Miami Herald, The (FL) - January 8, 1999
Deceased Name: JAMES BAER, 67, FOUNDER OF JEWISH GROUPS
James Baer, a prominent civic leader who founded several local Jewish community groups and helped run his family's furniture business, died Thursday in his Boca Raton home of lung cancer.
He was instrumental in bringing Baer's Furniture to South Florida in the 1970s and as chairman helped turn it into a $62 million business. He helped found the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, now one of the largest federations in the country. Through the federation he also helped found the Donna Klein Jewish Academy, the Levis Jewish Community Center, the Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service and Camp Ted Weisberg.
''If one person had to be isolated as the father of the Jewish community in south Palm Beach County, it would have to be Jim Baer,'' said Baer's longtime friend Bruce Warshal, who was the first executive director of the federation.
Baer, 67, was born in South Bend, Ind., and joined the family business started by his parents there in 1945. He took control in the early 1960s, with the help of his two brothers, and expanded the operation to four stores. In 1968, the family opened its first Florida store.
Now, there are six stores in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Baer moved to Florida in 1976 but he remained true to his Indiana roots, indulging a love of horses and rarely going anywhere without his cowboy boots. He wore them under his tuxedo at his children's weddings and even at temple. His children teased him about being born too late to be a cowboy.
''Jimmy was basically a cowboy from Indiana, no matter how much he accomplished,'' Warshal said. ''That was his nature. He was just down to earth. That's what allowed him to do as much as he did because people liked him.''
He also had a head for business. He had a knack for cutting quickly to the heart of a problem and acting on it, Warshal said. But he also had a reputation for fairness and honest dealing.
''People loved working for him,'' his son Ron said. ''He brought out the best in people. . . . He had the biggest heart in the world.''
Once in Florida, Baer quickly got involved with local charities, continuing a pattern that began in South Bend. By the late 1970s, he decided that South Palm Beach County needed its own federation to more closely serve the local Jewish community. He founded it in 1979 and became its first president and first campaign chairman. He remained active on the board until he died.
Baer also served as president of Temple Beth El in Boca Raton for seven years, guiding its transformation from a small community synagogue to a prominent organization that today is the largest temple in Florida, Warshal said.
Baer's charity work was wide-ranging. He led several missions to Israel as national chairman of the Missions of the United Jewish Appeal. He served on the national governing board of that organization along with Council of Jewish Federations. He also helped raise money for Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, where he served on the school's international governing board.
He served on the board of the Boca Raton United Way and the local chapter of the National Council of Christians and Jews.
He was also once a city commissioner in Parkland, where he lived until last year.
Baer is survived by his wife of 45 years, Margie, sons Ron and Richard, and five grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton.
Edition: Final
Page: 4B