Harry Eisen, 86, who with no more than an 8th-grade education helped develop the Ideal Box Co. into a multimillion-dollar business with more than 200 employees, died Saturday, Sept. 1, of prostate cancer in his Highland Park home. Mr. Eisen and his brother inherited the tiny indebted company when their father died in the mid-1930s. The Eisen brothers slowly paid off the debt by sending the landlord $50 a week and expanded the company. By World War II, Mr. Eisen was exempted from service to produce wood crates for the government to ship munitions and communications equipment, said Mr. Eisen’s son, Stephen. The Eisens bought a corrugated cardboard plant in the 1950s and continued to develop the company, which now is a major supplier of corrugated packaging and corrugated displays, such as movie advertisements. Stephen Eisen took over as president in the late 1970s, but his father stayed involved by serving as chairman of the board until 1995. “He grew it through perseverance and integrity,” said his son. “He had good instincts and good native intelligence that never got refined through the educational process.” Mr. Eisen dropped out of school after the 8th grade to help his father collect and recycle boxes. He married the former Nioma Goldman in 1937. In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Eisen is survived by two daughters, Paula Goodhart and Karen Messer; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Services have been held.
