Harold G. Schaeffer, 89, developed and managed malls
The retired real estate executive helped build the King of Prussia Mall.
Harold G. Schaeffer reached the pinnacle of his profession, working his way up to becoming chairman of the company that developed and managed the King of Prussia Mall and other regional shopping centers. But his greatest joy, relatives said, came from spending time with family and exploring the wonders of life.
"Toward the end of his life he would talk to me about family," said James, one of Mr. Schaeffer's three sons. "He said the thing that gave him the most joy was family. Despite all of his accomplishments, the family made him most proud."
"He could have lived a thousand years and would have woken up with new passions," said another son, Anthony. "He had an endless appreciation of beauty and the gift of life, and he was a guy with a million hobbies. He was brilliant, and to his last day was excited about new horizons, about learning, sailing, photography. He was a lifelong learner."
Mr. Schaeffer, 89, of Rittenhouse Square, died of heart failure Saturday morning, June 17, at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in University City.
Mr. Schaeffer was born Sept. 16, 1927, in Philadelphia to Herman and Rose Schaeffer and was raised in Mount Airy. His father owned a furniture store on Market Street. He graduated from Central High School in 1945 and earned a business degree from Temple University in 1950.
He served in the Navy Reserve and then in the Army during the Korean War. He married Adele Kaplan in 1954.
Mr. Schaeffer went to work for Philadelphia's M.A. Kravitz Co. in 1957, selecting sites and attracting anchor stores for its shopping centers. He took over leadership of the company in the 1960s with his partner, Arthur L. Powell, renamed it Kravco, moved its headquarters to King of Prussia, and guided it to become one of the nation's leading shopping mall development and management companies.
In addition to developing and managing the King of Prussia Mall, Mr. Schaeffer's company built and managed the Oxford Valley Mall in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Montgomery Mall near North Wales, Quaker Bridge Mall near Princeton, Lehigh Valley Mall in the Allentown area, and malls in other states including Texas and Maine, his sons said.
Success in the business world allowed Mr. Schaeffer to contribute his time and money to charitable causes as a consultant, including to the Ford Foundation and the Opportunities Industrialization Center founded by the Rev. Leon Sullivan. He and his wife were longtime philanthropists of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Medicine, the Wistar Institute, the Academy of Music, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and scholarship programs at many schools, including Temple and Gwynedd Mercy University.
Mr. Schaeffer was an avid outdoorsman who loved to hunt, sail, and fly-fish. He was known for a sense of humor that brought joy to family and friends, his sons said.
"He lived a very full, long, and generally wonderful life," Anthony Schaeffer said.
In addition to his wife of 63 years and his sons, Mr. Schaeffer is survived by son Robert; a brother; and five grandchildren.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 20, at Joseph Levine & Sons, 4737 Street Road, Trevose. Burial will follow at Roosevelt Memorial Park.
Contributions may be made to the Wistar Institute at www.wistar.org.