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Md. jeweler William Fleisher dies at 90
Retired Maryland jeweler William “Quarterback Bill” Fleisher died on July 3. He was 90 years old.
Fleisher was born Jan. 12, 1924 and began his career in the industry around 1945, when he worked in an uncle’s retail jewelry store in Alexandria, Va. after being discharged from the U.S. Army.
In 1949, with the help of his father-in-law and a diamond dealer in New York, Fleisher opened his own jewelry store in Mount Rainier, Md.
In 1959, Fleisher and his family moved to Hyattsville and in 1962 Fleisher Jewelers also was relocated to the town, where it remained open until 2012, run by Fleisher’s youngest son, Fred.
The elder Fleisher had retired in 1999 to take care of his wife.
Fleisher was a freemason and a member of the Brentwood Lion’s Club, the Maryland Retailers Association and the Tri-State Jewelers Association, of which he was past president. He also sponsored various contestants in the Miss Hyattsville Beauty Pageant and also was a sponsor of the Washington Senators, Washington Redskins and University of Maryland Terrapins.
In addition, Fleisher was an active member of the U.S. Army until 1945, stationed on the West Coast during World War II.
Fleisher is survived by his wife, Eleanor; sons Andrew, Ronald and Fred; a brother, Albert; and three grandchildren.
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