Obituaries

Joseph Kanter November 15, 1923 - November 30, 2020

Los Angeles, California - Joseph H. Kanter, a businessman and philanthropist, died peacefully in Los Angeles, on November 30, 2020. He was 97 years old.

Kanter was born on November 15, 1923 in Tarrant, Alabama. During World War II, he served in the 102nd infantry and landed on Omaha Beach. Then he fought through France, Holland, and Germany. After his father’s death while Kanter was serving overseas, he returned to his native Alabama and ran his family’s general store. He formed a company to build veterans housing and became one of the largest apartment builders and “new town” developers in the United States.

In 1953, Kanter married singer/songwriter Nancy Reed. They settled in Cincinnati; Kanter developed the city of Forest Park, Ohio. He became a major landholder in southeast Florida and established a second home in Miami Beach. Kanter entered the banking business as the owner of the National Bank of Florida; he later purchased and ran Guarantee Savings and Loan financial operations throughout California. Kanter also started a movie production company; among other films, he produced Academy Award nominated “Ironweed,” starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep.

Throughout his life, Kanter’s entrepreneurial savvy and civic voluntarism earned him special recognition. In 1958, Esquire magazine named him one of 54 “Bright Young Men in Science, Politics, Arts, and Business.” In 1962, he won the State of Israel Award for Leadership, recognizing his service as Chairman of the United Jewish Appeal. In 1975, he received the B’nai B’rith Humanitarian Award. In 1984, he was awarded an honorary master’s degree from The George Washington University. Kanter was also a lifelong amateur tennis player; he won several singles tournaments in the United States and in Europe. Kanter’s patriotic vision catalyzed the National Conference on Citizenship; he succeeded former Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark to serve as its Chairman and President. In 2014, Kanter was awarded the Knight of the French Foreign Legion Award at an event held at the United States Capitol. In 2020, Kanter’s family arranged for 20,000 acres of his holdings in the Florida Everglades to be sold to the state of Florida, to ensure preservation for future generations.

As a philanthropist, Kanter was a longtime advocate of efforts to improve public health. In 1964, he established the Joseph H. Kanter Family Foundation; since then, it has supported educational institutions, physical fitness initiatives, health outcomes research, and other charitable endeavors.

Kanter is survived by his sister, Shirley Osband; by his wife of over 67 years, Nancy; by his children, Harry, Hillary (William), Mary, and John (Staci); and by his five grandchildren, Alexandra (Jesse), Reed, Matthew, Charlie, and Emily.