1627-19 Interviews mh JERRY SUSSMAN, 63, MIAMI BEACH HOTELIER 03/11/1986
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1986, The Miami Herald
DATE: Tuesday, March 11, 1986 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 3D LENGTH: 54 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Jerry SUSSMAN
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: BELINDA BROCKMAN Herald Staff Writer
MEMO: DEATHS
JERRY SUSSMAN, 63, MIAMI BEACH HOTELIER
Jerry Sussman, a fourth-generation hotelier whose successful career began
as a young boy at his family's Catskill Mountains' Tamarac Lodge, died Sunday
of a heart attack. He was 63.
• The hotel business was in his blood.
"A matter of the traditional cutting of the baby teeth, " said Mr.
Sussman's brother, Bob. "That's what he intended to do all his life.
"His ambitions didn't let him down. "
A former executive director of Miami Beach's Carillon Hotel, Mr. Sussman
had been associated with a number of hotels and hotel associations during his
40 years in Miami.
Most recently, he was a partner in All Florida Resorts, which runs nine
hotels in the state, including the Holiday Inn in Coral Gables and a Howard
Johnson's in Hollywood.
After his discharge from the Army Corp of Engineers, Mr. Sussman moved to
Miami in the spring of 1946. He got a job as the front desk clerk at the Ritz
Plaza. In those days, Miami Beach hotels closed for the summer, so Mr. Sussman
spent his first summer in Miami running the hotel's cabana club.
He eventually served as president of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce
and the Miami Beach Hotel and Motel Association, as well as chair the
Governor's Florida Tourism Advisory Committee.
Because the Beach's hotel industry is so closely tied to tourism,
bringing visitors to South Florida became Mr. Sussman's driving interest.
"I think Jerry was probably the first hotel manager on the Beach who
actually made concerted, continuing marketing efforts with travel agents all
through the country, " his brother said.
fl He also made lobbying trips to Europe, when the market there still was
untapped by South Florida officials.
For many years, if there was a panel on South Florida tourism, Mr.
Sussman served on it.
"This was his home, and this was his commitment, " said Bob Sussman.
A tall, soft-spoken man, Mr. Sussman also was deeply committed to his
faith. One of the eight founders of Temple Menorah on Miami Beach, he served
as national vice president of the United Synagogue of America, the lay
organization for the 1,250,000 members of Conservative Jewish congregations in
the U.S. , during the early 1970s.
In addition to his brother, survivors include his wife, Esther; four
sons, Kenneth, Marc, Lester and David; his mother, Bessie Sussman; sister,
Ruth Stein; and three grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. today at Temple Menorah, 620 75th St. , Miami
Beach, under the direction of the Riverside Normandy Isle Chapel.
Memorial donations may be made to Temple Menorah or any organization
supporting Jewish education.