During the 1950s, Israel "Ziggy" Sakolsky did whatever he had to in order to keep his carpet business operating -- even if his accountant had to work by candlelight instead of electricity.
"He probably didn't want to pay for it," Roberta Mann, Mr. Sakolsky's daughter, recalled with a laugh. "Pound wise, penny foolish. In some ways he was extravagant, but with other things he was very frugal."
Mr. Sakolsky, of Squirrel Hill, owner of Custom Carpet Co. in Squirrel Hill for more than 50 years, died of congestive heart failure on Sunday, June 5, 2005, at UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland. He was 88.
Mann said her father was known as "Mr. Saks, The Carpet Man" for his decades of work in the carpet business. The family believes he was the last sole proprietor of a single carpet store in the Pittsburgh area.
Mr. Sakolsky, a 1934 graduate of Schenley High School, grew up poor in the Hill District, Mann said. For a few years, he made a living selling windows.
Once a talented basketball player, Mr. Sakolsky earned the nickname "Ziggy" after Ziggy Kahn, a popular local basketball player he admired when he was young.
Mr. Sakolsky got his start selling carpet for a Downtown business. In the 1950s, he and his brother opened their carpet stor Downtown on the Boulevard of the Allies before moving it to Squirrel Hill.
Mr. Sakolsky was the life of any party, Mann said, and had an "Archie Bunker-type" personality.
"Sometimes he would swear a little too much and he's abrupt. We went crazy from him," Mann said, laughing.
"He'd walk into a doctor's office and everyone would be afraid. But by the time he left, everyone loved him," she said.
Neighborhood children always knew they could receive a piece of candy from "Mr. Saks," Mann said.
Roz Markowitz said Mr. Sakolsky was so close to her she considered him family.
"He tried to act tough, but he was a teddy bear. He had a heart of gold and would do anything to help people," Markowitz said.
Mr. Sakolsky was a real "character," she said.
"He would say what was on his mind and would sometimes get into trouble by not thinking before he spoke. But after you got to know him, you just laugh (at what he said)," Markowitz said.
"But if I ever needed anything, I never would have hesitated to call him," she added.
Mr. Sakolsky's wife of nearly 40 years, Irene Poster Sakolsky, died in 1978. He also was preceded in death by siblings Cecil Silverman, Helen Simon, Morris Marks and Samuel Sakolsky.
Survivors include a son, Charles Sakolsky and his wife, Sue, of Boynton Beach, Fla.; a daughter, Roberta Mann, and her husband, Donald, of Wilkinsburg; a grandchild, four stepgrandchildren and six stepgreat-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from noon to 1 p.m. today at Ralph Schugar Chapel Inc., 5509 Centre Ave., Shadyside, followed by services at 1 p.m. Burial will be in Beth Abraham Cemetery in Overbrook.
The family asks that contributions be made to The Sissy Schwartz Memorial Fund, c/o the Squirrel Hill Kiwanis Club, 4207 Murray Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217.
