H EADLINES
Rubin Continued from Page 1
Then-Mayor Frank Rizzo
wanted the building destroyed.

But Rubin — whose father
Richard, a Ukranian immigrant,
got his fi rst job delivering shoes
from a high-end shoe store to
guests at the Bellevue — inter-
vened, lining up a consortium
of banks that helped him buy
and renovate the Renaissance-
style hotel. In 1979, the hotel
reopened, and Rubin redevel-
oped it years later to better suit
market needs with fewer rooms
and more offi ce space.

He also was involved in
preserving the PSFS building
a few blocks away on Market
Street. Another Rubin project
involved building the 54-story
BNY Mellon Center at 1735
Market St.

I n 19 9 7, w h e n t h e
Pen n s y l v a n i a R e a l E s t at e
Investment Trust bought the
Rubin Organization, which was
founded by his father, Rubin
became CEO.

During his tenure, PREIT
bought the Gallery at Market
East, which was revamped in
recent years as Fashion District
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Philadelphia. PREIT also
renovated the Cherry Hill Mall
and counted Willow Grove
Park and the Moorestown
and Plymouth Meeting Malls
among its properties.

Rubin was PREIT’s CEO
through 2012 and stepped
down as executive chairman
in 2016 — although he still
maintained an offi ce aft erward.

“It’s the nature of the beast,”
he told the Jewish Exponent in
2016. “I’m a participant. I like
to be in the game.”
A native of West Philadelphia,
he graduated from West
Philadelphia High School, where
he was voted class comedian.

Th en he was off to Pennsylvania
State University, but he didn’t
last there.

“When he fl unked out of
Penn State, my father was
furious and helped him get a
job on the packing line of a
sweater factory,” sister Judith
Garfi nkel said. “Not long aft er-
ward, just before he was getting
ready to marry Marcia Miller,
my father invited him to join
the family business, a small
brokerage with just my father
and a secretary. When Ronnie
got into the offi ce, he blew the
walls off . He found his niche.”
Aside from his involvement in
shaping Center City, Rubin was
a steady presence in the Jewish
community, including service
as president of the board of
trustees of the Jewish Federation
of Greater Philadelphia from
1978-80, time on numerous
committees and nearly 50 years
as a board member.

“I’m certainly a practicing
Jew,” he said in a 2012
Exponent interview. “I don’t
want to say I’m holier than
thou. I believe in the basics. My
business career — my life — is
all based on relationships, and
ultimately all relationships, if
they have any meaning, are
based on trust. I try to impart
that culture in my business.

Building relationships is every-
thing. I don’t know whether
that’s a Jewish ethic. But it
certainly has driven my life.”
Past Jewish Federation
Ron Rubin
President Mimi Schneirov, also
a longtime Jewish Federation
board member, saw Rubin’s
relationship building in
practice many times.

“I can remember many
meetings where there were diffi -
cult decisions to make ... but he
could bring everyone together …
to him, relationships were every-
thing,” she said, adding that when
things got tense, Rubin could tell
stories that lightened the mood
and got things back on track.

Rubin used that touch with
everyone he met, Schneirov
said. She recalled returning
from a lunch one day when a
panhandler approached them.

Not only did Rubin give the
man money, but he struck up a
conversation as well.

Rubin also was ahead
of his time in his treatment
of women, Schneirov said,
detailing how he appointed
her to be the fi rst woman to
head one of Jewish Federation’s
allocation committees, before
she became the overall organi-
zation’s fi rst female president.

Rubin was honored at the
National Museum of American
Jewish History’s Only in
America Gala in 2016, which
featured a performance by
Andrea Bocelli. Rubin served
as a trustee and co-chairman
of the museum and helped
see the construction of the
Market Street building from
the ground up.

“Th ey’re so excited about
Bocelli. I said Bocelli is going
to make a speech, and I’m
going to sing,” Rubin joked in
the 2016 Exponent interview.

Cozen said NMAJH likely
wouldn’t have happened
JEWISH EXPONENT
Ron Rubin (front, third from right) and his family. From left: Step-grandson
McLane Hendriks, step-grand-daughter Liza Hendriks, granddaughter-in-
law Carrie Silberman, grandson Scott Silberman, Ronald Rubin, wife Marcia
Rubin, son Bill Rubin and daughter-in-law Lizzie Meryman in the Turks and
Caicos Islands
Photos courtesy of the Rubin family
From left: Marcia Rubin, father Richard I. Rubin, mother Dorothy Rubin and
Ron Rubin
without Rubin’s help.

“He found and bought the
site at Fift h and Market,” he
said. “From the very beginning,
he was a huge proponent.”
When NMAJH’s founding
chairperson, George Ross,
died shortly aft er the museum
opened, Rubin stepped into the
breach, museum CEO Misha
Galperin said, and he noted that
Rubin’s close relationship with
then-Vice President Joe Biden
resulted in Biden cutting the
museum’s opening-day ribbon.

Rubin was active with the
museum even in his fi nal
days as his health declined,
according to Galperin.

“His attitude toward it was
that it was just another challenge
you need to overcome,” Galperin
said. “He’s an inspiration. You
don’t replace him — you hope
other people step in.”
Rubin’s other leadership roles
included a stint as chairman of the
Greater Philadelphia Chamber of
Commerce, and he was on the
boards of the Franklin Institute,
the Philadelphia Orchestra,
Albert Einstein Medical Center,
Tel Aviv University, American
Friends of Hebrew University,
Continental Bank Midlantic
Bank, PECO Energy Corp.,
Exelon Corp., University of the
Arts, the United Jewish Appeal,
the Kimmel Center and the
Regional Performing Arts Center.

“When my
brother committed himself to a cause,
he was focused and passionate
about achieving it,” younger
brother George Rubin said.

“He was a relentless networker
as he reached out to the people
who could off er support.”
Rubin is survived by his
wife Marcia (née Miller), son
William P. Rubin (Elizabeth
Merryman), daughter Susan L.

Rubin, sister Judith Garfi nkel
(Marvin), brother George
Rubin, a grandson, two
step-grandchildren, a niece
and several nephews.

Gloria Hochman contributed
to this report. ●
agotlieb@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0797
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM