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Clifford Isroff dies at the age of 79
Clifford Isroff, who served as the president of Sterling Jewelers in the late ‘80s after the company purchased his family’s business, Westhall, died June 30.
Clifford Jay Isroff served as the president of Sterling Jewelers for three years in the late ‘80s after the company purchased his family’s business, Westhall Co. Isroff died June 30 at the age of 79.
Akron, Ohio--Clifford Isroff, who served as the president of Sterling Jewelers in the late ‘80s after the company purchased his family’s business, died on June 30 at the age of 79.
Born and raised in Akron, Isroff jumped into the family business at Westhall Company immediately after he attended school at the University of Florida, New York University and Ohio State University.
Sterling Jewelers purchased the Westhall Company in 1987, after which Isroff became president of Sterling.
After retiring in 1990, he was elected chairman of manufacturing company I Corp. and also stayed active in his local community in Akron.
According to his obituary in the Akron Beacon Journal, he served on the board of Akron General Hospital, as a director of First Merit Bank, and on the boards of many local organizations such as The Cleveland Orchestra, Blossom Music Center, The University of Akron, The Akron Community Foundation, and The Akron Jewish Federation.
He also had received many accolades in his lifetime, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Akron in 2001 and the Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award for his “dedication to humanitarian causes in Akron,” an honor he shared with this wife Judy.
Isroff was preceded in death by his wife, Judy, and brother, Thomas.
He is survived by his son, Jeffrey; daughter, Caroline Schwartz; daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Isroff; son-in-law, Donald Schwartz; and grandchildren, Max and Sydney Isroff and Austin Schwartz.
“We are saddened to learn of Mr. Isroff’s passing, a former president of Sterling and partner and CEO of Westhall Inc., an Akron-based jewelry chain,” Signet CEO Mark Light said in a statement provided to National Jeweler. “In addition to serving in leadership positions during the 1980s, one of the company’s key growth periods, Mr. Isroff’s service on a number of area nonprofit boards over the past few decades and his involvement in the Greater Akron community was an inspiration to us all.”
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