Harold Reiss, 1912 - 2008
Woodstock Times, June 5, 2008
Harold Reiss of Shady, formerly of New York City, died Saturday May 24 at Thompson House in Rhinebeck. He was 96.
He was born February 22, 1912, in New York City. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1926, and attended New York University. He was a partner of Friend-Reiss Advertising, Inc., in New York for thirty years, and then spent 11 years as the Marketing and Advertising Director of Levolor Blinds, which had been one of his clients at the agency.
Reiss first came to the Catskills as a teenager in 1927, when he took a summer job on a Platte Clove dairy farm. Thirty years after that summer job, he visited the area again with his wife and children. The visit brought back fond memories of hiking to Huckleberry Point, and the steep climb down to the waterfall at the Clove. After a picnic, the family spent the night in Woodstock. The next day, browsing through the paintings at Rudolph Gallery (now Bread Alone), he asked Lilian Fiolic, who ran the gallery with her husband Rudolph, if she knew anyone who sold real estate, and she answered "yes." Thereupon she put a sign on the door, "back in 30 minutes," and showed the family a parcel of land on a hill in Shady with views of mountains in all directions. The sale was made.
With the help of farmer Arthur MacDaniel and his father Martin, Harold built a weekend house. He was a city boy by birth but loved the country, and became a dedicated amateur stonemason, landscaper and gardener. On retiring twenty years ago, Harold became a full time resident of Shady.
Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Victoria Hughes; a son, Richard M. Reiss, of New York City; and a step-son, Paul Goldsmith, of Calabasas, California. He was pre-deceased by a son, Thomas Reiss, and a daughter, Nancy Capasso, and his two brothers, Joseph and Bernard Reiss. He leaves five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and four step-grandchildren.