Murray Isaac Lender (October 29, 1930 – March 21, 2012) was an American businessman and entrepreneur who helped expand his father's small,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

bagel A bagel ( yi, בײגל, translit=beygl; pl, bajgiel; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into a roughly hand-sized ring from yeasted wheat dough that is first ...

bakery, Lender's Bagels, into a nationwide brand. Murray Lender served as the chief executive officer of Lender's, while his brother, Marvin, served as the company's president. Under Murray Lender, Lender's Bagels began selling frozen bagels to supermarkets in 1960, introducing many American consumers to the bagel for the first time. The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' called Lender "the most important man in the modern history of bagels." Murray Lender also became known to the public for appearing in a series of

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

s for Lender's Bagels. Murray Lender's father, Harry Lender, immigrated from Lublin,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, to the United States in 1927. That same year, Harry opened a small bagel bakery in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, which catered to the city's Eastern European

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community. His wife, Rose Braiter Lender, and their two oldest children, Hyman and Sam, followed Harry Lender to the United States in 1929. Murray Lender was born in

, on October 29, 1930. He graduated from Junior College of Commerce, which is now known as

Quinnipiac University Quinnipiac University () is a private university in Hamden, Connecticut. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees through its College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Engineering, School of C ...

. Later, as chairman of Quinnipiac's Board of Trustees, he heard Quinnipiac President John L. Lahey give talks on the history of the Great Hunger in Ireland, and as a result donated funds to create the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac. "A lot of Irish and Irish American artists and supporters helped to make this day possible, but without the support of a son of a Jewish immigrant from Poland who saw parallels in our experience we wouldn't be ...(able to).. dedicate this new facility. That's a proof of how important this story is to all immigrants," Lahey said. All four brothers - Hyman, Sam, Harry and Marvin - entered the family's bagel business, called H. Lender's and Sons. Harry Lender died in 1958 and the brothers began freezing bagels for sale in 1960. Murray also came up with the idea of pre-slicing bagels. Murray Lender and his family sold Lender's Bagels to

Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arran ...

in 1984. The brand was acquired by the Pinnacle Foods Group in 2003. Murray Lender died at a hospital in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, on March 21, 2012, at the age of 81. He had suffered injuries in a fall ten weeks earlier at his home in

Aventura, Florida Aventura is a planned, suburban city in northeastern Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, 17 miles north of the city of Miami and part of the Miami metropolitan area. The city is especially well-known for Aventura Mall, the 5th largest ...

. He was survived by his children Carl Lender, Haris Lender and

Jay Lender Jay Lender (born June 14, 1969 in New Haven, Connecticut, United States) is an American television writer, storyboard artist and director. He is a former writer and storyboard director for ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. Previous to his work on ''Spon ...

and 6 grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lender, Murray 1930 births 2012 deaths American chief executives of food industry companies Quinnipiac University alumni Businesspeople from New Haven, Connecticut People from Aventura, Florida Accidental deaths in Florida Accidental deaths from falls 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews Bagels 21st-century American Jews