Florence Auerbach, dead at 72

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 9/3/2001 12:00:00 AM

PORT WASHINGTON, NY —

Florence C. Auerbach, 72, corporate secretary of The Northwest Company and wife of company founder Shay Auerbach, died at home in her sleep on Aug. 25, only hours after she had dined out with family members.

In an unusually close family relationship, she worked side by side with her husband and two sons, Ross and Glenn, every day of the week for the past 12 years at the headquarters of the family-controlled company.

"She did everything at the company; there was nothing she couldn't do," said Stan Mieszkowski, sales and marketing chief. "And the most important thing she did — she was a mother to everyone there. She was a five-star, Grade-A mom to a whole lot of people. That's what she did best of all, she was mom to the whole office."

Florence, he said, "was involved in everything there. And she was unbelievably enthusiastic. You should have seen her when a Kmart order came in."

For all her enthusiasm, she was an unpretentious and unassuming presence in the office. "She wanted to be called Mrs. A — she didn't want to be called Mrs. Auerbach because she didn't want to act privileged, like the boss's wife or something. She was a great lady and a real class act," Mieszkowski recalled.

In addition to her husband and sons, she leaves two daughters-in-law, Sophia and Camille, and three grandchildren.

Services were held Aug. 28 at the Schwartz-Jeffer Chapel, Forest Hills, NY. In her memory, the company's offices were closed Aug. 31.