Herbert Irving

Herbert Irving, a co-founder of the food services giant Sysco Corporation and a philanthropist who donated more than $300 million to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, died on Oct. 3 2016 at his home in Manhattan. He was 98. Mr. Irving’s philanthropy was fueled by the fortune he made at Sysco, which he founded in 1969 with John F. Baugh and Harry Rosenthal. The company first sold shares to the public in 1970 and became a major food distribution conglomerate, with sales in the last year of around $50 billion. Mr. Irving stepped down as vice chairman in 1992 and remained on Sysco’s board for another two years. Herbert Irving and Florence Irving pledged $40-million to Columbia University Medical Center to support the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center and $20-million to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital to build a new bone-marrow transplant facility. The Irvings did not disclose a payment schedule for the Columbia University gift, but they plan to complete payments to the NewYork-Presbyterian by 2016. Mr. Irving was born on Nov. 5, 1917, in Brooklyn. He graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He served in the Army in Europe during World War II, landing in Normandy soon after the Allied invasion in June 1944. He and his wife, the former Florence Rapoport, were married in 1942. Besides his wife, he is survived by his sons, Jeff and Ron; a daughter, Gail; and several grandchildren.