Jeffrey Alfred Legum, a former area automobile dealership entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist, passed away on Thursday, Sept. 25. The Pikesville resident and Baltimore Hebrew Congregation member was 83.
A Baltimore native, Legum was the son of Leslie Legum, a developer of large industrial parks and board chairman of the Park Circle Motor Co., and Naomi H. Legum, daughter of Lionel Manuel Hendler, co-founder and operator of the Hendler Creamery Co. He was a 1959 graduate of the Park School of Baltimore.
In 1963, Jeffrey Legum graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He was also listed as a distinguished alumnus of business and finance at the Wharton School of Business.
After college, Legum joined the Park Circle Motor Co., which was founded in 1921 by his grandfather, A.M. Legum.
By 1986, he grew that dealership to the third largest in the country. Legum’s Westminster Motors provided limousines for the 1981 inauguration of President Ronald Reagan.
In 1989, Legum sold his Chevrolet-Nissan dealership, retaining Westminster Chevrolet Cadillac, a dealership he acquired in 1973. He ended his involvement in the automobile business in 1997.
Legum was the owner and CEO of The Park Circle Co., DBA Park Circle Investments, a private investment company with interest in local corporations.
Legum was featured in “Who’s Who in Finance and Business” and “Who’s Who in America,” as well as the 1987 inaugural edition of “Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders in America.”
Among the nonprofits and institutions that benefitted from Legum’s philanthropy were the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Park School of Baltimore, The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, the American Cancer Society, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Wilmer Eye Institute, and Heartly House Inc.
He also served on the board of directors of the Preakness Celebration Inc. in 1988 and 1989, and was chair of the Legum Foundation.
In his spare time, Legum enjoyed collecting Bordeaux wine, his cache of American stamps and exploring auction catalogs for fine works of 19th century American art, as well as spending time with family and friends.
He is survived by his wife, Harriet Legum (nee Cohn); his children, Laurie Legum (Jeffrey Krone) and Michael (Connie) Legum; his brother, Douglas Legum; and his grandson, Cooper Krone.
Jeffrey Legum was predeceased by his parents, Naomi Hendler Legum and Leslie Legum.
Services were held at Sol Levinson’s Chapel in Pikesville, on Sunday, Sept. 28. Interment was at Baltimore Hebrew Cemetery, 318 Berrymans Lane in Reisterstown
Contributions in his memory may be sent to Johns Hopkins Hospital, 750 East Pratt Street, Suite 1700, Baltimore, MD 21202. Gifts should be made to “In Memory of Jeffrey Alfred Legum.”
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