Leonard Schnitzer Dies at 78

Leonard Schnitzer, chairman of Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc., Portland, Ore., and son of the company’s founder Sam Schnitzer, has died at age 78.

He grew up learning the scrap business (along with his brothers) from his father Sam, before attending dental school and serving as U.S. Navy dentist during the Korean War.

Leonard joined the family business before the Korean War in 1946 and re-joined after his Naval stint. He rose through the company ranks to become chairman in 1971 and CEO from 1973 until Jan. 1, 2002.

Under Leonard’s leadership, Schnitzer Steel Industries became a publicly traded company handling more than 4.5 million tons per year of scrap metal and shipping globally. He also steered the company into several joint ventures as well as into other industries altogether, starting the Lasco Shipping Co. in the early 1960s and acquiring Cascade Steel Rolling Mills Inc., an electric arc furnace steelmaker, in 1984.

Scrap remained at the heart of the business, and led to the additional opportunities, Leonard told Recycling Today in a 1992 interview. “Everything we are into, in one way or another, is an outgrowth of our scrap trading and processing business. It was the seed that led us to all these other opportunities.”

He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Lois, sisters Edith and Molllie, brothers Gilbert and Harold, six daughters, four sons-in-law and 13 grandchildren.

The family requests donations in Leonard’s memory be sent to either the Cancer Care Resource Center in Portland or the Congregation Beth Israel or Congregation Shaarie Torah in Portland.

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