Lou Baron, who founded Chicago-based City Scrap in 1952 before selling it to form Acme Refining in 1971, has died at the age of 97.
Baron was born in Toledo, Ohio, April 13, 1918. His life as a husband, father, grandfather, patriot, entrepreneur, teacher and friend will be celebrated June 23, 2015, at the Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home in Wilmette, Illinois.
Baron graduated from Chicago’s Manley High School in 1937. In 1940, he was drafted by the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Warren in Wyoming, where he worked as a cook and arranged entertainment for the top brass who visited the base from Washington. His fiancé, Mary Waldman, took a train to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and married Lou March 14, 1943, in a borrowed dress.
Baron was deployed to Virginia, England, France and Germany, where he and four other soldiers captured 25 German soldiers, earning Bronze Stars for bravery. He reached the rank of sergeant when he was discharged from military service in 1945.
Upon his return to civilian life, Baron worked as a salesman for Centennial Laundry Co., leaving to form City Scrap in 1952. He rode down alleys collecting scrap from residents and businesses, developing relationships with manufacturers to grow his business. In 1971, after selling City Scrap, Baron started Acme Refining, which grew from one truck and two employees to 200 trucks and more than 400 employees. Acme was sold in 2014 to Chris Dandrow and is now known as Pure Metal Recycling.
Baron received the Illinois Recycler of the Year Award in 2008, saying, “I was a junkman. Then I was a scrap man. Now I am a recycler. Who knew?”
Baron and Mary were married for 72 years. He is survived by his wife; his children, Larry and Iris; three grandchildren, Brett, Lindsey and Alex; and three great-grandchildren, Brett Jr., Isabella and Calvin.