National Clothesline

Sylvia Fleishman, founder of Fleishman’s Dry Cleaning & Tailoring Supplies, died on Sunday, June 25.

She was a homemaker raising two children in 1960 when here husband Harry, already operating Fleishman Fabrics for 20 years, bought out a small trimming store and told her it was time to go to work.

At a time when it was less common for women to work full time, she rose to the challenge, working six days a week, and the small store began to take the shape of a large drycleaning and tailoring establishment.

Her sales skills were developed while growing up in Barnsboro, PA, where her parents had a shoe store. She had the ability to embrace customers as if they were a member of the family; all were important, whether buying one zipper or thousands of hangers. Loyal customers came from far and wide to purchase supplies and get in on the conversation.

She especially enjoyed trade shows where she reveled in so many customers and manufacturers in one place.

Twenty-five years ago she became a teacher and partner to her daughter-in-law, Tricia Fleishman, and together they continued to expand the business.

While battling emphysema, she continued to work a full schedule, carrying oxygen with her to work, until she was 81 years old. Even then she would make customers feel as through there were walking into her living room. They might have been coming just for some buttons or lining, but they left with bags full of lint rollers, needles, zippers and pins and the ever-present seam-ripper for good luck, a tradition that continues today.

She is survived by her son, Stanley; daughter, Wendy; and grandchildren Dara, Josh, Dylan and Mattie.

Dennis M. Weber, chief executive officer of Irving Weber Associates, Inc., passed away on May 29 in Smithtown, NY.

Weber was born in Bronx, NY, on January 4, 1940. At an early age, he joined his father, Irving Weber, who was then the endorsed insurance broker for the Neighborhood Cleaners Association. Together they developed the agency into the largest writer of business insurance and workers’ compensation for drycleaners in the nation. He rose to vice president of the agency in 1984, then to president in 1990, a position he held until late last year.

One of his functions at Irving Weber Associates, Inc., was the adjudication of major losses. Over the years he assisted many drycleaners in returning to business when they sustained a total loss.

In addition, during his tenure at Irving Weber Associates he was also a volunteer firefighter with the Dix Hill Fire Department. Before retiring from the Dix Hills Fire Department he achieved the position of Fire Chief.

He was also involved in the development of a successful workers’ compensation safety group in the drycleaning industry, a program that saved participants millions of dollars on premiums since its inception.

Weber leaves behind a wife to whom he was married to for 50 years, three children and eight grandchildren.