Joseph Wilf (1925 – August 3, 2016) was a Polish-American businessman, Holocaust survivor, and the co-founder of Garden Homes, one of the largest real estate development companies in the United States.

Early life

Joseph Wilf was born in Jarosław, Poland in 1925. In 1950, Wilf, his brother, and their wives, emigrated to the US, and settled in New Jersey.

Career

In 1954, together with his older brother, Harry Wilf, he co-founded Garden Homes, one of the largest real estate development companies in the United States. In 1964, they founded the Wilf Family Foundation, which later expanded into seven foundations. Joe Wilf volunteered with and donated to numerous organizations, including

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

, American Society for

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

United Jewish Appeal The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), ...

Israel Bonds Israel Bonds, the commonly-known name of Development Corporation for Israel (DCI), is the U.S. underwriter of debt securities issued by the State of Israel. DCI is headquartered in New York City, and is a broker-dealer and member of the Financial ...

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

Joint Distribution Committee American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...

, Conference on Material Claims Against Germany,

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust h ...

and many other organizations. He was also the first North American chair of the

March of the Living The March of the Living ( he, מצעד החיים, ) is an annual educational program which brings students from around the world to Poland, where they explore the remnants of the Holocaust. On Holocaust Memorial Day observed in the Jewish cale ...

, which dedicated the 2017 March of the Living to his memory.Young, Lindse
"2017 'March of the Living' Honors Memory of Joseph Wilf"
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Personal life

In 1949, Wilf married Suzie Fisch in Germany, the daughter of Miriam and Markus Fisch from a pre-war Polish city of Lwów, now

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

. Wilf died on August 3, 2016, at his home in

Hillside, New Jersey Hillside is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 21,404, reflecting a decline of 343 (−1.6%) from the 21,747 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in ...

References

1925 births 2016 deaths

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

American real estate businesspeople American people of Polish-Jewish descent People from Hillside, New Jersey People from Jarosław Polish emigrants to the United States {{US-business-bio-stub