmopolitan Club. Stan and his wife Jeri are the parents of five children: Sally (deceased), William (Jeanne) of La Jolla, California, Edward (Amy) and Thomas (Lauren) of Centennial, Colorado, Dana Eigner Garabedian (Mark) of Santa Barbara and nine grandchildren, He is also survived by his sister, Maureen White, of Santa Barbara, California and brothers, Leonard and Edwin Eigner of Cleveland, Ohio. The funeral will take place at Congregation B'nai B'rith, 1000 San Antonio Creek Road, Santa Barbara, CA at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 4, 2005, immediately followed by the burial at Santa Barbara Cemetery. The family will receive visitors at their home at 935 Estrella Drive, Santa Barbara, CA following the ceremonies. The family will also receive visitors from 7-9 p.m. on Wednesday, January 5, and Thursday, January 6, 2005. Donations in Stanley Eigner's memory may be made to Santa Barbara's Congregation B'nai B'rith, Hospice Care & Visiting Nurses of Santa Barbara, or to any of the organizations in which Stanley was involved. Please sign the guest book at obituaries.uniontrib.com