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IndependentsDec 13, 2017
Sakin & Co.’s Morris Starr Dies at 89
He was one of the early members and two-term president of the Cultured Pearl Association of America.
Morris Starr, the president of pearl company Sakin & Co., died Friday. He joined the Cultured Pearl Association of America in its early days and also was a two-term president.
Woodcliff Lake, N.J.--Morris Starr of pearl company Sakin & Co. died Friday at the age of 89.
A Holocaust survivor who was imprisoned at Dachau in Germany, Starr immigrated to the United States from Lithuania in 1947, after the war.
His father founded Sakin & Co., an importer and exporter of cultured pearls, in 1955 and Starr himself started in the industry in 1964, eventually becoming president of the company.
He also was one of the earliest members of the Cultured Pearl Association of America and a two-term president of the organization, as well as a well-respected member of the pearl industry.
Sonny Sethi, CEO of Tara Pearls, said Starr helped him build sales when he first entered the pearl business in the 1970s.
“He was a great man and a leader in the pearl industry. The pearl world will miss him very much,” Sethi said.
Starr is survived by his wife of 62 years, Marilyn; two daughters; a son-in-law; and four grandchildren.
Starr’s funeral was held Sunday at Robert Schoem’s Menorah Chapel in Paramus, New Jersey.
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