Lee Permut

1923 - 2017

Lee Permut

Lee Permut, born in the Bronx, New York, on January 3 1923, passed away at the age of 94 on October 30, 2017. He was laid to rest on November 2, 2017, at Hillside Memorial Park in Los Angeles, joining his beloved eldest son, Arthur who predeceased him in 1976. Lee is survived by his wife of 67 years, Pearl, son David, daughter Paula (Steven Mines) and his granddaughters Ashley (Brad Moore) and Rebecca (Lee Nunley).

Born in the Bronx to first-generation parents, his New York toughness and street smarts gave him the drive to succeed.

After graduating Manhattan School if Aviation, he joined the Department of the Navy and enlisted at the age of 19, to serve in WWII. After the war, Lee and his business partner formed Aerotest Laboratories, a diagnostic and component-testing company that had many government contracts including the first manned space mission, Mercury Redstone 3, with Alan Shepard. With that success, the company became the second largest military environmental testing company in the United States, and was actively involved with subsequent space launches with JFK's Race To Space program. He was a member of the Rocket Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The company was later acquired by Ogden Corp. in the 1960s, and Lee became the Executive Vice President. As Ogden expanded, Lee moved his family from New York to Los Angeles in 1966, where the family maintained homes in Holmby Hills and Palm Springs.

He retired from Ogden in 1980, and began the next phase of his career as an entrepreneur. He financed and marketed numerous companies such as Magic Cuts, a low-cost chain of hair salons; Burgle Bungle, one of the first anti-theft device manufacturers for cars; and the National Payphone Co. with Harold Berger, which owned and operated payphones nationwide. He had a successful career in real estate as well. He formed Hotel Brokers USA, a company that specialized in the sale of hotels, with partner Lance Garver.

Lee had a lifelong love of tennis, was an active member of the legendary Palm Springs Racquet Club and subsequently the Palm Springs Tennis Club.

He then learned the fine art of marble sculpture and spent much of his time in Positano, Italy, working on such pieces as the 10-foot-tall white-alabaster marble water sculpture of dolphins, which was exhibited at the La Quinta Sculpture Park and now stands at the entry to the Casa Señora development in Palm Springs. His artwork has been shown in numerous galleries and is currently on display at Classic Artforms Gallery in Los Angeles.

In 1976, Lee and his wife designated the Arthur Permut Memorial Fund at Angel View, in the name of his eldest son, Arthur, who died tragically in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. While living in Palm Springs, he volunteered at the Desert Hospital, installing patient-support technology.

Later in life, he also volunteered as a docent at the Palm Springs Aeronautics Museum so he could impart his love of space on to future generations.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Alzheimer's Greater Los Angeles at www.alzgla.org or call Jennifer Holloway at 323.930.6246.

To view and sign this guestbook, please visit: desertsun.com/obituaries