Irvin Choron, 86
Irvin Choron, who was “bitten by the Montauk bug when he caught a record-breaking striper off the beach at Atlantic Terrace in the 1960s,” died on Aug. 31 at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Conn. He was 86 and had been ill with pneumonia for a week.
Mr. Choron lived in Rye, N.Y., and had a second home on Old Montauk Highway in Montauk starting in the 1970s, “spending as much time there with his wife and family as possible, casting into the surf on the Hither Hills beaches,” his family said.
A Holocaust survivor who emigrated to New York after World War II, he was born in Lithuania on Feb. 23, 1928, to Boris and Bertha Choron. When he was 11, the family was put in a ghetto, and later sent to Dachau. His mother died days before the camp was liberated.
He came to New York as a teenager with his father and brother, Morris, unable to read or speak English and with only enough money for a three-day hotel stay, his family wrote. He studied hard, not only to learn the new language but to become an American citizen. “His first job was at a Russian deli, where he made the bargain to work strictly for food,” said the family. He later took jobs as a waiter in the Catskills, with the dream of one day owning his own business.
On June 14, 1952, he married Lee VonDorfer, also an immigrant, who during the war had been smuggled out of Austria to England by train at the age of 8. They had met just 10 days earlier, said a granddaughter, Deborah Choron, and had tried to marry even sooner.
By the time their two sons, Gregory and Douglas, were born, the Chorons had achieved their American dream, establishing the Grand Department Store in Pelham, N.Y., a 5&10 and variety store.
Later in life Mr. Choron became interested in boating and obtained an advanced marine pilot’s license.
His family said they “will forever be inspired by his legacy.”
He is survived by his wife, his sons, Gregory Choron of Rye and Montauk and Douglas Choron of Rye, and by three granddaughters. His brother died before him.
A graveside service was held on Sept. 1 at Sharon Gardens in Valhalla, N.Y., Rabbi Norton Shargel officiating.