JACK L. WEISSMAN

WEISSMAN--Jack L. 84, of Palm Beach, FL and New York City, NY passed away Wednesday, September 5 from complications of M.D.S., a blood disease, at Cornell-Weill Medical Center, New York City. Born in Philadelphia on August 12, 1928, to Anna and Robert Weissman, he grew up in his parents' family shoe store with his older brother Harold and went on to a career in the shoe industry. He rose from a Kitty Kelly Shoe store manager in Chicago, IL to Executive VP of Ideal Shoe, a division of J.M. Fields, a national chain. In 1970, he started his own company, Marketing Footwear Associates (M.F.A) in Cherry Hill, NJ with his nephew, Dick Weissman. He soon became known throughout the industry as "Mr. Snoopy." He was the originator of character licensing in footwear when he obtained the licensing rights for the Peanuts characters created by Charles Schulz. M.F.A. became an international business and also licensed "E.T," National Football League (N.F.L) footwear, Pac-Man slippers and Budweiser athletic footwear. In 1974, he started Butterfly Originals, a licensed children's accessory company with international distribution of more than 40 licenses of Snoopy/Peanuts, The Muppets and Pac-Man. Weissman was also a principal in a licensed school supply company, Plymouth Inc. Eventually, he sold his original M.F.A. business to Mercury International and went on to create Marketing Licensing Associates (M.L.A) with a partner, Robert Rowan. M.L.A. is an agency for licensors and licensees. The highlight of his long, happy career was in 1999 when he was elected to the Licensing Hall of Fame, the highest honor of the licensing industry. Jack loved life! He was known for his wonderful, abundant sense of humor, his gravelly voice and his signature bow ties. He was passionate about old movies, international travel, convertibles, the Phillies, golf, and food - "I never met a food I didn't like." He was voted one of the "worst, most-avid golfers" in Golf Digest. One of the highlights of his personal life was the delight he took as "Santa Claus" in the annual Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, a role he played for almost two decades, growing his own beard for the part! All year round he was known as "Santa Jack." A lover of all things theatrical, he belonged for 25 years to the Players Club in Gramercy Park, New York City. Weissman was a life-long active member of Sigma Alpha Rho, a national Jewish high school fraternity dedicated to community service. In SAR as a young man, he proudly served as Supreme Exalted Ruler. He was a career-long active member of Two Ten Footwear Foundation, the charitable arm of the shoe industry. In Palm Beach, he served as President and Board Member of his condominium association and was an active member of the Citizens Association of Palm Beach. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Joyce Mantyla. Two children survive him from his first marriage, a daughter, Rande Joiner (Bob Honig) of Potomac, MD, and a son, Lee Weissman (Laura) of Irvine, CA, a granddaughter, Sara Weissman, a nephew Dick Weissman (Joy) and a niece Marcy Rogovin (Charles) and cherished friends all over the world. A memorial service in celebration of Jack's life will be held Sunday, September 23 at the Community Church of New York, 40 East 35th Street at 2pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Two Ten Footwear Foundation, 1466 Main Street, Waltham, MA 02451, attn: Jack L. Weissman Memorial Scholarship Fund.