Tile City founder was WWII vet and ardent storyteller, too
Robert Solomon was an intrepid storyteller who led an extraordinary life.
His experiences, as the son of Jewish immigrants who witnessed Babe Ruth hit his final home runs at Forbes Field, to his years serving in World War II and later as founder of Tile City — the largest flooring company in the tri-state area — gave him plenty of material.
“He would regale people with stories about his youth and the war,” said his son, Edward Solomon of Philadelphia. “He had some great stories.”
Mr. Solomon, 93, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., died Jan. 20 of kidney failure.
A native of Garfield, Mr. Solomon had dozens of jobs growing up, including working as a “shomer,” someone who watches over the body of a deceased person until their burial, in accordance with Jewish tradition.
As a boy, Mr. Solomon served as an usher at Forbes Field where he witnessed Ruth hit the final three home runs of his career on May 25, 1935. He even worked as a hypnotist in a dental office.
“I’m guessing he learned hypnotism by reading a book,” his son said. “He was an inveterate reader and a self-taught person in many ways.”
At Taylor Allderdice High School, Mr. Solomon was the captain of the basketball team and won a city schools tennis championship.
It was also where he met Lois Orinstein, the school’s head cheerleader. The couple married in 1950, and Mrs. Solomon died in 2013.
He graduated from high school halfway through his senior year in 1944 and enlisted in the Coast Guard during World War II.
A lieutenant, Mr. Solomon served in the Merchant Marine aboard supply and hospital ships throughout the Pacific and European theaters, his son said.
The experience proved both harrowing and memorable for the young officer.
“They would take things into war zones, and they came under fire, but he wasn’t wounded,” his son said.
It also provided fodder for Mr. Solomon’s bank of entertaining memories.
“One time, he caught a shark by putting a piece of steak on an anchor. He got disciplined for it,” his son said, laughing. “Another time, he dove off the ship into the Bosporus [a strait in Turkey]. He didn’t realize the water was so cold, and he kind of passed out. Fortunately, he woke up and was close enough to shore to swim in.”
After the war, Mr. Solomon
intended to pursue a career in medicine and studied biology and chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, where he graduated in 1948.
“He applied to medical school, but he was deferred for six months,” his son said.
In the meantime, he went to work for a floor covering store and learned the business.
Mr. Solomon found he had a knack for it and stayed, his son said.
“He was one of the top salesmen,” he said.
When the owner of the business declined Mr. Solomon’s offer to form a partnership and open more stores, he broke out on his own, starting Tile City as a storefront and warehouse in McKeesport in 1954.
Eventually, he opened 23 stores in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and Massachusetts.
By 1971, Tile City was the largest flooring supplier in the area.
“He was brave and entrepreneurial,” his son said. “He was a very hardworking person, and he was constantly visiting stores all over the place.”
Edward Solomon worked in the stores during summers as a stock boy with his late brother Lee, who eventually took over as president of Tile City in the late 1980s.
When Lee Solomon died of a brain tumor in 1995, their father resumed his role as head of the company briefly before selling the business several years later.
After retirement, Mr. Solomon and his wife moved from Squirrel Hill to Florida, where they often played golf and bridge with friends and where Mr. Solomon found a passion for fishing.
“He loved the lakes,” his son said. “And he caught some really big bass.”
His father also found a hidden talent for industrial art, Edward Solomon said.
“Over time he’d accumulate stuff, and he would take some of the material and create art out of it,” such as nuts and bolts, he said. “His masterpiece is a wrench that is maybe 4 feet high. It was an old steel mill tool, and he took it and had it dipped in chrome and mounted it on a base, and it became a piece of sculpture.”
The younger Mr. Solomon said he would miss his father’s sage advice and verve for life.
“He always enjoyed himself, and he had a real love of life. Every night, he had his Tanqueray Gibson,” he said. “I’ll miss talking to him several times a week. He always had good advice — and there was plenty of it.”
Along with his wife and son Lee, Mr. Solomon was preceded in death by his grandson Jeffrey Solomon.
Services are planned at Ralph Schugar Chapel, 5509 Centre Ave., Shadyside on Sunday at 1 p.m. Visitation one hour before services (noon-1 p.m.) Interment in B’nai Israel Cemetery.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Lee Solomon Fund for Brain Tumor Research, Allegheny Health Network, 4818 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15224.