Isadore Familian

Familian was born in 1911 to a Jewish family in Chicago.^[1] When he was two, his family moved to Los Angeles where his father founded Familian Pipe and Supply Co., a plumbing supply business. At the age of 16, he dropped out of Theodore Roosevelt High School to work at the family business.^[1] In 1941, he became president and purchased rival Price Pfister Brass Manufacturing Company.^[1] During World War II, the company, now using the Price Pfister name, shifted to military production manufacturing aircraft fittings and hand grenade shells.^[2] After the war, the company focused on residential faucets, feeding the postwar housing boom.^[2] Under his leadership, the company grew from 50 to 1,500 employees and became one of the largest manufacturers of brass bath and kitchen hardware in the world.^[1] In 1969, Price Pfister was sold to Norris Industries with Familian continuing on as chairman of the board.^[1]

The firm went through numerous ownership changes in the following years. In 1981, Norris was purchased in a leveraged buyout for $420 million by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and renamed NI Industries.^[3] In 1985, NI Industries was purchased by Masco Corporation for $460 million.^[3] In 1988, Masco sold its Pfister subsidiary to Emhart Corporation. In 1989, Emhart was acquired by Black & Decker Corporation. In 2010, Black & Decker merged with Stanley Works to form Stanley Black & Decker.^[4] In 2012, Stanley Black & Decker sold for $1.4 billion its Hardware and Home Improvement Group, including Pfister, to Spectrum Brands Holdings Incorporated.^[5]

In 1947, he, along with his wife Sunny, founded the University of Judaism in Hollywood and was on its board of directors.^[1] Familian also was on the board of directors for City of Hope National Medical Center, City National Bank, the Los Angeles Music Center, and the Jewish Community Foundation.^[1] He chaired the United Jewish Welfare Fund drive for Greater Los Angeles and was active with the United Crusade and the March of Dimes.^[1] In 1941, he and his brother George financed the construction of the David Familian Chapel of Temple Adat Ari El in Valley Village named in honor of their father.^[1]

Familian was married twice. His first wife was Sunny Caplan (died 1979).^[1] His second wife was Shirley Robbins Baskin, sister of Irv Robbins and former wife of Burt Baskin.^[6] Familian died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles; services were held at Hillside Memorial Park.^[1] Familian was survived by two biological children, Sondra Familian Smalley and Gary Familian; and two step children, Edie Baskin Bronson (married to Richard "Skip" Bronson) and Richard Baskin.^[1]