Kenneth Katz, a Mineola native and longtime village businessman, died of natural causes Monday at his Florida home. He was 88.
Katz ran his family business, Harry Katz Floor Coverings, for 30 years before passing it on to his son, Gary Katz, and his daughter, Cyndy Katz Sigadel of Roslyn.
He was also once a president of the Mineola Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Mineola Lions Club, along with several other service organizations.
“My dad was an incredible man who touched all who knew him,” said Gary Katz, also a past Chamber of Commerce president. “I know that he was the one man that I truly aspired to be most like.”
Kenneth Katz was born in 1928 in Mineola at Nassau Hospital, now known as Winthrop-University Hospital.
He was the salutatorian of his graduating class at Mineola High School, said Gary Katz, a Commack resident.
Kenneth Katz went on to graduate from Syracuse University before joining the U.S. Army to fight in the Korean War, Gary Katz said.
Kenneth Katz wanted to be a lawyer, but in 1955 he became a partner in Harry Katz Floor Coverings, the carpet, flooring and appliance store named for his father, who founded it in 1932, Gary Katz said.
Kenneth became president in 1970 when his parents retired to Florida.
“My grandparents built this big store and asked him to come and help, so it was a family tradition,” Gary Katz said.
Kenneth Katz retired to Delray Beach, Fla., in 1985 after living in Roslyn and then Lake Success.
Aside from his business career, he served as the president of Children’s House in Mineola, a nonprofit organization now called the Family and Children’s Association, Gary Katz said.
He was also once a volunteer firefighter in the Mineola Fire Department, village Mayor Scott Strauss said.
Katz’s family roots in Mineola made it “a place very close to his heart,” Gary Katz said.
“He’s an icon, absolute icon of the village,” Strauss said.
Kenneth Katz is survived by his wife, Suzanne; a daughter, Cyndy Katz Sigadel; three sons, Gary, Ronald of Woodbury and Douglas of Jericho; 15 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
His funeral was to be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, at Sinai Chapel, at 162-05 Horace Harding Expressway in Fresh Meadows, Queens.
The Katz family will sit shiva from Thursday after the funeral until 9 p.m., Friday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
