Funeral Services Held for Fred Lazarus Jr: Died at 88

Funeral services were held today at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for Fred Lazarus Jr., chairman of the executive committee of Federated Department Stores, who died Sunday at the age of 88. Mr. Lazarus, born in Columbus. Ohio, was engaged in retailing and merchandising from the age of 10 when he went to work in the family store. He organized the Federated Department Stores in 1930 on the premise that stores in different communities, linked together financially, would benefit by their common financial base and by employing the best practices of each member store.

Nine years earlier, in 1921, Mr. Lazarus helped organize the Associated Merchandising Corp., the nation’s largest buying office. During World War II he was vice-chairman of the Retail Advisory Council of the National Council of Defense and continued in a similar capacity with the Office of Price Administration and the War Production Board. He was appointed by President Eisenhower to the President’s Committee on Government Contracts to help foster fair employment practices.