Former Pikesville resident Jack H. Pechter, a Holocaust survivor, real estate developer and philanthropist, died of natural causes on Aug. 24 surrounded by his family at his home in Boca Raton, Florida. He was 90.
A native of the eastern Polish town of Rejowiec, Pechter was the son of Max and Sara (Bittner) Pechter. He was 5 when the Nazis invaded Poland in September of 1939, and Pechter, his parents and his three sisters, Jean, Helen and Dora, began a five-year odyssey through Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to avoid the horrors of the Holocaust.
The Pechters reached the Russian border by horse and buggy, and then rode cattle cars with other refugees to reach displaced persons camps throughout Central Asia and Siberia.
In 1949, the Pechters relocated in Baltimore. Jack Pechter attended the University of Maryland, served two years in the U.S. Army, and met and married his wife Marilyn, with whom he would have four children.
In 1958, Pechter entered the real estate industry, first as a laborer, then a broker, and eventually as an investor and developer of townhome communities throughout Maryland.
With the success of his business ventures, Pechter became involved in myriad philanthropic endeavors. He co-founded the International Institute for Holocaust Research, and served on the boards of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, State of Israel Bonds, the Boca Raton Community Foundation and Midtown Churches of Baltimore, among several other nonprofits.
He also served as chairman of the board of the Boca Raton-based Pechter Family Foundation.
For his philanthropic work and community leadership, Pechter received awards from such organizations as The Associated, the Jewish National Fund and the Florence Fuller Child Development Center.
In 2015, Baltimore-based author M. Hirsh Goldberg wrote a biography about Pechter titled “The Life That Jack Built” (Cherished Legacy Publishing).
Pechter is survived by his wife, Marilyn; their four children: Martin Pechter (Lisa Vanderwoude), Jeffrey Pechter, Shelly Himmelrich (Billy Himmelrich) and Melissa Pechter; his sister Dora Schwartz (Pechter); his grandchildren, Danielle Wayne (Ethan Wayne), Nicole Pechter (Keith Epstein), Zachary Pechter (Alexa Reubens), Max Himmelrich, Charlie Himmelrich (predeceased) and Jada Pechter; and his great-grandchildren, Eli, Maverick, and Rae.
Funeral services for Pechter were held Monday afternoon, Aug. 26, at B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton, followed by interment at Eternal Light Memorial Gardens in Boynton Beach, Florida. The service can be viewed at https://venue.streamspot.com/event/NDk5OTkxMg.
Contributions in Pechter’s memory can be sent to www.thecharliefund.org/donate.
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