Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Philanthropist and former owner of CBS12 Alexander Dreyfoos dies at 91
WEST PALM BEACH — Alexander Wallace Dreyfoos, philanthropist and founder of CBS12 News (WPEC), has passed away at 91.
Dreyfoos died peacefully on Sunday in his sleep at Lourdes Noreen McKeen Residence in West Palm, former Kravis Center CEO Judith Mitchell told CBS12 News.
“Alex was a great mentor to me and I truly owe my career to him, but also he became a great friend to me, my husband, and my entire family,” Mitchell said in a statement. “I know he will be deeply missed by many, many people in the community.”
Dreyfoos, born on March 22, 1932, in New York, was a generous philanthropist credited with transforming West Palm Beach into the cultural hub it is today. His legacy includes a high school named in his honor, and most recently the city renamed a corridor through West Palm Beach’s Arts and Entertainment District to Alexander W. Dreyfoos Way.
WPEC is named after the Photo Electronic Corporation, which Alexander Dreyfoos founded. The company manufactured laser technology equipment for photo processing, which won Dreyfoos an Oscar.
Dreyfoos also donated the first $1 million toward the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, which named a performance hall in his honor. The current CEO of the Kravis Center, Diane Quinn, said the following in a statement to CBS12 News:
“Our deepest sympathies are with Renate and the Dreyfoos family. Alex will always be remembered as a visionary and a man who understood deeply the impact that the arts would have on the development and attraction of people and business to Palm Beach County. We are so fortunate to have had him in our lives and his legacy lives on in all that he touched. It was an honor to have him as our founder and guide for the Kravis Center — he was truly a great man.”
In addition to the statement, Quinn asked that anyone looking to honor Dreyfoos’ legacy make a donation to the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts or to the Dreyfoos School of the Arts.