Sheldon Tarnopol, owner of retail fur stores in the region

Sheldon Tarnopol, 80, of Mount Laurel, the third generation of his family to own retail fur stores in the Philadelphia region, died of heart failure Monday, Sept. 19, at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

His grandfather, Max, arrived in North Philadelphia in the late 1800s, bringing with him the fur sales training he had learned in the Russian Empire, Sheldon Tarnopol told the Inquirer in 1995.

Max Tarnopol opened the first of his family's stores at 16th and Diamond Streets.

In 1956, the family moved its business to the City Line Shopping Center in Philadelphia and in 1991 to a Montgomery Avenue location in Bala Cynwyd.

In 2002, Sheldon and his wife, Buni, closed that store, selling it to Zinman, formerly Zinman Furs.

They agreed to run a new Zinman store across from the Ardmore Farmers' Market, from which Sheldon Tarnopol retired.

Mr. Tarnopol graduated from Overbrook High School in 1953 and earned a bachelor's at Temple University in 1957, a son, Neil, said.

A member of the Army Reserve, Sheldon Tarnopol was called to active stateside duty during the Berlin crisis of 1961.

Mr. Tarnopol became the operator of the family firm in 1972, when his father, Stanley, retired.

In his 1995 interview, Sheldon Tarnopol noted that fewer men visited his store than in the past, because more women were buying coats themselves.

And fur coats were no longer just for special occasions.

"Coats today are more for every day, because they don't want a closet coat," he said. In earlier times, "it was for Saturday nights."

His son, Neil, said Mr. Tarnopol "had the patience of a saint. He never said anything bad about anybody."

Eli Karetny, a former partner in a Philadelphia public relations firm, had known Mr. Tarnopol since they were in their 20s.

On Saturday evenings, Karetny said, Mr. Tarnopol's way of entertaining was to have the pair stuffing envelopes promoting his store.

But it was worth it, Karetny said, for the stories that Mr. Tarnopol told, about meeting his customers on his travels from Cuba to St. Tropez and beyond.

Besides his son, Mr. Tarnopol is survived by son Jeffrey, a sister, and five grandchildren. His wife died in 2014.

A funeral was set for noon Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Platt Memorial Chapels, 2001 Berlin Rd., Cherry Hill, with interment in Montefiore Cemetery, Jenkintown.

Donations may be sent to a charity of one's choice.

Condolences may be offered to the family at plattmemorial.com.

wnaedele@phillynews.com

610-313-8134 @WNaedele