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Salt Lake City businessman Joel B. Shapiro was described Monday in his eulogy as a "g'dolim" in our community by Congregation Kol Ami Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman, using the Hebrew term reserved for a revered leader of a generation.

She said Shapiro, who died Friday at age 92, earned that accolade for the consummate way in which he ran his family business, Shapiro Luggage & Gifts, for contributing his all to Utah's Jewish community and for consistently promoting respect for humanity.

"Joel could hide his sweet side behind a hard crust," Schwartzman said prior to his burial at B'nai Israel Cemetery in Salt Lake City. "He was erudite and intelligent. He always corrected grammar. He had high expectations and was demanding, not just of his family, but of everyone in his life. He was a patriarch in his family and in this community."

People everywhere held Shapiro in high esteem, said Ron Levine, who had a luggage company in suburban Chicago when he first met Shapiro. He then traveled extensively with him during their lengthy tenures together as officials with the National Luggage Dealers Association.

"He was like a professor, a Renaissance man, so multifaceted," Levine said. "He was a good listener and was always very respectful of everyone's opinion."

For instance, Levine noted, "I was born Jewish, but never really practiced, and Joel was trying to convert me back all those years. What I learned of Judaism I learned from him. I still don't practice, but I appreciate Judaism because of him."

Shapiro was active in the Salt Lake Valley's Jewish community, contributing significantly to the merger of two groups to create a religious school that became the foundation for Congregation Kol Ami in Millcreek. He also was involved extensively in the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Jewish Family Service.

"Joel was a political liberal, one for the underdog," Schwartzman noted. "He always gave to those who asked."

Shapiro was born March 12, 1922, in Salt Lake City to Simon and Anna Shapiro. He graduated from East High School, attended a military institute in New Mexico and the University of California before joining the Army during World War II. He was involved in the evacuation of Dachau, the Nazi concentration camp outside of Munich.

After the war, he began running the Main Street luggage shop founded by his father in 1917. Shapiro later passed the retail company to his sons — Alex, Eric and Daniel.

Vicki Varela, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, said "Shapiro's will always by synonymous to me for first-class adventure and quality. Part of my identity as a curious and well-prepared traveler was shaped at the Shapiro store.

"Shapiro's is the first place I saw the now ubiquitous neck pads that have saved us all on coach red-eye [flights]. That's where they taught me how to pack a suitcase with plastic nylon inserts so my clothes wouldn't get wrinkled," Varela added. "I found my best guide books there before Google."

In death, Shapiro joins his wife of 40 years, Vivian Guss Shapiro, who died in 1997. Besides three sons and their wives, he is survived by six grandchildren.

Twitter: @sltribmikeg —

Joel B. Shapiro

1922-2015