S. Ty Steinberg, businessman, philanthropist, and prayer leader, has died at 94

S. Ty Steinberg, 94, of Elkins Park, a top salesman with matinee-idol magnetism who ran an iconic regional paint-and-wallpaper business, threw himself into charitable causes, and led a weekday morning service at his synagogue for more than five decades, died Wednesday, Dec. 14, at Bryn Mawr Hospital after complications from a fall sustained last year.

Born Seymour Steinberg and raised in the city’s Oak Lane section, Mr. Steinberg earned his name, Ty, while working a high school summer job at a Pokerino game on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

“He was flirting with the girls excessively and his boss said, ‘Hey, Tyrone Power, get back to work,’” said his son Gary Steinberg — a reference to a dashing Hollywood actor of the time. “Of course, it stuck.” Later, Mr. Steinberg legally changed his name to S. Ty Steinberg, said his son Michael.

In 1953, Mr. Steinberg married Marjorie Buten, whom he met on a blind date. Her grandfather founded the well-known Philadelphia-area chain Buten Paints in 1897. His father-in-law, Mottie Buten, recruited Mr. Steinberg into the family business to be head of sales; later he was named president and CEO.

Mr. Steinberg graduated from Central High School in 1946 and served in the U.S. Navy as a pharmacist mate third class from 1946 to 1948, then earned a degree in business administration from Temple University in a little less than three years. Before joining the paint company, Mr. Steinberg worked as an accountant for a supermarket chain, then sold appliances door-to-door in Philadelphia, and then became a sales manager in the adding-machine division of the National Cash Register Co.

Family members describe Mr. Steinberg as a magnetic personality, someone who forged deep friendships with people throughout his life and who also was precise, organized, and, at times, exacting.

“He taught me patience, organization, and the benefits of moving forward and getting things done. More importantly, he taught me how to treat everyone with respect, deal ethically, and be direct, even if both of us sometimes carried this out to a fault,” Michael Steinberg said in his eulogy.

In a narrative of his life Mr. Steinberg left for his family, he said he began attending daily morning services at Congregation Adath Jeshurun after his father-in-law’s death in 1963 because Mottie Buten had no sons to lead memorial prayers for him. Mr. Steinberg volunteered to lead the Wednesday morning prayer service — “I told the rabbi he could sleep in” — and continued to do so for 52 years, making sure to line up substitutes when he was on vacation.

In 1984, Mr. Steinberg was named president and CEO of Buten Paints, the fourth generation of family to run the business. A crack sales staff was the bedrock of the firm’s growth, he told the Daily News at the time: “Our service department will separate us from the discounters.”

Ten years later, Buten Paints was sold to Duron Inc., a larger family-owned paint manufacturer and retailer that was based in Maryland. In 2004, Duron was in turn sold to Sherwin-Williams Paints, as the industry continued its steady consolidation.

Mr. Steinberg worked out three days a week in a home gym into his 90s, rode a recumbent bicycle on the boardwalk every weekend, and loved to cruise around with family and fish in his 31-foot boat, Red Snapper, without much apparent success. The craft was named after his wife, Marge, who has red hair.

For years, he kept meticulous records in a small loose-leaf notebook of boat expenses and the catch, Gary Steinberg said. “He would try to calculate the pounds of fish, or I should say ounces, he caught and what it cost per pound. … He could probably have bought diamonds for that amount.”

Throughout his life, Mr. Steinberg devoted himself to charitable work, often in leadership roles, including as president of the Golden Slipper Club & Charities, which pays for disadvantaged children to attend sleepaway camp in the Poconos, among other things. He was on the board of MossRehab in Elkins Park, serving two terms as chairman — and also was involved in the Federation of Jewish Agencies, Israel Bonds, United Way, Jewish Community Centers, and his synagogue.

In addition to his wife and sons, Mr. Steinberg is survived by six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and a host of friends.

His funeral was Dec. 19.

Contributions in Mr. Steinberg’s memory can be made to Adath Jeshurun’s “Minyan Fund” or to a charity of the donor’s choice, the family said.