Irving Glickman, manufacturer

Irving Glickman, 100, of Huntingdon Valley, a manufacturer of plastic components, died Monday, Nov. 19, at Abington Memorial Hospital.

For almost 30 years, Mr. Glickman and a partner, Leon Coltman, operated Elgo Rubber Products in South Philadelphia.

In 1956, Mr. Glickman and his partner started a second company, Rodon Products, to manufacture plastics. "No doubt anticipating the famous line from The Graduate, he perceived that plastics was indeed the best option for the future," son Bob said.

Rodon produced disposable razors, eyeglass cases, and shower-curtain rings, among other products, in Southampton.

Mr. Glickman was always finding clever ways to improve equipment, Bob Glickman said.

After another son, Joel, became president of Rodon, Mr. Glickman went into semiretirement and spent winters in Pompano Beach, Fla.

Joel Glickman invented K'Nex, the plastic construction toy. Mr. Glickman thought the color-coded rods and connectors were ingenious, Bob Glickman said.

Joel and Bob Glickman now operate Rodon in Hatfield.

Mr. Glickman grew up with five siblings in New Brunswick, N.J. He started working before and after school at 13, making bicycle deliveries for the post office at a penny a parcel. He and a friend also sold radios they made from wire and tubes.

After graduating from high school, he worked for the post office for a year and in highway construction to save for college.

He earned a bachelor's degree in 1934 from Rutgers University, where he learned to play bridge by looking over the shoulder of a fellow student, Milton Friedman, who went on to win a Nobel Prize in economics.

Despite a heavy work and school schedule, Mr. Glickman was active with the New Brunswick YMCA basketball club.

He majored in biology, hoping to go on to medical or dental school, but had to earn a living and became a chemist at an uncle's rubber-goods manufacturing company.

He then joined Franklin Rubber Co. in Philadelphia, where he developed conveyor belts used to transport concrete on-site for the building of the Grand Coulee Dam.

During World War II, Mr. Glickman worked for Quaker Rubber, developing synthetic rubber hoses used to unload oil from tankers to beachheads in Europe.

While working their day jobs, he and Leon Coltman operated Elgo Rubber Products on the side. After the war, they took out a business loan and established a factory in South Philadelphia.

In 1945, Mr. Glickman married Marion Katz. They raised a family in Oxford Circle and Cheltenham. She died in 2010.

Mr. Glickman played golf until his early 90s. He was e-mailing friends, researching stocks, and ordering groceries online as recently as last week, Bob Glickman said.

In addition to his sons, Mr. Glickman is survived by a daughter, Elaine Berk; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Services are private.

Donations may be made to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, 367 E. Street Rd., Trevose, Pa. 19053.