Gerard Gunzburger, 77, Retired Businessman, Chemist, and Temple President
Husband of Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger

1931-2009

Retired plastics manufacturing executive, chemist, and community activist Gerard "Gerry" Gunzburger died after a brief illness on Thursday, April 23, 2009, at his home in Hollywood, Florida. Gerry was the husband of Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger. He was 77 years old.

Gerry was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1931. He came from a family of very cosmopolitan, assimilated Jews – a family which had lived in Germany for hundreds of years. As the Nazi threats against the Jews grew -- and as German laws against Jews became more oppressive and draconian -- Gerry and his parents wisely fled Germany in late 1936. His grandmother and her sister, who opted instead to stay in Berlin, both perished in the Holocaust. The family fled first to Denmark, but were detained at the airport as refugees, denied asylum, and forced to leave the country within one day. Next came six months living in Norway, before eventually obtaining visas to live in France. "My father wanted to leave, but not go too far, because he was sure then that the Nazis wouldn't last very long in power and he wanted to return to Germany," Gerry explained in a speech last month to religious school students at Temple Beth-El.

The family arrived in Paris in 1937, and found safety there – until the Nazis invaded France in 1940. When war was declared, Gerry's father was interned as a German national in a French prison camp before being released months later. Separated from his father, Gerry and his mother were able to escape Paris on one of the last trains out of the city on June 13, 1940, hours before the Nazi troops marched into the city the next morning. The train was strafed by Germany fighter planes and forced to stop twice before finally reaching France’s western seacoast. Gerry and his mother hitchhiked south in a French Army truck in a mad dash to stay ahead of the advancing German troops. When France surrendered to the Nazis, Gunzburger and his mother found themselves trapped on the German side of the lines. A French Air Force officer helped smuggle them across the border the next day into unoccupied Vichy France. After being reunited with his father, the family moved to the southern port city of Marseilles. Although they had a US relative willing to sponsor them, the family was unable to obtain a visa to emigrate to the United States – which strictly limited the number of European Jews allowed to seek safety here. Finally, after narrowly escaping arrest by the French Gestapo, Gerry was able to obtain Colombian visas for his entire family from the father of his best friend in school. The boy’s father was the Consul General of Colombia in Marseilles. "I've never really considered myself a true 'Holocaust survivor' because we got out," he would say, when asked about his childhood experiences.

They arrived in Bogota, Colombia with just $300 and started rebuilding their lives. Gerry’s parents worked to create a clothing business, starting in their own home. Gerry’s small bedroom doubled by day as the sewing machine room. In time, the business became rather successful. As for Gerry, he attended the prestigious Universidad Nacional de Colombia and earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He also spent his free time in Colombia racing motorcycles and cars, winning several trophies in officially-sanctioned road races in the early 1950s.

Gerry moved to the United States to attend graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his Master’s degree there in Chemical Engineering in 1955. A few years later he earned his MBA degree from the University of Detroit.

After graduation from M.I.T., Gerry went to work for Wyandotte Chemicals outside of Detroit, Michigan. Eventually, he was responsible for supervising all engineers at the large chemical manufacturing facility. It was also while working there that Gerry was recognized as a co-inventor on his first patent: a valuable new chemical process related to soda ash. His reward from the company: a handshake. It was the first of Gerry’s two U.S. patents and nine foreign patents.

While living in Detroit, Gerry also attended a temple social event and met public school teacher Suzanne Nathan. They were married in 1960 and celebrated their 49th anniversary just two weeks ago.

When told by a Wyandotte Chemicals corporate executive that he could not be promoted higher because he was Jewish, Gerry decided to look for new work in 1962. He accepted a position with the National Distillers chemical company in Connecticut and – the same year – became a United States citizen. It was at this new job that Gerry invented a plastic packaging film named “OPP,” which largely made cellophane wrapping obsolete. OPP became the world’s largest selling packaging material – still used today – for cookies and crackers. National Distillers rewarded Gerry with $50 for the invention. “It was better than the handshake I got for my first invention,” he liked to joke.

In 1966, Gerry and several engineer co-workers at the Connecticut plant pooled their savings to buy a very small, failing plastic bag manufacturing company in Hialeah named Smart-Pak Plastics & Packaging. Soon after, Gerry and his family moved to South Florida. Starting with a combined company capital of just $10,000, Gerry grew the company to $250,000 in sales the first year. In time, Gerry bought out all but one of his partners -- and purchased other plastics and burlap bag companies -- to grow the Smart-Pak operation. The company – which had relocated to a large facility in Aventura – was generating over $14 million in business annually by the time Gerry sold Smart-Pak in 1990.

Taking his extensive knowledge of the plastics industry, Gerry next started a plastics recycling company named Better Than Wood, Inc. The new company converted used plastic bottles and other post-consumer products into compressed plastic lumber products for fencing, walkways, docks and picnic tables. “Recycling doesn’t work unless you complete the recycling loop,” he frequently reminded people. In time, Gerry sold his interest in the recycling company and retired ten years ago.

Even Gerry’s retirement years saw a flurry of new activities. He joined the Board of Directors of Temple Beth-El of Hollywood, and quickly was elevated to Treasurer. It was at a time when the temple’s membership had hit an all-time low of roughly 200 families and was operating with a rapidly growing annual debt of around $150,000. As Treasurer and later as President, Rabbi Alan Tuffs credits Gerry with “saving Temple Beth-El. Gerry found ways to eliminate our annual debt, make the temple financially sound, grow the pre-school and religious school with young families, and increase the membership to 450 families.”

“He was a strong, brilliant and generous leader with a real vision for our temple’s future. We would sometimes argue at board meetings, and I like to say that I enjoyed arguing with Gerry more than I enjoy agreeing with most other people. And, when we fought, it turned out Gerry was usually right 95% of the time,” added Tuffs. Gerry and his wife also created a unique endowment at the temple which pays for every graduate of the temple’s 10th grade religious confirmation class to attend the two-week “March of the Living” program of visits to Nazi death camps and a tour of holy sites in Israel. “Gerry was passionately committed to Holocaust education programs to ensure that genocide – against any group – never happens again. He also was dedicated to preserving a strong State of Israel,” said Tuffs. “This endowment Gerry created achieves both goals.”

Gerry, who has lived in Hollywood since 1968, also served on the City of Hollywood Charter Revision Board for the past two years. He was also frequently at the side of his wife Sue as she campaigned successfully first for the Hollywood City Commission in 1982 and later for the Broward County Commission, and all of her other campaigns along the way. “He was my strongest supporter, encouraging me every step of the way in anything I wanted to pursue,” said his wife.

“He would drive with Mom to her campaign and speaking events each evening, even if he then sat there and worked on crossword puzzles as Mom spoke,” said son Ron. “But he always wanted to be with Mom every night. Despite their busy schedules, they tried to have breakfast and dinner together at home nearly every day for the past 49 years.”

In addition to his wife, Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger of Hollywood, Gerry is also survived by children Ron Gunzburger of Fort Lauderdale, Cindy Katz of Syosset, New York, and Judy Gunzburger of Hollywood, and grandchildren Emily, Joshua and Jacob Katz of Syosset, New York.

A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m., on Sunday, April 26, at Temple Beth-El of Hollywood. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that contributions be made to the “Gunzburger L’Dor V’Dor Fund” at Temple Beth-El of Hollywood, 1351 South 14th Avenue, Hollywood, Florida 33020. The fund supports programs in the temple’s Gunzburger School of Religious Studies.