[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 49 (Monday, March 26, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF MURRAY LENDER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 26, 2012

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is with the heaviest of hearts that I 
rise today to pay tribute to the life and legacy of one of our 
community's most outstanding entrepreneurs and my dear friend, Murray 
Lender, who we lost on March 21st at the age of eighty-one. A bagel 
baker, food executive and philanthropist, who helped bring the bagel to 
kitchens across the nation, Murray was a close friend and I was deeply 
saddened to learn of his passing. Murray never forgot his roots and 
humble beginnings in New Haven while he worked to foster good will and 
humanitarianism. He was a special person and leader, part of a special 
family that takes care of each other, bringing jobs to networks of 
friends and serving the larger community.
  Along with his two brothers, Marvin and Sam, Murray turned the dream 
of ``bagelizing'' America into a reality through the process of 
freezing the bagel, which the family pioneered in the early 1960s. 
Murray, who began counting bagels in the family's backyard bakery 
before he was eleven, became a food marketing innovator. He took what 
was formerly only an ethnic product and made it a national staple, 
available to all. In 1963, Lender's introduced a branded retail pack of 
frozen bagels. Murray saw frozen foods, which was a new category of 
products, as an opportunity for greater distribution and expanding the 
market to new users.
  Free publicity was also a key to their success. Murray could be seen 
presenting a life-sized bagel on the Tonight Show to Johnny Carson, or 
on Capitol Hill presenting Tip O'Neill with a giant green bagel on St. 
Patrick's Day. Whether in animated form, or live, lying on the bread 
shelf in the supermarket, there wasn't much that Murray wouldn't do to 
sell his product. Lender's Bagels was sold to Kraft food in 1985, but 
Murray remained with the company to continue his work as spokesman.
  Murray was forever passionate about the concept of frozen foods and 
became involved in all associations directed at strengthening its 
image. He was Chairman of the National Frozen Food Association, NFFA, 
as well as the chairman of the 50th Anniversary of Frozen Foods, a 
national promotion staged in 1980. He pioneered and co-chaired the 
first National Frozen Food Month in March of 1984, an industry wide 
month of promotional retail and foodservice activity among frozen food 
manufacturers. Murray would never go a day dressed without a penguin--
the frozen food marketing symbol--whether it be a tie, a pin, socks or 
a hat. He was recognized by this industry with numerous awards 
throughout his lifetime.
  In more recent years, Murray directed his focus toward philanthropic 
work. His energy and creative thinking had a major impact on anything 
he undertook, particularly in his hometown of New Haven. Active in both 
the local Jewish community, as well as his Alma Mater, Quinnipiac 
University, Murray's influence can be seen throughout the city, which 
has recognized him with a school playground in his name, the ADL Torch 
of Liberty Award, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from 
Quinnipiac University, to name a few.
  Murray Lender was an extraordinary human being and I consider myself 
fortunate to have called him my friend. He leaves such a legacy that we 
celebrate, even as we mourn his passing. I extend my deepest sympathies 
to his wife, Gillie; his children, daughter Haris and her husband, 
Evan, and sons Carl and Jay as well as his brother Marvin and his wife 
Helaine. We can see the unfailing smile in the face of adversity and 
all his work that carries on. He lit up the world. We will miss him.

                          ____________________