Schumacher exec Puschel dies at 97

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 8/17/2004 12:00:00 AM

NEW YORK — Walter Puschel, a longtime employee of F. Schumacher & Co., died on Aug. 13 in Vergennes, Vt.

From 1957 to 1971, Puschel served as president and later chairman of the board of F. Schumacher & Co., one of the oldest family-owned companies in America, a wholesale decorative fabric, wallpaper, furnishings, and carpet firm.

Founded by Frederic Schumacher in 1889, the firm grew rapidly from a small showroom on Broadway and 22nd Street in New York City. Puschel joined the company in 1933 to head the purchasing department and later became vice president in 1949. During World War II, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

Surviving Puschel are a daughter, Suzanne Meskell of Eatonton, Ga., two sons, Philip of Sanibel, Fla., and Panton, Vt., and Gerald of Greenwich, Conn., five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.