April 17, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Obituaries

Jules Timerman, Weavers Way Co-op founder
by WALTER FOX

Jules Timerman

Jules Timerman, 82, of Mt. Airy, founder and first manager of Weavers Way Co-op in Mt. Airy, died April 4 at his home after a long illness.

Mr. Timerman started what has become the city’s largest food cooperative with a small, pre-order buying group in the basement of Summit Church at Green and Westview streets in Mt. Airy in 1972. As neighbors responded to this new way of obtaining fresh food, he became convinced that Mt. Airy would support a full-fledged co-op.

Acting on this belief, he moved the operation in 1973 into a small storefront at 555 Carpenter Lane — the former Sid’s Delicatessen — stocking it with deli products and fresh produce. But the space was inadequate, and a year later he purchased 559 Carpenter Lane, the co-op’s current location, for $5,000.

When word spread around the community that produce at the co-op was fresher and cheaper than at local supermarkets, and that the cheese selection was extraordinary, membership quickly climbed to 500 by mid-1973.

Today Weavers Way has more than 3,200 members, 60 employees and revenues in excess of $7 million.

The co-op’s early success was a direct result of Mr. Timerman’s wholehearted commitment and sheer hard work. Bob Noble, a former president of the co-op, said Mr. Timerman was “a prodigious worker.”

“He clocked 70 to 80 hours a week with no salary during the co-op’s infancy,” he said.

Norman Weiss, the co-op’s purchasing manager who was hired by Mr. Timerman in 1974, recalled the early days.

“I would listen to Jules explain what he wanted to suppliers and I’d think, ‘this guy has a gift,’” Weiss said. “His combination of clarity, matter-of-factness, and the appeal of his goal — and his commitment to it — proved almost irresistible.”

Reflecting once on the success of his enterprise, Mr. Timerman, the son of Russian immigrants, said, “It’s individual acts of kindness to neighbors that make this thing go on and on.” 

A graduate of Temple University and a computer programmer by training, Mr. Timmerman had become disenchanted with the corporate world and walked away to pursue his ideas about alternative food purchasing. His first venture in fresh food marketing was selling Winesap apples from the porch of his home on the same block of Carpenter Lane that would later include the co-op.

After completing his tenure at Weavers Way, Mr. Timerman founded Food With TLC, a small grocery in Erdenheim that sold products similar to those at the co-op with a similar philosophy. He closed the business in 1995 and retired.

According to friends, he was always interested in politics — both local and national — and committed to the environment, supporting organizations such as the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, the Wilderness Society, and the Delaware River Keeper Network, among others.

He served in the Army during World War II and attended officers’ training camp at Oregon State University, but the war ended before he could be commissioned.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, the former Kit Fletcher; a daughter, Andrea Dominic of Philadelphia; a son, Alec Timerman of New York City, and one grandson.

George I. Tyndall

George I. Tyndall, 91, a retired executive employed by the Yarway Corporation when the firm was headquartered in Chestnut Hill, died April 11 at his residence, Meadowood at Worcester.

Mr. Tyndall began his career as an accountant with Collins and Aikman, a textile manufacturer in Philadelphia. In the 1950s he took a position with Yarway Corporation, then in Chestnut Hill. As the company expanded worldwide, it moved its headquarters to Blue Bell.

He was named Yarway’s executive vice president in charge of finances and vice chairman of the board of directors, in which capacity he continued until his retirement.

He also was an active board member with Foulkways at Gwynedd, Aston Group, Inc., and Envirite Corporation.

Mr. Tyndall was a member of Church of the Messiah in Gwynedd for 50 years and was a member of the vestry for many years as the rector’s financial warden.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After his discharge he graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

He was the husband of the late Irene (Campbell) Tyndall.

He is survived by his son George I. Tyndall Jr. of Chestnut Hill, two brothers, Woodfield and Norman, and two sisters, Ida Francis and Harriett, preceded him in death.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 17, at the Church of The Messiah, Rt. 202, Gwynedd. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Church of The Messiah, P. O. Box 127 Gwynedd, PA  9436; Episcopal Community Services, 225 South Third St., Philadelphia, PA 19106, or The Wharton Fund, 344 Vance Hall, 3733 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6360.

Alan Kushner

Alan Kushner, 58, formerly of Mt. Airy, a wood sculptor and furniture maker, died April 1 at his home in Wyndmoor.

Mr. Kushner also was an art and antiques collector.

He is survived by a brother, Gary, of Cherry Hill, N.J.

George T. Roth

George T. Roth, 76, of Wyndmoor, died April 8 at his home.

Mr. Roth was the son of the late Helen and Edward Roth and brother of the late Edmond A. Roth.

A memorial service was held April 12 at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Chestnut Hill. Memorial contributions may be made to Montgomery Co. SPCA, 19 E. Ridge Pike, P.O. Box 222, Conshohocken, PA 19428.

Nellie H. Miller

Nellie Haight Miller, 90, formerly of Chestnut Hill, died March 22 at Huntington Common, Kennebunk, Maine, where she had been a resident since 2003.

Mrs. Miller had lived in Glenside and Wyndmoor before moving to Chestnut Hill in 1988.

She was born in Moorestown, N.J., the daughter of Wesley C. and Esther (Fithian) Fitzgerald. She attended Springside School and graduated from Ogontz Junior College (now Penn State Abington). She was a homemaker for many years.

Mrs. Miller was a member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the Colonial Dames of America and the Mayflower Society. She enjoyed flower arranging. 

Her first husband, David C. Haight, died in 1969. Her second husband, Norman H. Miller, died in 1992.

She is survived by sons, Thomas G. Haight of Erdenheim and David C. Haight of Bridgeport; a stepson, Charles F. Miller of Blue Bell, and one granddaughter. A brother and a sister preceded her in death.

Private graveside services will be in Hope Cemetery in Kennebunk.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 44 Kennebunkport, ME 04046.

Alice M. Heyl

Alice Morris Heyl, 92, formerly of Chestnut Hill, died April 6 — one day before her 93rd birthday — at Merwick in Princeton, N.J., where she had been a resident for the past four years.

Raised in Germantown, Mrs. Heyl had lived in Chestnut Hill for nearly five decades and was a past president of the Chestnut Hill Garden Club. She attended the Stevens School.

 She was a former member of the Philadelphia Orchestra Women’s Committee and the Easter Seals Board. She also was a former member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club and Wings Field.

She was the wife of the late Wolcott M. Heyl and the daughter of John F.L. and Charlotte (Sherry) Heyl.

She is survived by a daughter, Charlotte McLaughlin of Princeton; a son, John Loomis Heyl of Washington, D.C.; four grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.

A private burial will take place in May at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Chestnut Hill.