Eli Timoner

Template:Template otherTemplate:Wikidata image Eli Timoner (December 12, 1928 - March 3, 2021) was an airline executive and entrepreneur, known for founding Air Florida.

Early Years

Eli Timoner was born in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York to Benjamin Timoner and Rae Edelman, loving parents and immigrants of Ukranian and Latvian Jewish descent. As his father rose through the ranks of management of Stern Brothers department store in Manhattan, he was able to move his family up and out of the city to the leafy suburb of Woodmere on the south shore of Long Island when young Eli was just 3 years old. At Woodmere High School Eli was a track star, running the mile in 5 minutes and forty seconds. He said that he “learned to run as fast as he could for as long as he could until he reached the finish line,” and that was the easy he embraced challenges throughout his life.

College

After graduation, Eli enrolled as a Freshman at the University of Illinois. The year was 1946 and with the glut of GI’s returning from WW2 and going to college, there was a shortage of freshman housing. So Eli and other freshmen were placed in overflow housing in the hockey rink and made to sleep on triple-decker bunk beds. The brutal midwestern winter combined with the less-than-ideal living conditions led Eli to contract a life-threatening case of rheumatic fever. With warmer weather as doctor’s orders, Eli transferred to the University of Miami in 1947. He flourished on the Coral Gables campus, becoming a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Honors Society, getting elected Student Body Treasurer and gaining acceptance into the Iron Arrow Honor Society, the highest honor that can be bestowed by the University.

Early Career

After graduation Eli entered the Federated Department Stores Executive Training Program at Bloomingdale’s. In the first year, Eli became the Associate Buyer of Women’s Better Coats. Soon thereafter Eli's father-in-law, who had retired to Miami Beach and was eager to lure his daughter and son-in-law to Florida, found a candy company for sale and the perfect opportunity for his business-minded son-in-law.

Eli and his first wife Joan moved to Miami, whereupon Eli purchased a 50% stake in the company and became President. Under Eli’s leadership, Laura Lee Candies grew into a thriving business. It was during these years that Eli and Joan gave birth to their first child - Pamela June, born March 12th 1954. A second daughter Diane Gail, born in 1957, lived only three months. She had an allergy to milk and died of anaphylactic shock due to being given milk by a nurse in the hospital. Eli and Joan were distraught by the loss of their baby and the strain eventually caused the end of their marriage.

Giffen Industries

After selling Laura Lee Candies in 1959, Eli led an investment group in buying controlling interest in Giffen Industries, a failing Miami roofing company. In just a few years, Eli restructured and reorganized Giffen, not just turning it into a profitable business, but into the largest roofing company in the Southeast and a multi-state conglomerate, manufacturing everything from building and roofing supplies to lawn furniture, flooring, precision gears and even snowmobiles.

Second Marriage and Family

It was during Giffen’s meteoric rise that Eli met Elissa Doane, a receptionist, model and fellow New York transplant who was a neighbor in his Biscayne Bay apartment building. Ten years his junior and a fierce liberal, Lisa agreed to go on a date with him but was not optimistic as she was sure that Eli the CEO would be an anti-union, conservative Republican. She was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was a Democrat too, and that he supported unions and was proud of the fact Giffen was the first roofing company in the South to integrate its White and Black unions into one guild. They married on December 4th 1966, at noon after Eli played two sets of tennis. In 1970, they welcomed their first child, daughter Rachel Doane, in 1972 they had another daughter Andrea “Ondi” Doane and then in 1974, a son David Doane.

Air Florida

During his time at Giffen, Eli came to realize how difficult and inconvenient it was to travel by air inside the State of Florida. This realization sparked Eli’s biggest business idea and in 1972, he founded Air Florida, the state’s first intra-state airline. “Fly A Little Kindness” was the slogan and the “Little Airline that Could,” known for low fares and friendly service quickly expanded. In 1977, an investment group led by Ed Acker bought a controlling interest in Air Florida. Acker became Chairman and Timoner remained President. Because of federal regulations Air Florida was unable to fly outside the State of Florida, so Timoner lobbied Congress several times in favor of deregulation. With the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Air Florida became the fastest growing airline in the world with routes spanning Central America, the Caribbean, the Northeast and Europe from its hub at Miami International Airport.. In 1981, Ed Acker abruptly stepped down as Chairman of Air Florida, taking the helm of Pan Am, the giant international airline and one of Air Florida's main competitors.

With Acker's departure, Timoner became Chairman once again , but Air Florida was soon facing multiple headwinds: a fare war with Eastern Airlines and Pan Am and the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 into the Potomac River in a snowstorm in Washington, DC on January 13, 1982.

Disability, Retirement and Remembrance

On July 10th 1982, at age 53, Eli Timoner collapsed in the shower after his weekly massage. Only moments before, his masseur ended the massage the way he always did, with a sharp crack of the neck. This time that crack caused the vertebral artery to swell, which blocked the blood to his brain and caused a massive stroke, permanently paralyzing the left side of his body, blinding the left of both eyes, and changing his life forever.

His recovery was slow and painful. Though his intelligence and wit remained intact and he regained the ability to walk with a cane, he would never drive a car, play tennis, or run again. Air Florida had lost its leader. Family and friends rallied around Eli, who remarkably maintained his positive attitude despite being cut down in his prime. In the remaining years, Eli dedicated himself to his family and various liberal and civic causes, serving for 25 years on the Board of Directors of The Greater Miami Jewish Federation, 20 years on the Board of Trustees of Miami’s Center for the Fine Arts (now the Pérez Art Museum Miami), and 12 years on the Board of Trustees of Ransom Everglades School. A devoted father, he reveled in his children’s successes and was proud of having sent all three of them to Yale University.

Despite the passage of time, Eli Timoner was remembered fondly by Air Florida employees. The company enjoyed an esprit de corps that was unmatched in a notoriously cutthroat industry. An egoless boss whose door was always open, Eli was known for helping out at the ticket counter or cleaning the cabin to turn around delayed aircraft - always putting teamwork first and leading by example. Air Florida employees formed deep, lifelong bonds and to this day the "Air Florida Family" holds reunions which draws hundreds of families, many of whom began their connection at Air Florida.

In 2005, Eli and Lisa moved to Southern California to be near their children and grandchildren. Eli remained sharp, sweet and funny until the end. Eli Timoner passed away on March 3rd, 2021, at 92 years old.

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