Fred Okun

1933 - 2020

(News story) Fred Okun, 86, a third-generation owner of a legacy Toledo produce wholesaler who welcomed fourth and fifth generations into the fold, died Tuesday at Mercy Health St. Anne Hospital.

His family said he suffered heart failure while at the funeral luncheon for Shirley Levy, a longtime friend who was The Blade's boating writer and introduced Mr. Okun and his wife, JoAnn, to sailing. Mrs. Levy, 91, died Friday.

Mr. Okun of Sylvania was chairman of Sam Okun Produce Co., a Warehouse District mainstay on North Huron Street, founded in 1914 by his grandfather. His father, Max Okun, worked long past retirement and was chairman when he died at age 91 in 1997.

"I've worked there since I was 12 or 13, except for two years I spent in the Army," Fred Okun told The Blade in 2000. "I know these floors, because I've swept them all myself. This is my store. It's been my life. It's my home, you know."

As a teenager, he unloaded trailers of potatoes and cabbage, said his daughter Shelly Okun Fruchtman, president of Sam Okun Produce Co.

"It was very hard labor, because they didn't have the mechanics we have now. It wasn't palletized and everything was in a bin," his daughter said.

He returned from Ohio State University and then stateside Army service to work full time at the company.

"The business really was quite small, compared with what my dad was able to, with the help of the family, grow it into," his daughter said.

An initiative to buy vegetables from California ensured company customers had year-round fresh produce. In the 1990s, he succeeded his brother Donald as president. Along the way, he wanted to know everything.

"There was nothing he wasn't ready to dig in and understand and do," his daughter said. "He was the plumber. He was the painter. He was the loader, the unloader."

His daughter joined full time in 2002 and became majority owner and president in 2007.

"Nothing made him prouder than to see his daughter succeed in the business," son-in-law Gary Fruchtman said. Those involved from the fifth generation include grandchildren Joshua, Adam, and Cydney Goldberg, and nephew Drew Saltzstein.

"My dad was lucky enough to work with all of them," his daughter said.

He made sure the business remained on North Huron and invested in the area.

"He had faith in Toledo and downtown specifically," his daughter said. Grandson Adam Goldberg is a co-owner of Gathered Glassblowing Studio on Huron, steps away from Sam Okun Produce.

He was born May 15, 1933, to Ida and Max Okun. He was a graduate of Scott High School and Ohio State, where he joined Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He was a Mensch of the Year award recipient from the Raggedy Ass Cadets, an association of those with long ties to central and North Toledo.

Surviving are his wife, the former JoAnn Seitz, whom he married Sept. 19, 1954; daughters, Robin Okun, Shelly Okun Fruchtman, and Amy Okun Saltzstein; brother, Larry Okun; seven grandchildren; three step-grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will begin at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at The Temple-Congregation Shomer Emunim, Sylvania Township. Arrangements are by the Robert H. Wick/?Wisniewski Funeral Home.

The family suggests tributes to the Max and Ida Okun Endowment at the temple.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.